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Mid-Day Ticker: Berlusconi sentenced, Kagawa sidelined and more

By FRANCO PANIZO

As if things could not get any worse for AC Milan.

Currently near the bottom of the Serie A table, AC Milan will now have to deal with the distraction that is sure to come from team president Silvio Berlusconi being sentenced to four years in prison. Berlusconi was given that sentence by an Italian court on Friday for tax fraud in connection with the purchase of broadcasting rights by his television company. He can appeal the ruling two more times before being given a definitive sentence.

AC Milan are currently in the midst of one of their worst starts in team history. The Rossoneri currently sit in 15th place in Serie A with just seven points from eight games.

Here are more stories from around the world of soccer to get you through the day:

KAGAWA OUT UP TO 4 WEEKS WITH KNEE INJURY

Manchester United will be without one of their more dangerous weapons for approximately the next month, as midfielder Shinji Kagawa has been ruled out three to four weeks with a left knee injury. Kagawa suffered the knock in Manchester United’s Champions League win over Braga on Tuesday. The injury will also force Kagawa to miss Japan’s World Cup qualifier next month.

NAPOLI, CANNAVARO FACE MATCH-FIXING ALLEGATIONS

Italian soccer’s black eye just refuses to heal. There have once again been allegations of match-fixing and this time the suspected players were ones who played or play for Napoli. Free agent goalkeeper Matteo Gianello has been accused of trying to fix the outcome of Napoli’s Serie A game against Sampdoria in 2010, and defenders Gianluca Grava and Paolo Cannavaro are accused of failing to report the incident after being approached to try and help fix the outcome. Like Gianello, former Napoli coach Silvio Giusti is accused of trying to fix the result.

FOUR USWNT ON LIST FOR FIFA PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Chances are that a U.S. Women’s National Team player will win the FIFA Player of the Year award in 2012. Four Americans made the shortlist of 10 players for the award, and they are Olympic gold-medal winners Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd. Others on the list include Christine Sinclair of Canada and Brazil’s Marta. The award will be cut down to three candidates on Nov. 29 before the winner is revealed on Jan. 7.

LAMPARD TO MISS THREE WEEKS

Frank Lampard will be on the shelves for up to the next three weeks after suffering a calf injury in Chelsea’s loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League play earlier this week. The 34-year-old midfielder sustained the knock in the first half of the 2-1 defeat to Shakhtar, and he is the only Chelsea player not healthy enough to take on Manchester United this Sunday.

WOLFSBURG PARTS WAYS WITH MAGATH

Wolfsburg’s dismal start to the Bundesliga campaign has cost manager Felix Magath his job. Wolfsburg announced Thursday that Magath had offered to step aside after leading the club to a 1-5-2 start to the season, which currently has Wolfsburg in last place, and the Wolves took him up on that. Assistant coach Lorenz-Gunther Kostner will serve as interim manager.

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What do you make of Berlusconi’s sentencing? Think Man Utd will not miss a beat without Kagawa? Do you see Wolfsburg rebounding from their dreadful start?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Agreed. How much do you think the Guats even made on their little scandal? I bet it was nothing compared to even one of the italian jobs. Give all of these guys lifetime bans send the club down to the 4th division like Rangers was for spending too much. FIFA looks so wildly corrupt when viewed form the outside it is unbelievable. Parity in Punishment

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  2. Sadly, it seems as if you could set your watch (or at least your calendar) by the revelations of match-fixing in Italy. The discrepancy between the punishments recently handed out to the Guatemalan players and the wrist-slaps generally given the match-fixers in Italy is striking and bewildering.

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  3. Anyone caught match-fixing in Italy should have a lifetime ban. If we make the punishments severe enough, it’ll give the players something to think about before they tarnish the reputation of the game.

    I never thought i’d say this,but…Italy, follow Guatemala’s example! It’s laughable how much they’re tarnishing their own reputations.

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