■ Soccer
Platini confirms candidacy
Former France captain Michel Platini has confirmed his candidacy for the presidency of European soccer's governing body. French soccer federation chief Jean-Pierre Escalettes officially announced Platini's candidacy in a letter on Monday to UEFA secretary-general Lars-Christer Olsson. The elections will be held in January next year. Platini, 51, will challenge incumbent Lennart Johansson, the 76-year-old Swede who has headed UEFA since 1990. Platini is a member of the UEFA and FIFA executive committees.
■ Soccer
Arnold missing stars
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold said on Tuesday he will be forced to field an under-strength Socceroos side in Asian Cup qualifiers next month because his overseas stars cannot escape club commitments. Australia takes on Kuwait in Sydney on Aug. 16 and Lebanon in Adelaide on Aug. 31 in its bid to qualify for the finals of the Asian Cup in July next year. But Arnold said the European-based players who took Australia to the second round of the World Cup finals will likely be unavailable, as the games coincide with the early rounds of competitions such as the English Premier League. As a result, Arnold said the bulk of his team for the qualifying matches in Adelaide on August 16 and 31 would come from Australia's domestic A-League competition. "As far as the next two Asian Cup qualifiers go against Kuwait and Lebanon, it looks like the players will have to come from the A-League," Arnold told Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
■ Discus
Sadova banned for doping
Olympic discus champion Natalya Sadova of Russia has been banned for two years for a doping offense, the world governing athletics body IAAF announced late on Monday. Sadova, 34, tested positive for the steroid methandienone at a May 28 meet in Hengelo, Netherlands. The 2004 gold medalist did not dispute the positive test, but blamed contaminated food supplements for the result. She is banned until July 7, 2008. It was Sadova's second positive doping test. She was stripped of her 2001 world title after testing positive for caffeine at the Edmonton event.
■ Ice Hockey
Gainey stays with Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens signed general manager Bob Gainey to a three-year contract extension on Monday. Gainey, who won five Stanley Cups as a player with the Canadiens, took over as general manager in 2003. He took over as coach in January after sacking Claude Julien and guided the struggling team to the playoffs where they lost the Eastern Conference quarterfinals to the Carolina Hurricanes, who went on to win the Stanley Cup. "We are very happy that Bob Gainey has extended his association with the Montreal Canadiens, leading to the franchise's Centennial Year in 2009-2010," Canadiens President Pierre Boivin said on the team's Web site.
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