The Spanish Marco Asensio, the Turkish striker from Fenerbahce, denied the need for surgery, after many news circulated about this happening soon.
There was speculation that Asensio suffered a severe knee injury and would soon undergo surgery, while Fenerbahce will play one of its most important matches of the season in the Turkish league against Besiktas on Saturday, and then open its Champions League campaign against Roma in Italy next Thursday.
The Spanish newspaper "Marca" reported that Asensio denied those widely circulated reports, stressing that he was not scheduled to undergo any surgery.
Asensio explained that he does not usually respond to this type of news, but he chose to respond now, convinced of the necessity of responding in order to reassure the fans of the Turkish team.
The newspaper added that Asensio chose to delight his club's fans with new news about his recovery, and said that he would soon return to the team, but he had not yet determined the date of his return or the extent of his readiness for the derby, on Saturday.
Fenerbahce occupies fourth place in the Turkish league standings with six points, on goal difference behind third-placed Besiktas, and by a point behind leaders Galatasaray and runner-up Gencelerbirgi.
The Turkish Trabzonspor club continues its search for a new coach for the team, after the departure of former coach Fatih Tekke from his position.
Trabzon announced Tekka's departure last Tuesday, after reaching an agreement with him regarding the termination of his contract due to the team's decline in results, its exit from the European League, and its loss to Amedspor in the last round of the Turkish League.
The Turkish newspaper Fanatek reported that Trabzonspor is strongly seeking to appoint a new coach, as its management studied many local and foreign names, before deciding to settle on hiring a new foreign coach to train the team.
She added that Ertugrul Dogan, president of Trabzonspor, hinted in his statements about his club’s direction in the process of searching for a coach when he said: “We do not have the luxury of making mistakes, and for this reason we will look into the matter intensively, but it is likely that the coach will be a foreigner. What we are doing is in this direction.”
The name of the duo, the Portuguese Sergio Conceicao and the Spanish Marcelino, was strongly raised within Trabzonspor, especially since they are not coaching any team at the present time, as they were taken into consideration during the search for a new coach.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency said that Australian Nick Kyrgios had accepted and served a reduced one-month ban under anti-doping rules, after traces of cocaine were found in a test sample he underwent at an ATP tournament, which was held in Mallorca, Spain, in June.
The agency explained in a statement that Kyrgios, who had been temporarily suspended since August 4, had enrolled in a treatment program approved by it to reduce the automatic three-month suspension penalty under the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The statement added that Kyrgios (31 years old) explained during an interview with investigators of the International Tennis Integrity Agency that his use of cocaine “occurred in a social context” during a night he spent outside the house before his match in Mallorca.
The agency consulted an independent scientific expert at a WADA-accredited laboratory, who stated that the explanation was consistent with the level of cocaine found in his sample.
The statement added: “As a result, the International Tennis Integrity Agency has accepted that Kyrgios’ use of cocaine was outside the scope of competition.”
The agency said Kyrgios' suspension will end on Thursday, provided he completes the program.
The prize money and classification points obtained from the Mallorca Championship will be confiscated.
The use of cocaine during competitions is prohibited and its use results in a temporary suspension.
Kyrgios apologized last month on social media for failing the doping test, saying he had made a “huge mistake” and took full responsibility for it.
