■ BANGLADESH
Players booted out
Seven Cameroonian players arriving to play in the country's professional league were kicked into touch by airport officials yesterday. Immigration officers said the players were refused entry and sent home because they had not presented valid documents on their arrival from Dubai. "They had no visa granted by any Bangladesh embassy abroad and also could not show invitations from any Dhaka soccer club in order to attain their arrival visa," said an airport official. A number of African players have been plying their trade in Bangladesh since the country launched a professional league last year.
■ ITALY
Court overturns penalty
Serie A strugglers Cagliari are off the bottom of the table after the federal court of justice overturned a three-point penalty imposed on the Sardinians. Cagliari had been docked points following a dispute with the Italian Football Federation (IFF) after the club took legal action against former player Gianluca Grassadonia, who in a newspaper interview accused Cagliari of doping violations and of having ties to groups of violent supporters. Under IFF rules, however, clubs are obliged to either take their complaints before a sports tribunal or seek IFF clearance before taking such legal action. The Federal court's decision means that in-form Cagliari are now only goal difference away from escaping the bottom three. Empoli now prop up the table with 26 points, behind Reggina on 27 and Cagliari and Livorno on 28.
■ CHINA
Coach fired by e-mail
The Frenchwoman charged with leading China's women's team to the Beijing Olympics has been fired by e-mail, local media reported yesterday. Elisabeth Loisel, who took over as coach in October, had a brief and troubled reign marked by poor results and disputes with Chinese Football Association (CFA) staff. The coach told the China Daily from France that she had received an e-mail from the CFA saying her services were no longer required and had cancelled her planned return to China. "I had doubts when I received the e-mail, so I decided to go to China according to the schedule," she told the paper. "But I knew the truth at the last moment that the e-mail had actually been sent by the CFA. So I think it would not make any difference if I went to China." Shang Ruihua, 64, will return to the post he last held in the early 1990s and oversee preparations for August's Beijing Olympics, the paper said.
■ BOLIVIA
Amateur club signs Morales
President Evo Morales has signed with a minor league soccer club in La Paz. The 47-year-old Morales is listed as a reserve player for Litoral, an amateur second-division squad organized by the Bolivian National Police, La Paz Soccer Association official Renato Arellano said on Wednesday. Litoral can earn promotion to Bolivia's top professional league if they manage to win a long series of qualifying tournaments this year. As a young man, Morales' soccer skills helped drive his rise to the presidency of Bolivia's largest coca-growers' union, a post that launched his political career. Since his 2005 election as Bolivia's first indigenous president he has regularly played in practice matches with his palace staffers and retired Bolivian stars. Morales has been an outspoken critic of FIFA's ban on high-altitude games, which prevent Bolivia from playing internationals in La Paz.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
Taiwan’s world No. 6 shuttler Chou Tien-chen yesterday defeated India’s H.S. Prannoy to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open in Changzhou. It was former world No. 2 Chou’s eighth win in 14 matches against Prannoy, who had earlier this week lamented the age divide between him and up-and-comers, although he is only two years younger than 35-year-old Chou. The Taiwanese, who is seeded sixth at the tournament, rebounded from a close 21-18 loss in game 1 on Court 2 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. He bounced back to take the next games 21-15, 21-8 and set up a tough quarter-final
The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday acquired Taiwanese-American outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations to fill the roster after All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe was placed back on the injured list. Fairchild was designated for assignment by the Braves on Monday after hitting .216/.273/.333 in 28 games for Atlanta, with most of his work coming as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He joins Tampa Bay as a versatile fourth outfielder option. To make room for Fairchild on the 40-man roster, the Rays transferred relief pitcher Manuel Rodriguez (forearm strain) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day
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