SHORT CORNER

Gattuso to quit Milan over austerity

AC Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso is to announce his resignation on Tuesday in response to spending curbs imposed by the club for the summer transfer window, Italian media reports said.

Sporting director Leonardo is also reportedly set to quit because of differences with Ivan Gazidis, the administrator brought in by US hedge fund Elliot Management which bought the club last year.

Faced with mounting debts and threatened with FIFA sanctions for breaking financial regulations, AC Milan are adopting spending curbs and seeking to boost their coffers by buying young, unproven, talents who they hope to sell later for a profit, according to several media reports.                      --Afp

Atletico sign Brazilian defender Felipe

Atletico Madrid have agreed to buy 30-year-old central defender Felipe, the Brazilian’s current club Porto announced.

In a statement released to the Lisbon stock exchange late Monday, Porto said that Atletico had agreed to pay 20 million euros ($22.4 million) for Felipe Augusto de Almeida Monteiro who joined Porto from Corinthians of Sao Paulo in June 2016, just after winning his solitary Brazil cap.

This summer, Atletico Madrid have lost their captain, the 33-year-old Uruguayan centre back Diego Godin, who said he was quitting the club after nine seasons.

Porto announced in mid-March that they had agreed to sell another Brazilian central defender, Eder Militao, a 21-year-old with two international caps, to Real Madrid for 50 million euros.                 --Afp

Spanish footballers detained for alleged match-fixing

Several Spanish footballers, suspected of being part of a gang that fixed matches in the first and second divisions, were detained on Tuesday, Spanish media reported.

Contacted by AFP, police confirmed an operation was underway but refused to give any more details.

According to several local media, those detained include a former Real Madrid player, suspected of leading the organisation, other footballers or ex-footballers in the first division as well as the president of Huesca, 19th in the last La Liga.

Suspected of fixing matches, they are accused of belonging to a criminal gang, corruption and money laundering, Spanish media reported.                  --Afp

Alves to replace Neymar as captain at Copa

Dani Alves will replace Neymar as the captain of the Brazilian national team in the Copa America, the country’s football federation (CBF) announced Monday.

“The decision was communicated to Neymar by (coach) Tite on Saturday,” CBF said in a statement about the striker, who was handed a three-match suspension for lashing out ata spectator following Paris Saint-Germain’s shock defeat by Rennes in the French Cup final earlier this month.

Eight-time winners Brazil face Bolivia, Venezuela and Peru in the group stage, which starts on June 14, after two friendlies against Qatar and Honduras.                                                                                          --Afp