■ SOCCER
Talks aim for unified team
Talks sponsored by the world game's governing body have begun to try to create a unified national team for the divided island of Cyprus. The presidents of the official Cyprus Football Association, representing the Greek Cypriot side, and the unofficial Turkish Cypriot Football Association met at FIFA headquarters in Zurich last week, the body said yesterday. The Cyprus national team recruits players only from the Greek Cypriot side of the island, which has been divided since Turkey invaded the north in 1974. Only Turkey recognizes the state subsequently declared by the Turkish Cypriots in the northern part. FIFA only recognizes the Greek Cypriot association because the world body's statutes forbid competing associations. That means teams and players from the Turkish-Cypriot side are prohibited from taking part in official international matches.
■ SOCCER
North Koreans avoid shops
A North Korean official at the Women's World Cup tournament in China has played down his side's reticence in dealing with the media, while explaining that the team did not go shopping like others because it wasted energy. Explaining the North Koreans' preference for a low profile, the squad's general manager Kim Jong-su said they found the media a distraction. "Our coach isn't against doing interviews per se, he just prefers not to because he feels they can be distracting," Kim told Fifa.com. The players also preferred the quiet approach when it came to relaxing away from soccer. "We believe that we can only compete to the best of our ability if we conserve our energy for when we need it," Kim said. "Shopping does not help anyone to relax. On the contrary it merely distracts the players' attention, and is an unnecessary waste of players' physical and mental strength and energy." North Korea were knocked out in the quarter-finals.
■ HOCKEY
Star hurt in freak accident
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle will miss up to six weeks after surgery to repair tendons in his left wrist that were cut in a freak locker room mishap. Boyle, who was second in goals among NHL defensemen last season, suffered the injury on Saturday night when a skate fell off a hook in his locker and cut his wrist, completely severing the tendons. Boyle scored 20 goals and recorded 43 assists, finishing fourth in points among defensemen in 82 games last season.
■ SOCCER
Ex-Brazil striker in hospital
Former Brazil striker Casagrande was in stable condition in an intensive care unit on Sunday after being injured in a car accident, doctors said. Casagrande, one of Brazil's strikers during the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, was taken to hospital with head trauma and other injuries after the car he was in rolled over and struck several parked vehicles late on Saturday night in Sao Paulo. Casagrande's girlfriend also had to be hospitalized because of a back injury, the Albert Einstein hospital said in a statement. Casagrande, who was unconscious when he was admitted to the hospital, would remain under observation for an undetermined period, doctors said in the statement. "His prognosis is good," doctor Artur Timerman told the G1 Web site, adding that exams showed the player's head injury was not serious. Authorities were still investigating what caused the accident.
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