■ Soccer
Arsenal's Dein gets G14 nod
Arsenal chairman David Dein was on Wednesday named the new president of the G14 group which represents 18 of Europe's richest clubs. The English official, who was a unanimous choice, replaces Roberto Bettega in the role for a two-year mandate. "As G14 president, I hope to build bridges between UEFA [Europe's governing body] and FIFA [the world's governing body]," Dein said in a statement.
■ Soccer
Lawyer to contest Zizou's red
A French lawyer is to contest Zinedine Zidane's World Cup final red card in the French civil courts, a court source said on Wednesday. Mehana Mouhou, a lawyer in Rouen and Paris, wants the red card overturned on a technicality because he claims the fourth official watched video evidence of the French captain's infamous head-butt on Italy defender Marco Materazzi, before bringing it to the referee's attention. France went on to lose the World Cup final on July 9 after a penalty shoot-out.
■ Soccer
UEFA selects final venues
The 2008 and 2009 Champions League finals will be played in Moscow and Rome respectively, European soccer's governing body said on Wednesday. The UEFA Cup finals of those same years will be held in Manchester (2008) and Istanbul (2009), UEFA's executive committee said from their meeting in Slovenia, adding the 2009 European under-21 championships would be hosted by Sweden. The stadiums used in those finals will be Spartak's Luzhniki stadium, Roma and Lazio's Olympic stadium, Manchester City's City of Manchester stadium, and Fenerbahce's Sukru Saracoglu ground.
■ Basketball
Wizards tie down Grunfeld
The Washington Wizards' president of basketball operations, Ernie Grunfeld, has signed a multi-year contract extension, the club said on Wednesday. The team has made the postseason the last two years, a streak the team had not seen since the late 1980s. "From his first day, Ernie has worked tirelessly to improve our team, and everything he has done has been with an eye toward our long term success," team owner Abe Pollin said in a statement. "I'm proud of the direction our team is going, and with two consecutive playoff appearances behind us, our future looks extremely bright.?ashington was 42-40 last season and lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
■ Basketball
Shooting two to stand trial
Two men accused of shooting five Duquesne University basketball players outside a school dance were ordered on Wednesday to stand trial. Derek Lee of Pittsburgh and William Holmes of the Pittsburgh suburb of Penn Hills, both 18, face five counts each of attempted homicide and aggravated assault and one count of carrying a firearm without a license in the Sept. 17 shootings. Neither is a Duquesne student. A woman who allegedly encouraged the men, Erica Sager, 18, of the Pittsburgh suburb of Wilkinsburg, also was ordered to stand trial. The most seriously injured of the five players, Sam Ashaolu, was moved on Monday from critical care into a rehabilitation at Mercy Hospital. The other four are back on campus.
■ England
ECB wants compensation
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has requested compensation from Pakistan for the loss of revenue stemming from the forfeited fourth test in August. A Pakistan TV station reported that the ECB is attempting to claim ?800,000 pounds (US$1.5 million) from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). "The PCB will contest the claim through its lawyers," PCB chairman Shahryar Khan said on Wednesday without confirming the amount.
■ Pakistan
Younis refuses captaincy
Pakistan batsman Younis Khan has refused to lead his country in the Champions Trophy in India, a Pakistani Cricket Board official said yesterday. The official, who declined to give further details, said Younis had announced his decision at a scheduled news conference in Lahore. Younis was named as the captain after regular skipper Inzaman-ul-Haq was banned for four one-day matches for bringing the game into disrepute after Pakistan refused to take the field on the fourth day of the fourth test against England in August.
■ England
Vaughan eyes Ashes role
Michael Vaughan said yesterday he was hopeful of being fit to play a part in the Ashes series this winter. The 31-year-old has not played Test cricket this year due to a knee injury. He has begun running again and there has been talk he could play in the final two Tests. "Everything would have to go perfectly between now and then but in my mind there is a small window of opportunity," Vaughan told the Daily Mail. "I would have to make runs in Perth and, of course, I would have to stay fit," he said. "It would also depend on the state of the series and how the England management are thinking. But it is definitely what I'm aiming for and definitely a target."
Japan captain Wataru Endo on Thursday was ruled out of the FIFA World Cup with injury and announced his international retirement, three days before his team’s opener against the Netherlands. The Liverpool midfielder pulled out of the tournament after failing to recover from a foot injury and was replaced in Japan’s squad by Shuto Machino. The 33-year-old Endo said on social media that he was “frustrated” at not being able to play, but backed his team to impress in Group F, where they face the Netherlands, Tunisia and Sweden. “There will definitely come a time in the future when Japan win the World
FIFA on Friday blamed the empty seats during the FIFA World Cup match between South Korea and the Czech Republic in Guadalajara, Mexico, on fans who watched from the concourses. There were many visible empty spots at the 45,664-capacity Guadalajara Stadium, with sections in the middle of the stands showing many unoccupied spaces and with other empty seats scattered around the venue. The announced attendance was 44,985 — including FIFA president Gianni Infantino. “Official attendance figures reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment
A rotting body was found on Friday in the trunk of a car parked near the stadium where Iran’s FIFA World Cup team is training in Mexico. The gruesome discovery came with games under way in the tournament, which is being jointly hosted by Mexico, the US and Canada. Reporters watched as police in Tijuana opened the trunk of the gray Toyota SUV, which had California plates, in the parking lot of a supermarket directly across from the Caliente Stadium, where Team Melli are training as they prepare for three games in the US. Specialists in white protective suits worked
About 100 people gathered at a bar in Taipei to watch the FIFA World Cup kick off in Mexico, despite the early hour of 3am last night. All seats had been reserved before the game started, said a clerk at Brass Monkey, a bar in Taipei where customers can watch live sports broadcasts. The Group A clash between Mexico and South Africa drew supporters from multiple continents to the venue. For Misael Alanis, a Mexican student who has lived in Taiwan for two-and-a-half years, the atmosphere was just as important as the game itself. "There are a lot of Mexicans here and you can
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