A judge in Rosario, Argentina is investigating whether drug gang Los Monos (The Monkeys) "could receive a percentage of the player fee" if Argentine first division side San Lorenzo player Angel Correa is traded. One of "the first facts that activated alarm is that Correa is a native of Las Flores, a neighborhood dominated by Los Monos, as well as recorded conversations that compromise his representatives" (OLE, 8/19). ... France is to entertain Australia for the first time in an int'l football football friendly when it meets later this year. The fourth encounter between the two teams will take place at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Oct. 11, "four days before France's final World Cup qualifier at home to Finland" (REUTERS, 8/19). ... An Italian sporting court ordered Serie A club Lazio on Monday "to shut the notorious Curva Nord section of the ground for one game following racist chants aimed at Juventus players during the Super Cup" over the weekend. The Curva Nord "is the area behind the north goal in Rome's Olympic Stadium" (REUTERS, 8/19). ... The NextGen Series, the most prestigious youth tournament in European football, "has been suspended for a season amid funding problems." The suspension of the event has been described as "hugely disappointing" by organizers, who have been unable to secure sponsorship (ESPN, 8/16). ... The Korea Football Association on Monday "rejected an earlier proposal to reduce penalties on players implicated in a wide match-fixing scandal." The KFA turned away a proposal made by the K League "to downgrade penalties on 27 players" in connection with match-fixing in '11 (YONHAP, 8/19).
