■ Soccer
SA finalizes World Cup deal
South Africa and FIFA signed the final documentation to formalize the African country's hosting of the 2010 World Cup, officials said on Wednesday. The Organization Association Agreement, a document formalizing South Africa's success in the bid race in May, was signed in Zurich by FIFA president Sepp Blatter and South African Football Association president Molefi Oliphant. The signing ended two days of talks in the Swiss city between South African officials and world football's governing body. South African officials were there to present final details of their proposed organizing structures for the 2010 tournament, the first to be held on the African continent.
■ Soccer
Goor out after spitting
Belgian captain Bart Goor was suspended on Wednes-day for five matches after spitting at an opponent during the World Cup qualifier against Spain earlier this month, a penalty which could mark the end of his international career. FIFA suspended midfielder Goor for four matches and fined him US$8,300 for spitting toward Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez, FIFA said in a statement. Goor was also suspended for a fifth match for picking up two yellow cards in the Oct. 9 match, which 9-man Belgium went on to lose 2-0. The hefty sanction highlighted the seriousness with which soccer authorities are treating spitting incidents.
■ Golf
Ballesteros investigated
Severiano Ballesteros is to be investigated by the European Tour following an alleged assault on one of the tour's tournament directors at his home course Pedrena. Ballesteros is believed to have assaulted fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Zamora last month during the Spanish Amateur Champion-ship, the tour said on Wednesday. Zamora, an accomplished player who could have turned professional had he not decided to join the tour's administrative staff, won the over-35s event at Pedrena where the alleged incident was reported by the Spanish Federation.
■ SKI jump
Nykaenen to jail for assault
Finland's Matti Nykaenen, arguably the best ski jumper of all times, was sentenced to two years and two months in prison on Wednesday for assaulting a friend with a knife during a drunken brawl last summer. The case, which took all day Wednesday and wrapped up in the evening, was heard in the District Court of Tampere, an industrial hub some 175km north of Helsinki. The former ski jumping star has been in jail since he was arrested after stabbing and seriously wounding a 59-year-old man during a party at a summer cottage on Aug. 24. Charged with attempted murder, Nykaenen was handed an unsuspended sentence for aggravated assault.
■ Soccer
South Korea reaches finals
Seongnam Ilhwa ended Pakhtakor's proud home record with a 2-0 win on Wednesday that sent the South Koreans into the Asian Champions League final. The K-League title holders won the tie 2-0 on aggregate, following a goalless draw with the Uzbeki champions in the first leg of their semifinal in South Korea last week. Seongnam will take on Al Ittihad in the two-leg final on Nov. 24 and Dec. 1 after the Saudi giants overcame South Korean cup holders Chonbuk Motors 4-3 over two legs.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier