Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has been told he must take an extended break from soccer after surgery on a depressed fracture of his skull and warned that a premature return could be fatal.
The Czech international was still in hospital on Monday after undergoing surgery to repair damage caused in a collision with Reading's Stephen Hunt during an English Premiership match on Saturday.
However, later on Monday Chelsea -- whose squad visited the goalkeeper in hospital on Monday -- issued a statement saying that he was fully conscious and his condition was improving.
"Chelsea Football Club is pleased to confirm that Petr Cech's condition is improving," read the statement. "He is now fully conscious following the operation and the effects of the anesthetic. He is communicating and talking with his wife Martina as well as the Chelsea and hospital medical teams who have now given permission for visitors."
Hunt's knee connected with the goalkeeper in the first minute of the match after Cech had come out of his goalmouth to gather the ball at the feet of an opponent moving at full pace.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho claimed after the match that Hunt had gone into the challenge "with intent," and the London club have voiced their concerns over the challenge in a letter to the soccer Association.
But Hunt insisted again on Monday that the contact with Cech had been accidental.
"I can guarantee that I did not attempt to injure Petr, and I'm very upset that the collision has resulted in such a bad injury," the Irishman said.
The FA was reviewing video footage of the incident but any action against Hunt is unlikely because of the difficulty of proving intent and the fact that most observers have judged that the clash was made inevitable by the momentum of the two players.
Mike Riley, the referee at the match, could however find himself in the disciplinary spotlight. The official appeared to under-estimate the seriousness of the injury suffered by Cech, 24, and ordered him to crawl off the pitch before he could receive treatment.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite