■ Soccer
Fan fined for racism
A British football fan was fined ?1,000 (US$1,818) on Wednesday and banned from soccer matches for five years after pleading guilty to racially abusing Birmingham City striker Dwight Yorke at a game against Blackburn Rovers. Police said Jason Perryman, 22, admitted in court to charges of racially aggravated offences against Yorke. A second man, David Ashcroft, 21, denied the same charges at Blackburn Magistrates Court and has been released on bail pending a pre-trial preview on Dec. 22. Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce said after Sunday's Premier League match at Ewood Park that Yorke had suffered monkey chants similar to those faced by England's black players during last week's 1-0 friendly defeat in Spain.
■ Hockey
Players get lock-out pay
The National Hockey League Players' Association will begin issuing lockout pay to more than 730 players. Payments will start this month, and players will get US$10,000 each for this month and another US$10,000 for next month, with subsequent monthly payments varying between US$5,000 or US$10,000, The Canadian Press reported. "As a result of the ongoing owners' lockout, the NHLPA executive committee has announced a player stipend plan which consists of an initial 24-month schedule and monthly payments for over 730 locked-out players," Ted Saskin, NHLPA senior director, said in a statement. "Each locked-out NHLPA member receives the same monthly payments." The National Hockey League club owners imposed a lockout on the players 70 days ago, refusing to let the season begin without a collective bargaining agreement.
■ Basketball
Carmelo almost ripped-off
A lawyer and two ex-convicts remained in a New York jail after being arraigned on charges of trying to use a videotape of a fistfight to blackmail Denver Nuggets basketball star Carmelo Anthony for US$3 million. The videotape supposedly depicts the Nuggets forward in a fight with someone after a dispute involving his girlfriend inside Club Babalu on West 44th Street on Sept. 13. Rodrigo Sanchez, 36, a lawyer who lives in South Orange, New Jersey, and Santos Joubert, 29, and Jason Pabon, 26, both of the Bronx, were held after arraignment on Wednesday in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of grand larceny and possession of stolen property. The three were arrested after a meeting on Tuesday inside the Trump International Hotel where a check for US$1.25 million was given to Pabon by an undercover detective.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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