■ Soccer
Hiddink in tax trouble
Russia coach Guus Hiddink has been summoned to appear before a Dutch court for tax evasion, judicial sources revealed yesterday. Hiddink, who led Australia at this summer's World Cup, and his financial advisor must appear in court on Sept. 15. The fraud was allegedly committed in 2002 when he returned from leading South Korea to the World Cup semi-finals, when Hiddink claimed he was paying his taxes in Belgium. Dutch authorities doubt that he had really lived in Belgium. Hiddink denied the allegations. "I am completely honest. I will show there was no fraud and this is purely an administrative matter," he said.
■ Olympics
Two athletes' medals stolen
Former field hockey captain Katrina Powell had Olympic gold medals stolen from her home, joining pole vaulter Tatiana Grigorieva as the second top Australian athlete to have medals taken in robberies. Powell, a three-time Olympian, had the medals taken during a robbery on Tuesday at her home in Perth while she was at work. The theft came after 2000 Sydney Olympics silver medal winning pole vaulter Tatiana Grigorieva had her sporting mementoes stolen at a Brisbane office, police reported on Monday. Like Grigorieva, all of Powell's medals were stored in a safe, which was taken in the robbery. Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates yesterday offered to replace both women's Olympic medals. The International Olympic Committee has molds of the medals from past Games. "I was driving to work yesterday and heard about Tatiana's medal on the radio and thought `Oh no, that's terrible,' only to come home a couple of hours later and have all of my medals gone too," Powell said.
■ Cricket
Village team out for five
An English village cricket team narrowly missed out on one of the worst scores ever recorded after they were bowled out for five, with all the runs coming from extras, British newspapers reported yesterday. No batsman from bottom-of-the-table Goldsborough Second XI managed to muster a run to their name in the match against league leaders Dishforth, who sent their opponents back to the pavilion in 12 overs. The visiting side's only runs came from four byes and a leg bye in what is thought to be the lowest score in the 112-year history of the Nidderdale and District Amateur Cricket League in North Yorkshire, northern England. The Daily Telegraph said that Goldsborough's effort was not as bad as English Midlands side Shepstone's XI, who were all out for four extras in 1931.
■ Auto Racing
Radical BMW wings banned
Formula One's governing body has banned on safety grounds the radical-looking "Twin Tower" vertical front wings used by BMW Sauber at this month's French Grand Prix. The International Automobile Federation (FIA) wrote to all 11 teams after the race at Magny-Cours expressing concern that such devices "may impair the forward and/or lateral vision of the driver." The controversial wings passed pre-race inspections in France, but BMW team boss Mario Theissen accepted on Tuesday that the team would not be allowed to use them at this weekend's German Grand Prix. "The vertical wings obviously presented a new aero solution within the rules. We, however, respect the FIA's decision to ban such elements," he said in a statement.
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