■ Soccer
Rooney to sue tabloid
Wayne Rooney is to the sue the Sun, Britain's biggest-selling daily newspaper, over a story the tabloid ran claiming the Manchester United and England striker slapped his girlfriend, Coleen McLoughlin. Rooney has instructed lawyer Keith Schilling to issue proceedings for libel (written defamation) against the Sun, his media adviser Ian Monk said on Wednesday. Rooney, 19, is alleged to have hit his girlfriend Coleen, also 19, after a row in the Brasingamens club in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, north-west England while enjoying a night out with other United stars on Sunday, April 10. He denies hitting his girlfriend. The Sun reported the story and has since claimed Rooney is in danger of losing lucrative sponsorship deals because of the bad publicity. Monk said: "I can confirm that as a result of their entirely false allegation that he hit his girlfriend, the Sun is being sued by my client."
■ Soccer
Charges after seven deaths
Officials charged with deaths Iran has charged two low-ranking officials over the deaths of seven people in a post-match crush following last month's World Cup qualifier with Japan, Iranian newspapers reported on Wednesday. The head of the stadium and the police commander in charge of security of the stadium, only identified by their last names Azeri and Hadinejad, have both been indicted, the papers said. Seven people were crushed to death as fans tried to leave the Azadi stadium on March 25 after Iran beat Japan 2-1. Another spectator died of a heart attack during the match. A further 40 were injured. The fatal incident happened when a police helicopter blocked the 60m-wide Azadi stadium main gate. As a result the crowd of several thousands was directed towards the secondary 7m-wide gates, which according to wounded and witnesses were not opened.
■ Football
Doping in NFL scrutinized
The US congressional committee that investigated doping use in Major League Baseball will turn its inves-tigation to the same problem in pro gridiron football. The panel said on Tuesday it will ask National Football League (NFL) officials and union representatives to testify at a hearing next week. "A public review of the NFL's strategy for combatting steroid use marks the next step in our investigation," said Repres-entative Tom Davis, chair-man of the House of Rep-resenatatives' Government Reform Committee. "Exam-ining the effectiveness of the NFL's policy is a key part of understanding why 500,000 high school students today have tried steroids," he said.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later