David Beckham for PSG?

It's a done deal as far as the national daily Aujourd'hui en France - Le Parisien and the sports daily L'Equipe are concerned.

David Beckham (from Wikipedia)

British footballer David Beckham is set to sign for one of France's top sides, Paris Saint-Germain.

The cost to lure the 36-year-old to the French capital? €800,000 a month according to Le Parisien which will, not surprisingly, make him the country's best-paid player.

Since it bought a controlling interest in PSG earlier this year, the Qatar Investment Authority has been pouring money into the club, appointing former Brazilian international Leonardo as director of football and recruiting players including Argentine Javier Pastore for a reported €39.8 million.

Yes the club has money - lots of it. And the owners seem determined to make it a European footballing powerhouse - in least in terms of spending.

Beckham of course would appear to be the perfect marketing match; he has global recognition and even though he might be "getting on a bit" in terms of the lifespan of a Beautiful Game player, the wisdom and technique to share with the rest of the team.

And there's no forgetting that he comes as part of a package in the form of the glamourous jet-set couple lifestyle he and his wife Victoria lead.

That should keep media interest just as high as it already has been over the past couple of months with reports that they have been consulting estate agents for a suitable pad and private schools for their children.

What price sport - when you can pay for it?

Jeannie Longo's husband accused of buying banned EPO

It's a sad day for cycling and for sport in general when one of France's greatest cyclists is embroiled in a potential doping scandal.

But that's exactly what women's cyclist Jeannie Longo is facing at the moment.

Jeannie Longo (screenshot from BFM TV report)

It all began on Friday when the sports daily L'Équipe reported that Longo faced a possible suspension for having missed a series of random drugs tests by giving the Agence Française de Lutte contre le Dopage (the French Anti-Doping Agency, AFDL) insufficient information as to her wherereabouts.

The 52-year-old is a sporting phenomenon who just a couple of months ago won her 59th national title and whose exploits over a long career have seen her win 13 world championships and four Olympic medals, including Gold in the 1996 Road Race at the Atlanta Games.

Not surprisingly she is widely considered to be one of the greatest women cyclists of all time and in a survey conducted in August by L'Équipe magazine, the weekly supplement to the sports daily, Longo topped the list as France's favourite practising sports personality.

On Saturday though another report appeared in L'Équipe.

This time it involved Longo's husband and trainer Patrice Ciprelli who, the paper revealed, had apparently bought the banned performance enhancing drug EPO back in 2007.

The accusations were based on evidence supplied to the paper Joseph (Joe) Papp, described in the French media as an "obscure and second rate former professional road racing cyclist from the United States."

Indeed Papp is hardly an angel. He served a two-year suspension after testing positive for testosterone in 2006 and after he retired, appeared as a witness in the case against the former Tour de France winner and fellow countryman Floyd Landis.

In an interview with L'Équipe, Papp said he had sold EPO to Ciprelli but had no direct contact with Longo.

"He (Ciprelli) didn't mention her by name but I figured out the drugs were for her," he told the paper.

"In one email he said he wanted EPO for his wife, stressing all the time that he would pay for it himself and he wanted it delivered to a third party."

The paper also published copies of an alleged email exchange between the two men in which Papp appeared as the intermediary for Ciprelli in his ordering and purchasing of EPO from China.

The accusations have been taken seriously by the governing body for cycling in France, Fédération Française de Cyclisme, FFC.

On Tuesday its president, David Lappartient, announced that Ciprelli was being suspended while an investigation was launched.

"The accusations are ones that cannot be taken lightly and I think that for the sake of the French team it's important to relieve Ciprelli of his duties temporarily," he told BFM TV.

"I cannot comment on the accuracy of the so-called evidence and claims, but it seemed logical to me to take this step especially as the team is due to compete in the World Championships next week."

Those World Championships take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Longo is due to represent France in the time trials...unless the AFDL decides to open an investigation.

Virginie Razzano to play Roland Garros in memory of her fiancé

It'll doubtless be a moving moment when French tennis player Virginie Razzano takes to the court for her opening match at Roland Garros which begins on May 22.

Virginie Razzano, US Open 2009 (from Wikipedia, author Robbie Mendelson)

And the thoughts of many a home fan will be with the 28-year-old during the French Open, not because of fierce national pride but instead in support of a woman who will still be in mourning following the death of her fiancé and trainer Stéphane Vidal on Monday.

"Four or five days ago I asked him whether he wanted me to play at Roland Garros," she writes in a touching letter published in Tuesday's edition of the sports daily L'Equipe.

"He replied that I had to because he wanted me to get on with my life and continue playing for both of us."

It's very much a pattern the couple had followed for the past nine years ever since Vidal was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

They met 11 years ago when Razzano started training at a club run by his parents.

"Over time we became friends," she writes.

"And little by little, as we got to know each other better, we fell in love."

But it was a relationship overshadowed by the Vidal's diagnosis and even though he accompanied Razzano as her coach on the Tour and was always by her side, the illness took its toll over the years.

Vidal's condition worsened at the beginning of this year and although Razzano continued travelling and playing in tournaments until last month - at the insistence of her fiancé - it became clear in April that the 32-year-old was dying.

"I've never met anyone as good or as strong as Stéphane," writes Razzano.

"It's hard, but with the strength he gave me, I'm still alive."

Currently ranked 93rd in the world and competing at Roland Garros for the 14th time, Razzano might not be among the favourites to lift the title, but there's always hope.

And wouldn't it be a fitting tribute?

Fairy-tale French Cup run over for Chambéry

It was too good to last.

French side Stade Olympique de Chambéry had knocked out top-flight opposition in each of the previous three rounds of the French Cup.

