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Mid-Day Ticker: PSG joins Beckham suitors, Bin Hammam denied and more

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Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com

David Beckham has a few teams circling in the water for his services once his contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy expires at the end of this MLS season, and Paris-St. Germain is the latest to express an interest.

PSG's sporting director, Leonardo, who worked with Beckham when they were both at AC Milan, addressed the possibility of bringing him to France, saying that "the door is open" and that he "would always consider him." Money doesn't figure to be an issue given that PSG is run by Qatari-backed ownership.

Queens Park Rangers and Tottenham are other European teams that have already addressed a potential Beckham signing, although there's no guarantee that he bolts the United States altogether. Previous reports have suggested that the Galaxy have offered Beckham a one-year contract extension that would keep him in MLS through the 2012 season.

Here are a few more stories from around the soccer world:

BIN HAMMAM APPEAL REJECTED

Former FIFA executive committee member Mohamed Bin Hammam had the appeal of his lifetime ban rejected by the world's governing body for the sport.

FIFA denied Bin Hammam's assertions that he was not guilty of bribery, and the one-time FIFA presidential candidate has elected to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to try and overturn the verdict.

Bin Hammam, the former president of the Asian Football Confederation, was initially found guilty of bribing Caribbean voters back in July.

SION FIGHTING FOR EUROPA PLACE

FC Sion won't go down without a fight.

The club, which had been prohibited from taking part in the UEFA Europa League after being found guilty of qualifying with ineligible players, claims to have won a court ruling that is in favor of the club being included in the tournament. Even more, Sion claims that Thursday's Group I games should be invalidated, because the club should be participating in the group instead of Celtic, which was awarded a place after Sion was ruled ineligible by UEFA.

According to The Guardian, UEFA's response to the new finding was, "We are aware of this development and we are considering it but we have no comment to make."

MARADONA FALLS IN UAE DEBUT

Diego Maradona's debut as coach of United Arab Emirates outfit Al Wasl was entertaining, but ended with the Argentine legend's side falling, 4-3, to defending league champion Al Jazira.

Al Wasl battled back from a 3-1 deficit to level the score only to concede a late go-ahead goal to Brazilian striker Bare.

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Can you see Beckham joining PSG? Do you think Bin Hammam will ever have a place in world soccer again? Think Sion has any case or chance of getting a place in the Europa League? What do you make of Maradona's debut?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. How on earth is playing in Paris “a HUGE feather in his cap” for someone of his accomplishments? He’s a footballer, for crying out loud, not a pastry chef.

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  2. I actually think Beckham will take a minority stake in the Galaxy similar to what Oscar De La Hoya has with the Dynamo. Give him a title and let him do his merchandising thing once he’s done playing.

    That said, I think he’ll stick around another year.

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  3. I thought I read he would get a pay raise. But remember an extra million doesn’t mean anything to him. He won’t leave for the money, he has more than enough of that.

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  4. He’s an Adidas Athlete, so getting involved with Cosmos ain’t happening. The Cosmos are an expensive marketing tool for Nike (Umbro is owned by Nike). Besides, unless I’m mistaken his original MLS contract called him to have rights or something along those lines to purchase or have stake in ownership in a club. He definitely doesn’t need the Cosmos. No to mention they won’t have an MLS team and who knows how much longer the Cosmos will be around before Nike pulls the plug?

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  5. Becks isn’t going anywhere. He’ll take LA’s money for another year, play in the Olympics, and then I’d bet he takes a stake in the Cosmos.

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  6. At this point, there’s not much from PSG to show substantial interest in Beckham other than a vague (and possibly diplomatic) statement from his former coach that they would “consider him.” However, I don’t think that Beckham would have to twist his wife’s arm hard to persuade her to move to Paris for a year, if a good offer is made and he decides to play for PSG.

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  7. Some of the reasons why he’d come to PSG include:

    1. He’d like to represent Great Britain in the Olympics next year and this might help the cause by being closer to England and playing in a top league with a good club.

    2. Beckham gets another feather in his cap having played in major cities like Madrid, Milan and currently Los Angeles. Playing in Paris would be a HUGE feather in his cap and puts more Euros in his pocket.

    3. He knows Leonardo and what’s going on in Paris. THE PSG project is a good thing and despite having owners who aren’t afraid to spend the money, none of it has been spent stupidly to date when it’s come to getting players. Couple this with the number of players the club produces and it’s only a good thing. Alot of PSG fans are a bit patient with the project, so the pressure is no where near what it was for him when he played at the other clubs, except for the Galaxy.

    4. He’s got homes in who knows how many places, so having an apartment or house in Paris wouldn’t be bad and not much of a difference for him.

    I hope he comes to Paris, it would be a great fit and I’ve always liked him as a player.

    Funny thing is that when he got to the Galaxy alot of people had written him off but 5 yrs later he’s still hot stuff in Soccer and wanted by many clubs not only to put butts in seats and sell jerseys but because he can still play.

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  8. I think Beckham likes LA and has settled his family there. Would he leave to go play in France or England one year, being away from his family? I don’t see it. He has nothing left to prove at this point. Why leave LAG if they’re offering you another contract?

    I’m sure he’s flattered, but I don’t see him leaving unless its to Man U. which isn’t happening.

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  9. Beginning to wonder if LA is going to be forced to increase a year or two on their offer in order to increase their chances of him staying put.

    In fact, I’m actually quite surprised they haven’t, considering how often they’ve bent over for him in the past.

    Reply

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