■ SOCCER
Van Basten to join Ajax
Marco Van Basten will leave his job as Dutch national team coach after Euro 2008 and take charge of Ajax, the club announced on Friday. Van Basten has signed a four-year deal and will take John van't Schip and Rob Witschge, two of his assistants with the Dutch team, with him. "The new staff will be presented to the media on March 5. We are very happy," said Ajax technical director Martin Van Geel. "They represent three former great players, they are all ambitious and want to restore Ajax to the highest level in Holland and in Europe." Van Basten will succeed Adrie Koster who took charge of Ajax on a caretaker basis following the departure of Henk ten Cate.
■ SOCCER
Japan files China protest
Japan have filed a formal protest against hosts China for "dangerous" play after a number of players were hurt in heavy challenges during their East Asian championship clash, a Japanese team spokesman said yesterday. Delegation chief Kuniya Daini handed in the petition to the East Asian Football Federation on Friday, Futoshi Nagamatsu said. Japan's Michihiro Yasuda was sent sprawling by a flying kick from China's goalkeeper Zong Lei, while defender Li Weifeng grabbed winger Keita Suzuki by the throat in the match on Wednesday. Playmaker Yasuhito Endo also received a kick to the thigh which left him writhing on the floor. The petition also asked the federation to examine dubious decisions by North Korean referee Song O-tae during the match, Nagamastu said. Song booked four Chinese players but did not send anyone off.
■ BASKETBALL
Zagreb cancel Belgrade trip
Croatian champions Cibona Zagreb canceled a trip to Belgrade on Friday after Croatia's foreign ministry said it would be too risky in the light of recent unrest in both countries. Rioters in Belgrade attacked several foreign embassies on Thursday, including Croatia's, after a mass rally against Western support for Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia last Sunday. A group of Croatian soccer fans burnt the Serbian flag in Zagreb's main square on Thursday and police arrested 44 people. Cibona were already halfway to Belgrade when they were advised to turn back. They were due to face top Serbian team, Partizan Belgrade, in a regional championship game yesterday. Partizan president Djordje Colovic told Serbian news agency Tanjug the safety of Croatian players was not at risk.
■ SOCCER
Fans unfurl racist banners
French soccer's determination to stamp out racism was greeted with jeers on Friday when fans of second division Bastia unfurled hate-filled banners attacking one of their opponents' black players. Jean-Pierre Hugues, the director of the country's professional soccer league, denounced the banners, aimed at Boubacar Kebe, as having a "racist and homophobic character. It was unacceptable that with these banners being shown, stadium officials had to be asked to take them down otherwise the match would not start." Kebe had already been the target of racist taunts when the teams met earlier this season. He reacted to the abuse by making a one-finger gesture to his tormentors and was red-carded as a result. A loudspeaker announcement pleading for racist chants on the terraces to be halted was greeted with whistles from the Bastia supporters.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but