But on Wednesday they waved goodbye to dreams of making it through to the semi-finals after they were resoundingly beaten by second-division side Angers Sporting Club de l'Ouest 0-3.

Kick off Chambéry v Angers (screenshot from Eurosport video)

Chambéry from the equivalent of the country's fifth division had already seen off first division Monaco, Brest and Sochaux in previous rounds and came to Wednesday's game in the hope of creating more club history.

Although it was a home tie Chambéry had decided to switch venues and the match was played in the nearby city of Grenoble at le Stade des Alpes.

With 15,000 in the stadium and more watching on television (the game was broadcast live on France 2) Chambéry held their own until the dying minutes of the first half when Henri Saivet put it Angers ahead.

Sebastien Renouard consolidated their lead in the 63rd minute, and Diego Sebastian Gomez put the result beyond any doubt in the 84th as Angers booked their place in the final four.

"Serious, practical and realistic," is how the sports daily l'Equipe described Angers' performance

And that was also how Chambéry coach David Guion described the opposition.

"I'm really very proud of my players," he said in an interview with Eurosport immediately following the team's defeat.

"Of course we're a little disappointed because when you take to the pitch it's to win," he continued.

"But I have to hand it to the opposition. They were very effective and I wish them all the best in the rest of the competition."

Guion : "Fier et déçu"

For Angers then it's a semi-final berth where they'll face a club from the first division in the shape of holders Paris Saint-Germain, league leaders Lille or Nice.

The draw will be made on Sunday.

And Chambéry?

Well their next match involves a trip to Burgundy to take on Imphy Decize in the hope, as striker Aissa Yahia-Bey told RMC radio, that the experience gained in the Cup run will also serve the side during the remainder of the season.

"It's etched forever in my mind," he said, speaking of the Cup run.

"Now we have to bounce back quickly from this defeat and win some matches in the league so that we can push for promotion. That has to be the club's goal."

France's World Cup footballers want their bonus...for a good cause

If you thought you had heard the last of the debacle that accompanied France's participation at the last World Cup in South Africa, take a deep breath and prepare yourself for the latest twist.

The players who took part in the shambles now appear to want the bonuses they had previously said they would waive.

Or more accurately, they're refusing to put pen to paper and sign the document giving up their claim to a share of sponsorship money to which they're entitled.

On Tuesday the sports daily L'Equipe revealed that the players seemed to be going back on a promise made by the former captain Patrice Evra just after the team ignominiously crashed out of the competition that, "They would be waiving all bonuses" and "wouldn't accept a centime of sponsorship money."

But that was four months ago, as the paper pointed out.

And although the Fédération Française de Football (French Football Federation, FFF) wouldn't be offering compensation, to which the players were ineligible after their first-round exit, there was still the matter of €2 million linked to sponsorship deals.

That's a figure, says the national daily Le Parisien, based on the number of international matches played in one season, and has nothing to do with the World Cup per se.

Just about now you might be thinking that those hard done by millionaires imagine they have a right to the dosh no matter how disgraceful their behaviour was on an off the pitch in South Africa.

Or perhaps you're wondering whether last week's decision by their coach during the fiasco, Raymond Domenech, to claim €2.9 million in compensation from the FFF played a part in appearing to renege on their earlier promise.

Alou Diarra, speaking during a press conference at the 2010 World Cup (snaphot from YouTube video)

But wait. There's apparently another perspective on the news, if the current captain Alou Diarra is to be believed.

He admitted later in the day during an interview with RMC radio that the players wanted to get their mitts on the dosh, in a manner of speaking because, "Contractually the FFF was obliged to hand it over. and we want to know what's going to happen to it."

But it's not for the indecent or insolent reasons implied in L'Equipe's report.

"It's a time of year when a lot of people find it hard to make ends meet," he said.

"We would like to see the money go to good causes, charities that really need it," he continued.

"It's not an action by the FFF or anyone else, but a decision taken at the initiative of the players."

Haemorrhoids cream leads to French swimmer's doping suspension

French swimmer Frédérick Bousquet has been banned from competition for two months.

Frédérick Bousquet, image - from Wikipedia, author - Fred_Bousquet.jpg: myuzeme, derivative work: Philipmj24 (talk)

On Wednesday, the reigning European 50-metres freestyle champion revealed that he has been suspended for two months after testing positive for a banned substance during a meeting in Canet-en-Roussillon in southern France in June.

On the face of it you might be thinking, "Oh here we go again, another sportsman trying to cheat his way to success".

But even though Bousquet admits he was entirely to blame for testing positive, it was down to negligence and not an attempt to hoodwink the sport's doping controls.

You see the cause of Bousquet's suspension was his use of an ointment to treat his haemorrhoids, and unfortunately for him, it contained the banned substance heptaminol.

"I've suffered from this condition for the past eight years," he said in an interview with the sports daily "L'Equipe".

"The treatment I normally use doesn't contain the banned substance," he continued.

"But just before the meeting I suffered another attack and as I didn't have any medicine with me I went to the local chemist and bought a product which can be purchased without prescription...and the rest of the story is history."

Although Bousquet's ban came into effect last month, he has apparently tried to keep a low profile in the hope that his ban would be kept confidential and that the media would not make a huge story out of it.

Now it's out in the open though, Bousquet says he's not going to try to deny what happened.

"I have no extenuating circumstances," he admitted.

"I deserve this suspension," he added. "I should have read the instructions (on the packaging)."

As the French website Le Post points out, it's hardly the first time (and doubtless will not be the last) that a high-performance athlete has resorted to what some might consider "unusual" explanations as to how he or she managed to test positive for drugs.

The suspension, handed down by the anti-doping commission of the the Fédération Française de Natation (French Swimming Federation, FFN) began on September 20, but as it only lasts for two months, Bousquet will be eligible to compete at the French championships in December.