Someone has managed to outdo to rubbish Emirates Cup line-up

The Spoiler has good news for Arsenal fans who are disappointed to be facing Rangers instead of Real Madrid this summer: the Emirates Cup is no longer the worst friendly tournament taking place.

It has been reported today that West Ham, Tottenham and Hull will all go to China to face Beijing Guoan in the Premier League Asia Trophy. The tournament has previously been attended by Chelsea and Liverpool but the apparent invitation to Hull, who may not even be in the Premier League next season, suggests that they are really having to scrape the barrel this year.

Our theory is that as Premier League clubs have won each of the previous three tournaments, the organisers are trying to give the Asian entrant a strong chance of winning for a change. It also means that West Ham’s next “cup final” against Tottenham (as fixtures between the sides are mockingly referred to by Spurs fans) could actually be a cup final.

The new Macau club shop caters for fanatical dogs

Also available: the official Nemanja Vidic eye wash station and the Jonny Evans radon detector.

[The Offside]

Racism debate overshadowed by Yao Ming’s man love

As Houston Rockets star Yao Ming saw his nation on the verge of being dumped out of the Olympics at the quarter-final stage by lowly Lithuania, he tried some interesting diversion tactics.

Thanks to Rajnita for the spot.

Click here to see the full Sporno gallery

Chinese lady invents unique finishing move

Wang Jiao eventually claimed a gold medal in women’s 72kg division, and she was sure to give American opponent Ali Bernard a surprisebefore seeing her off in the quarter-finals. Originally spotted at WithLeather.

Click here to see the full Sporno gallery

Offensive photo was “appropriate”, says Olympian

You folks out there in interwebland have been going batshit crazy for the story about Spain’s ‘Chinese wink’ team photo (300+ comments so far), and it seems most of you have been waiting for an apology from the Spaniards for a few days. Instead, however, they have been protesting their innocence - Spanish NBA star Jose Calderon wrote on his website:

Clearly, most of us are ‘absolutely confused’. The whole ‘some of my best friends are Asian’ excuse is a popular choice

Here’s a medal that isn’t guaranteed to the hosts

Only a victory against Brazil in a few hours time will allow China’s football team to advance to the quarter-finals of the men’s football Olympic football event, and judging by the nostalgic snippet above (courtesy of Pies), the hosts’ pedigree suggests Ronaldinho et al will ruin the party.

(The clip is taken from Fantasy Football League in 1996, and we can only pray that Danny Baker has shelled out for a haircut and some trousers by now.)

Spoiler Olympic bonus: See a Brazilian lady score an impressive overhead kick at the Olympics after the jump…

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Basketball team find subtle way to offend their hosts

Spain (the country whose national manager referred to Thierry Henry as a ‘black shit’, whose fans greeted the England team with monkey chants and whose Formula One supporters found their own special way of welcoming Lewis Hamilton) have enhanced their reputation as world leaders in the field of racism by making ’slit-eyed’ gestures prior to participating in the Beijing basketball tournament.

Clearly, Spanish marketing executives believe the best way to promote good and services is through overt discrimination, as the snap above is actually part of an advertisement for a courier company. The posed faux-pas enjoyed a full-page in Spanish sport daily Marca, and according to The Guardian, no one involved in the advert believed it to be offensive, and they did not consider it inappropriate in light of their bid for the Olympiad in 2016 or 2020.