Aug. 14, 2021 Britain’s Olympic 4x100m relay silver medallist Chijindu Ujah was provisionally suspended for allegedly breaching anti-doping rules at the Tokyo Games, the Athletics Integrity Unit 7 (AIU) said, according to Reuters. Yazdani, Taylor set for fourth encounter in October Sports Desk The 2021 World Wrestling World Wrestling Champion- ships could see freestyle sensations Hassan Yazdani of Iran and American David Taylor battle it out for the sec- ond time in two months. The competition will take place in Oslo, the capital of Nor- way, from October 2-10, ISNA reported. Both wrestlers are reportedly willing to waste no time in re- turning to action following the men’s 86kg final showpiece at the Tokyo Olympics in early August. Yazdani, leading by 3-2 with 17 seconds left on the clock, blew the opportunity to become the first Iranian wrestler with double Olympic golds, after Taylor pulled off a victory with a double-leg takedown. The result was a third successive setback for the Iranian against the American opponent in four years, having suffered defeats at the 2017 Wresting World Cup on home soil, and at the World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary, LEAH MILLIS/REUTERS a year later. Yazdani, a Rio 2016 champion, will be seeking a Iran’s Hassan Yazdani (L) is in action against American David Taylor in the third world gold in Oslo, and a fifth in total, having bagged the freestyle wrestling 86kg final at the Tokyo Olympics on August 5, 2021. silver in 2015 before settling for bronze in 2018. For Taylor, meanwhile, the competition could bring a second gold squaring off before the final bout, as they are the top-two seeds of after his 2018 triumph. their weight class and will be drawn in separate brackets when the Should both wrestlers participate in Oslo’s event, they won’t be draw is made. feyenoord.com Iran’s Sheibani, former Asian bodybuilding champion, Feyenoord midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh celebrates a goal during a 3-0 victory over Luzern in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on August 12, 2021. dies of coronavirus at 46 Sports Desk as a repeat of the first-leg victory saw Feyenoord go through. Jahanbakhsh, 28, sealed a €1.10m move to Feyenoord ranian midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh scored his first in July, bringing to end three disappointing seasons at Sports Desk goals in the Feyenoord outfit, leading the Dutch side Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion. Ito a 3-0 victory over Swiss club Luzern in the third This is the second spell in the Dutch football for Jah- Iranian bodybuilder Hossein Sheibani, a former qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League anbakhsh, who only managed 21 starts in 50 Premier IFBB Asian champion in 2011, passed away of CO- on Thursday. League appearances for Brighton, scoring twice. VID-19 at the age of 46. Jahanbakhsh broke the deadlock with nine minutes into First introduced to the Dutch, and European, football The late athlete was a light-heavyweight cham- the game in Rotterdam’s De Kuip, keeping his cool in a in 2013 with NEC Nijmegen, Jahanbakhsh joined another pion at the 2015 IFBB Arnold Amateur Europe in one-on-one situation with Luzern keeper Vaso Vasić. Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar after scoring 17 goals in 55 Spain, where he also claimed the masters overall The Iranian international doubled the lead for the outings in two seasons for NEC. title, as well as the 40-plus middleweight crown. Eredivisie club in the 34th minute when his sizzling strike The Iranian stole the headlines in his third season at He also had a National Physique Committee from just outside the box found the bottom-left corner. AZ, scoring 21 goals and making 12 assists to help the (NPC) Pro Card that certifies the athlete as a profes- However, the afternoon finished in frustration for Jah- club to a third-spot finish in the league, which saw the sional bodybuilder. anbakhsh as he limped off injured before the break. 2017-18 Eredivisie top scorer sign for Brighton for a then IRNA Colombian striker Luis Sinisterra scored in the 48th minute club record of £17 million. Exhibition “Gholamreza Takhti: Portraits of a Champion” opens in Italian Embassy in Tehran The exhibit “Gholamreza Takhti: Por- many Iranian artists, some of which are traits of a Champion” was inaugurated part of the collections of famous inter- on Thursday in the garden of the resi- national museums, including the British dence of the Italian ambassador in north- Museum in London. ern Tehran, the Embassy announced in a In his opening remarks at the inaugural press release obtained by Iran Daily. event, the Italian Ambassador Giuseppe It features 29 works by 4 Iranian art- Perrone, emphasized the importance of ists (Khosrow Hassanzadeh, Yasamin Gholamreza Takhti’s figure as an athlete Khorsandi, Behdad