■ Soccer
Scotland coach resigns
Berti Vogts has resigned as Scotland coach after two-and-a-half years in charge, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) said on Monday. "The Scottish FA confirms that Berti Vogts has today offered his resignation as Scotland's national coach. His resignat-ion has been accepted by the Scottish FA Board and he leaves his position by mutual consent," the SFA said in a statement. Vogts, who led his native Germany to victory at Euro 96, had been under increasing pressure after a poor start to Scotland's World Cup qualifying campaign when they picked up just two points from their first three games. Former Rangers and Everton manager Walter Smith and ex-Southampton coach Gordon Strachan are among the men tipped to take over.
■ Soccer
Mutu doesn't want to quit
Disgraced Romanian international Adrian Mutu, who faces an FA hearing tomorrow after being sacked by Chelsea following a positive test for cocaine, says he has no intention of quitting soccer. "Mr. Mutu intends to accept whatever is the outcome of the FA hearing and to work hard to return to the game, if banned, as a stronger player all-round, and at the highest possible level," said a statement from his lawyers Campbell Hooper on Monday. "Our client sincerely regrets having taken a prohibited substance. Although he believes and appreciates that this behavior was unacceptable, he had been suffering severe personal difficulties at the time." Mutu was sacked by the Premier League club last month for gross misconduct after he tested positive for the drug.
■ Soccer
Bert Trautmann gets OBE
German goalkeeper Bert Trautmann, who famously played in the 1956 FA Cup final for Manchester City with a broken neck, on Monday received the Order of the British Empire honor from Britain's ambassador to Germany, Sir Peter Torry. Trautmann, 82, made a stunning transformation from Prisoner of War (which brought him to Britain) to fan favorite at Manchester City and English Footballer of the Year in 1956. "I am proud and feel very honored," Trautmann said. "It is a great honor but not the most important thing in life." Trautmann's hiring by City just four years after the end of World War II in 1949 led to an outcry and massive protests. But Trautmann won the hearts of the fans with strong showings and his Cup final heroics in 1956 when he played the last 15 minutes of Manchester City's 3-1 win at Wembley over Birmingham City. A few months later Trautmann became the first non-English player to win the Footballer of Year award.
■ Athletics
Not guilty, says Kenteris
Greek doping suspect Kostadinos Kenteris said early on Monday he was looking forward to facing possible charges over avoiding a pre-Olympics drugs test, seeing it as a chance to prove his innocence. "If a decision is taken to have charges filed against me, I will accept it gladly," the 200m sprinter told Greek private television station Alter. "A prosecution means that the case will be cleared ... I want to go to the end and then we'll see who's right and who isn't," said the 2000 Sydney Olympics champion. Athens prosecutors Spyros Mouz-akitis and Athena Theodor-opoulou, and senior pros-ecutor Dimitris Papangel-opoulos is widely expected in the coming days to file charges against Kenteris and training partner Ekaterini Thanou.
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
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
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