Van Persie refuses to go on pre-season tour as City, United and Juventus lodge £15m bids

Manchester United and Manchester City have made £15million bids for wantaway Arsenal striker Robin van Persie, who has refused to join his team-mates on the pre-season tour of the Far East.

The Premier League giants have been joined in the race for the Dutchman's signature by Juventus who have also made an official approach.
Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed United's bid after touching down in Cape Town during their summer tour.
He told MUTV: 'Obviously Arsenal have given out the fact that we've made a bid for him. We try to keep business as close as possible to us until the moment we conclude a deal. There's no point talking about something that might not happen.

Which was it out? Robin van Persie chats to Theo Walcott on Friday

On his way: Van Persie was all smiles in training amid his exit plans

 

'There are other clubs interested in the player. We've shown an interest and that's where we're at at the moment.'
Van Persie trained with his Arsenal team-mates on Friday morning and looked relaxed.

Arsenal are holding out for at least £20m for Van Persie, whose contract expires next summer.
Manager Arsene Wenger wants a quick resolution to the Van Persie saga so he can either prepare for the new season with the Dutchman in his plans or have enough time to find a replacement.
Arsenal had been adamant their captain will make the trip to Malaysia on Saturday, but he will now remain behind, which surely signals the beginning of the end of his Gunners career.

Interest: Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson arrives in Cape Town on Friday

Arsenal fly to Kuala Lumpur on Saturday for a three-match tour. Arsenal play City at the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing next Friday.

Sportsmail understands Wenger and his scouting team have spoken at depth about a move for Spain forward Fernando Llorente should their talisman leave.
The 27-year-old - who scored 28 goals for Bilbao last season - has a £28million release clause written into his contract.
And Wenger would use the £20m-plus from Van Persie's sale in his attempt to lure the striker.

New man: Olivier Giroud trained with Arsenal on Friday as he settles in at the club

Wish you were here? Arsenal target Fernando Llorente and his girlfriend in Ibiza

At 6ft 5ins, Wenger believes Llorente has the physical attributes and ability on the ball to deal with the rigours of English football.
But whether Bilbao would be willing to negotiate a deal below his hefty release clause remains unclear.
In addition to Llorente, Fiorentina Stevan Jovetic and Borussia Dortmund's Robert Lewandowski have also been discussed as possible replacements for Van Persie.

Sydney 2000 Olympics: IOC awards Nigeria 4×400 metres Gold medal

After 12 years, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has officially re-awarded Nigeria with the gold medal in the 4×400 metres relay event of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
The Nigerian team which was made up of the late Sunday Bada and Jude Monye, Clement Chukwu as well as Enefiok Udo-Ubong were initially given the silver medal, but after a meeting of the IOC’s executive board, Nigeria was elevated as the winners with Jamaica taking silver and the Bahamas winning the bronze medal.
Nigeria takes the gold originally won by the United States, who has been disqualified owing to the late Antonio Pettigrew’s confession, to having taken performance enhancing drugs at the time of the games.
The IOC also stripped American Crystal Cox of her gold medal, which she won for the 4×400 meters relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Cox, the Athens relay alternate, was banned for four years in 2010 for using performance-enhancing drugs. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency had said Cox had used prohibited anabolic agents between 2001 and 2004.
The IOC’s Executive Board, however, did not make any decision on the other relay runners in the team, saying it was up to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to decide if all the runners on the U.S. team would be stripped of their medals.
Russia were second in that race and Jamaica won bronze. Britain finished fourth. Should the IAAF decide, as it has done in similar cases, to strip the medals from all team athletes, these countries will be moved up to gold, silver and bronze.
The other members of the US 4×400 team for 2004 games were Monique Henderson, Monique Hennagan, Sanya Richards and Deedee Trotter.
Pettigrew, who committed suicide in 2010, had been disqualified in 2008 from the 4x400m race in Sydney where the United States won gold with a team that which included Michael Johnson and the 400m race where he finished seventh. Pettigrew had admitted to doping.
The IOC had delayed reallocating the medals, awaiting any new information from an on-going investigation into an American doping scandal.