Salzburg has hired Thomas Letsch as coach as the Austrian club seeks a turnaround ahead of the Club World Cup next year and the imminent arrival of Jürgen Klopp as head of soccer for Red Bull's group of clubs. Letsch has signed a contract through 2027 to replace Pepijn Lijnders — formerly Klopp's assistant at Liverpool — who was fired Monday with the club 10 points off the lead in the Austrian league and unlikely to advance in the Champions League. “By quickly resolving this important position, we are now able to continue to plan for as successful a rest of the season as possible without any limitations,” Salzburg's managing director of sport Rouven Schröder said in a statement. Salzburg is heading to the Club World Cup next year based on its results from previous years. It's been drawn against Real Madrid, Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal and Mexico's Pachuca in the group stage. Read: Fed Cup Football: Bashundhara Kings taste first defeat in 2nd match losing to Fortis FC by 0-2 goal Salzburg won 10 Austrian titles in a row before losing out to Sturm Graz last season. Letsch last worked for German club Bochum, where he was fired in April. Earlier in his career, the 56-year-old German was a youth coach at Salzburg and was caretaker coach for two games in 2015. Klopp is starting his new role for the Red Bull group of clubs from Jan. 1.

Eleven athletes, including three under-17 players, and a coach, who participated in the just-concluded Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games in Dhaka, were arrested  in Rajshahi on charges of ‘beating’ a police officer and ‘stealing’ his wife’s ornaments. The arrestees are Brishti Moni, 16, Jemi Akter, 14, Rimi Khanan, 17, Farhana Khandokar, 17, Sabrina Akter, 19, Dipali, 19, Papia Sarwar Purnima, 19, Khadiza Khatun, 18, Abdul Al Jahid, 16, Ali Azam, 19, Ramjan, 19, Akash Ali Mohan, 20, and coach Ahsan Kabir, 45. Belal Hossain, a relative of a minor female athlete said, the athletes and the coach returned to Rajshahi by Dhumketu Express train from Dhaka Sunday noon. Also Read: Youth Games: Rangpur, Rajshahi divisions reach women's football final Police constable Golam Kibria assaulted a female athlete while the athletes were searching for their missing luggage after the train reached Rajshahi rail station, he alleged. “He attacked another athlete as well. After they got off the train a fight erupted again,” he said. He also said railway police took them to the police station to settle the matter but later filed a case against them. Also Read: PM Hasina opens final phase of Sheikh Kamal Youth Games Gopal Kumar, officer-in-charge of Rajshahi Railway Police Station, said, police constable Golam Kibria’s wife Sultana Razia Sultana filed the case against athletes alleging that they beat up her husband and stole her gold chain. Kibria was sent to the Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital, he said. He also said that the police officer’s brother Golam Sarwar, also a witness in the case, denied any incident inside the train. “He claimed they had a dispute over getting off the train, and then a fight erupted,” said the OC. Liton Hossain, acting chief judicial magistrate of the chief judicial magistrate court of Rajshahi, sent seven of the accused athletes to jail when they were produced before the court. Women and Child repression Prevention Tribunal-2 granted the minors and women athletes interim bail till 10 am on Monday. The lawyer of the accused, Mainul Islam said, there’s no specific allegation against the minors. “Judge Md. Hasanuzzaman will give the final decision after the full hearing on Monday,” he said.    

After the debacle of missing the round of 16 at the World Cup for the first time in 44 years, Mexico said Thursday that Argentine coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino will not return for the next tournament. Martino was hired in January 2019 and finished his contract after the 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. He said after the match that he was aware a contract extension with the Mexican soccer federation was unlikely. “With a failure like this it is impossible for him to continue,” said Jaime Ordiales, Mexico’s director of national teams. “I know he is a hard worker, I´ve seen him every day, but we work for the national team and the best thing to do right now is to look elsewhere.” Read: Brazil to decide on Neymar after Cameroon match Ordiales said the federation will speak to Martino and analyze the situation in the team before making any decisions on a new coach. Uruguayan coach Guillermo Almada, who just won the Mexican title with Pachuca, is a candidate for the position. Miguel “Piojo” Herrera, who led Mexico at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, is also in the mix. Mexico usually signs their coaches through the last game of the World Cup. For years ago, after falling to beat Brazil in the round of 16, they offered an extension to Colombian coach Juan Carlos Osorio, who declined the offer. “We recognize ‘Tata’ as a great manager, with a lot of capacity and a hard worker, but when you don’t achieve good results, it is impossible (to keep him),” Ordiales said. Read: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: Morocco top Group F with win over Canada Mexico arrived in the Middle East boasting a streak of seven consecutive World Cups advancing to the round of 16. It was hoped that Martino’s experience with the national teams of Argentina and Paraguay, as well as with Barcelona, could take them to the quarterfinals. Instead, Mexico finished third in Group C behind Argentina and Poland and was eliminated in the first round of a World Cup for the first time since the 1978 tournament in Argentina.

Bangladesh spin bowling coach Rangana Herath tested positive for Covid-19 in New Zealand, team sources said on Wednesday. He is touring with the Tigers for a two-match series against the hosts starting from January 1.  Multiple sources from the Bangladesh team and BCB have confirmed the development. However, Herath has been doing well and he has no complications, sources said. READ:  Another member of Bangladesh women’s cricket team tests positive for Covid-19 Bangladesh team underwent three Covid-19 tests after arriving in New Zealand, and in the first two tests, all players and members of the coaching staff returned negative. But in the last test, Hearth came out positive. Bangladesh team members were allowed to use the gymnasium for the first time on Tuesday except for nine members who were close to a Covid-19 positive passenger while travelling to New Zealand. According to the latest development, they won’t be allowed to use the gymnasium during the quarantine period.  The players were scheduled to use the field today for practice, but due to the relentless rain, they were not able to go to the field. READ:  BCL: Central Zone eye a win as Soumya hits a ton Bangladesh team was supposed to maintain a 14-day in-room quarantine period, but the New Zealand authority cut it down to three days. The first Test of the series will take place on January 1, and the second and final Test of the series will be played from January 9. There is no limited-over match in this series.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is considering renewing the contract of national team head coach Russell Domingo till the T20 World Cup 2022. As per the ongoing agreement, Russell will remain the coach of the national team till the T20 World Cup 2021, scheduled in the UAE and Oman from October 2021, BCB President Nazmul Hasan told the media Sunday. "There is a possibility that his contract will be extended. We are likely to extend it by one year. However, we are yet to discuss it with Russell. We need to discuss it more, and after that, we will make a final decision," he added. Also read: BCB announces high-performance unit squad A one-year extension means the South African coach will continue as Bangladesh head coach till the T20 World Cup 2022, which will take place in Australia.  Russell was welcomed to Bangladesh with a Test-defeat to Afghanistan in 2019. After that, Bangladesh played 47 international matches and won 25.  The South African coach's biggest success, as the head coach of Bangladesh, came recently when the Tigers beat Australia 4-1 in a five-match T20 series. Also read: Meet Bangladesh's Full-Time Batting Coach - Ashwell Prince

Ahead of the three-match ODI series against New Zealand, Bangladesh’s head coach Russell Domnigo said he sees a great opportunity for the Tigers to beat the hosts for the first time.

Saif Sporting Club appointed Croatian Drago Mamic as their new head coach for the ongoing football season 2019-20.