■ Soccer
Player arrested over insults
An Argentine soccer player was detained after a Copa Libertadores match in Brazil on Wednesday because of alleged racist insults, local media reported. Quilmes defender Leandro Desabato was escorted off the field by police and later arrested after allegedly insulting Sao Paulo striker Grafite with racist remarks in Sao Paulo's 3-1 victory over Quilmes in Group 3 of the South American club competition. Grafite and Desabato got into an altercation in the 44th minute at Morumbi stadium in Sao Paulo after Desabato's alleged racist remarks, police agent Oswaldo Nico Goncalves said. Desabato was expected to be charged with racist insults, and could face from one to three years in prison if convicted, Goncalves said. Desabato was escorted into the locker room after the match, and then was taken to a police department for interrogation. Grafite ended up pushing Desabato during the altercation and was ejected by Uruguayan referee Martin Vazquez.
■ Golf
Eco-friendly courses touted
Golf courses can be designed in ways to provide a refuge to rare plants and animals, the German Federal Office for Nature Protection in Bonn says. Small lakes or ponds provide moisture, and the roughs -- the long grass between the fairways -- can make a home for a variety of plants and animals such as reptiles and small mammals, the office said. It has issued a brochure in partnership with the country's Golf Association providing golfers, city planners and landscape architects with advice on how to go about it.
■ Basketball
Garmin to sponsor Yao Ming
NBA star Yao Ming signed a two-year deal with consumer electronics maker Garmin International Inc to help promote the company's global positioning satellite system. The 2.29m center for the Houston Rockets is one of the most popular personalities in his native China, an exploding economy Garmin wants to tap into. Garmin, incorporated in the Cayman Islands but headquartered in Kansas City, Kansas, says it wants to use Yao to not only push the Garmin brand but expand awareness of GPS technology in general. Yao will begin appearing in print and television ads for Garmin next month. In his first ad, Yao uses the company's latest in-car navigation system to find a gas station in a remote part of southeast Texas, where his size shocks the locals. When asked if he needs directions, Yao responds, "No, I've already got them," before touching the screen of the device.
■ Auto racing
Champ Car signs promoter
The Champ Car World Series has signed a memorandum of understanding with Li Aiqing, the chairman of Beijing State-owned Asset Management Co (BSAM), to act as the promoter of the inaugural race in China in 2006. Last month, Champ Car took the first step toward putting on the race by signing a three-year agreement with Beijing Auto and Motor Sports Association to put on an event at Goldenport Motor Park. Li said that having the Olympics in Beijing definitely played a part in bringing auto racing to the area. "Specifically, we are working with the Beijing Sports Bureau to build Beijing into the sports capital of China and to be recognized worldwide as a leader in hosting international sports events," he said.
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