■ Germany
Gladbach appoint Ziege
Struggling Borussia Moenchengladbach named ex-AC Milan, Liverpool and Tottenham player Christian Ziege as director of sport on Thursday. He replaces Peter Pander who quit earlier in the day after a string of poor results. Pander's departure follows that of coach Jupp Heynckes who left just over a month ago. Ziege, 35, has been an assistant trainer at Gladbach since June 2004. Pander had come under increasing pressure at the club, who are bottom of the Bundesliga.
■ South America
Caracas earn historic win
Ivan Velasquez scored the winner as Caracas FC of Venezuela held off a furious rally by River Plate for an historic 1-0 victory in the Copa Libertadores on Thursday. It was the first time in the tournament's history that a Venezuelan club had scored in Argentina, let alone won there. The victory also snapped River's unbeaten streak of 12 victories and two draws against Venezuelan clubs, prompting whistling and booing by River fans. Velasquez showed speed and dexterity as he collected a pass from Wilson Carpintero and scored in the 10th minute.
■ Spain
Roberto Carlos to leave Real
Roberto Carlos will leave Real Madrid in June. "I'm not going to renew [my contract]." Spanish media yesterday quoted him as telling radio station Onda Cero. He pointed to Wednesday's Champions League loss to Bayern Munich as the reason for his decision. "It's a signal that God brought me to wake up, to understand that this decision is best for me," Carlos said. "I'm 33 years old and I don't deserve more suffering. I've been at this club 11 years, in which in seven-and-a-half years we won many things, but we lose one game and all of the fault has landed on me.'' Carlos blamed recent criticism and Madrid's elimination from yet another Champions League competition as the main motivation for not renewing his contract.
■ England
Wembley almost ready
Final safety checks on Wembley have been made and the keys to the world's most expensive soccer stadium will be handed over by the constructors to the owners any day now. There's even speculation that the first game to be played at the new venue will take place on March 24, with England facing Italy in an Under-21 level game. A community day is scheduled to go ahead next Saturday, with local residents allowed in to take a close-up look at the ?800 million(US$1.54 billion) stadium in northwest London. The old Wembley was demolished after staging its last game in 2000. Rebuilding costs have spiraled and the scheduled opening date has been put back several times.
■ Egypt
Ban draws condemnation
Egypt warned against racism and intolerance in Canada after a young girl was expelled from a soccer tournament for insisting on wearing an Islamic headscarf, the foreign ministry said on Thursday. Ihab Fawzi, a senior official at the ministry, met on Tuesday with Canada's deputy ambassador to Cairo, Christopher Hull, to express concern over "mounting signs of racism and intolerance in Canada" after the incident, it said. "The question of wearing the headscarf should remain a part of individual freedoms, so long as it does not harm security, public order or the values of a society," the ministry said in a statement. Hull was quoted as saying the decision was taken by a referee and did not represent the position of his government.
■ Golf
Katayama leaves his hat on
The cowboy hats that made Shingo Katayama famous are not just a fashion accessory. The Japanese golfer says they have the power to transform his game. "Once I wear my cowboy hats, I turn into the professional golfer Shingo, not like the regular human Shingo," said the world No. 30, through a translator earlier this week. "People notice it and they can cheer for me, it's good luck for me," said Katayama, in Singapore for the US$1.1 million Singapore Masters, which began on Thursday. Hoping his headwear will also add some color to what he says is usually a "quiet" sport, Katayama says he brings about 20 hats -- each with its own unique style, color and material -- to every tournament.
■ Olympics
Beijing tickets on sale soon
The line has begun to form for tickets to next year's Beijing Olympics. Nearly every newspaper in China proclaimed yesterday that a Web site had opened to register for the coveted tickets. Registration can also take place at Bank of China offices. The actual sales begin next month, and a random draw will be used for the most popular events, officials said. The initial ticket sales are limited to Chinese nationals and foreigners living in China. The first phase of sales will continue until June, and tickets will not be delivered until June next year. Organizers plan to sell about seven million tickets to the Games, and have promised to make tickets affordable. Prices for competition events will begin at 30 yuan (US$3.90) and top out at 1,000 yuan.
■ Skiing
Cuche leads Miller
Didier Cuche of Switzerland took a narrow lead over Bode Miller after the opening downhill leg in a World Cup super-combi yesterday. Cuche sped down the Olympiabakken course in 1 minute, 29.89 seconds, edging the US skier by 0.14 of a second. Mario Scheiber of Austria finished third in 1:30.07. Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, who trails Marc Berthod of Switzerland by just one point in the super-combi standings, finished ninth in 1:30.46. Berthod was 28th in 1:31.54. Benjamin Raich, the defending World Cup overall champion from Austria, placed 11th in 1:30.68. He leads Svindal 945 points to 868 in the overall standings.
■ Ice Hockey
Chris Simon ejected
Chris Simon was thrown out of the New York Islanders' loss on Thursday night after striking Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg in the face with his stick. The hit, which conjured memories of the shot Marty McSorley landed to the head of Donald Brashear seven years ago, flattened Hollweg with 6:31 remaining and left him motionless on his stomach for several minutes in the Rangers' zone. Simon was immediately ejected from the game, slapped with a match penalty for deliberate attempt to injure. While Hollweg recovered quickly and needed only a few stitches to repair a cut on his chin, Simon will likely feel the sting of his actions for quite some time.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
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
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and