Panjehzadeh, Be- and as a man and the wide appreciation hzad Shishegaran) portraying different and respect he continues to enjoy today, imagery of internationally famous Ira- after more than 50 years from his passing, nian wrestling champion Gholamreza with Iranians of all walks of life. Takhti, winner of Olympics medals in Ambassador Perrone also stressed three successive editions of the games the close and friendly relations existing (silver in Helsinki 1952, gold in Mel- between Italy and Iran in sports fields, bourne 1956, and silver in Rome 1960). particularly when it comes to coopera- Renowned not just for his extraordi- tion in popular disciplines such as foot- nary sports skills, but also for his unique ball, volleyball, wrestling and fencing. human side, his fair play towards fellow The exhibit “Gholamreza Takhti: athletes, his commitment to helping Portraits of a Champion”, which last the poor and the more disadvantaged until September 1, comes after screen- ITALIAN EMBASSY-TEHRAN in society, Gholamreza Takhti over the ing at the residence of the premiere of ITALIAN EMBASSY-TEHRAN The e xhibition “Gholamreza Takhti: Portraits of a Champion” is held in the garden of the years has become an icon of contempo- documentary “The Man” by Ali Shah- The e xhibition “Gholamreza Takhti: Portraits of a Champion” is held in the garden of residence of the Italian ambassador in Tehran, Iran, on August 12, 2021. rary art, being portrayed in the works of mohammadi on July 24. the residence of the Italian ambassador in Tehran, Iran, on August 12, 2021. PSG’s signing of Messi rekindles debate on UEFA FFP rules Paris St Germain’s signing of Lionel Messi to worry about new investigations into lieu of transfer fees. break-even rule cleared the way for PSG has re-ignited a debate over the effective- their spending. “We know the rules of Fi- PSG have also splashed out €60 million to sign Messi. ness of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) nancial Fair Play and we will always fol- on fullback Achraf Hakimi from Inter Mi- Another key rule change from UEFA rules, which were designed to curb exces- low the regulations,” said PSG chairman lan while the signing of Messi – who will was allowing owners to spend their own sive spending but have been relaxed in the Nasser al-Khelaifi at Messi’s presenta- pocket a reported €25 million signing-on money to alleviate losses, which played last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. tion on Wednesday. fee and annual salary of 63 million – has into the hands of Qatari-backed PSG and The rules were introduced in 2009 “Before we do anything, we check inflated their wage bill even further. Abu Dhabi-funded City but provided to prevent clubs spending beyond their with our commercial, financial and legal The club’s revenue, meanwhile, has little relief to fan-owned Barca. means and distorting the market, requir- people. We have the capacity to sign him. fallen due to the pandemic and the French The Catalans were also at the mercy of ing teams to break even and keep wages If we sign Leo, it’s because we can, other- league’s television rights deal collapsing, La Liga’s financial fair play rules, which and transfer fees in line with income, Re- wise we would not have done it.” but for now they have no obligation to set each club a maximum budget each sea- uters reported. PSG’s revenue for 2019-20 was €541 break even. son according to their expected income. PSG and Manchester City were among million, according to a report from The break-even rule could be removed Barca’s budget for the 2019-20 cam- clubs to fall foul of the rules, although KPMG, while their wage bill stood at 405 altogether, according to Andrea Traverso, paign was €671 million, dropping to 347 both teams avoided excessive punish- million euros. UEFA’s director of financial stability and million last season due to the pandemic. ment after winning appeals through the research, who in April described it as It is reported to fall to between 160 Court of Arbitration for Sport. Bumper wages “purposeless” in the post-pandemic era. million and 200 million for the next cam- A softening of rules to help clubs cope Traverso suggested new rules should paign, making it impossible for them to with the financial shock of the pandemic, Their spending on salaries has soared focus on the present and future rather give Messi a new deal. however, means neither PSG nor City – in the last year, however, since signing than punishing clubs for past excesses. PSG, by contrast, benefited from the who last week broke the Premier League Georginio Wijnaldum, Sergio Ramos and SARAH MEYSSONNIER/REUTERS UEFA declined to comment on what French soccer federation postponing re- transfer record to buy Jack Grealish for Gianluigi Donnarumma on free transfers, Lionel Messi (L) and PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi pose with the Argentine’s No.