■ SCOTLAND
Things look grim for Gretna
Gretna’s future looked in doubt on Tuesday after the club resigned from the Scottish Football League (SFL). Heavy debts had forced the club into financial administration in March. Gretna shot from non-league soccer to the top flight between 2002 and last year and reached the 2006 Scottish Cup final. Gretna have been struggling to survive since owner Brooks Mileson fell ill in March and was forced to withdraw his financial support. The club was deducted 10 points while being forced to let players go and was relegated from the Scottish Premier League to Division One. Gretna were demoted to the third division by the SFL after the club could not guarantee it could complete another season in the first division.
■BULGARIA
Debts cost CSKA dear
Champions CSKA Sofia were refused permission to compete in next season’s Champions League by governing body UEFA on Tuesday because of unpaid debts. The decision provoked a violent reaction from CSKA fans, who booed and pelted club president Alexandre Tomov with plastic glasses and bottles during a press conference. “CSKA Sofia has not received its permit from UEFA to compete in European club competitions,” anounced Krassin Krastev, who works for the licensing committee of the Bulgarian soccer federation. While the club, who were due to compete in the Champions League third qualifying round, have appealed to UEFA to extend their deadline, Tomov having announced that the debts could be paid off by today, they had yet to get a response. They also risk being demoted to the Second Division according to the executive director of the national soccer federation Borislav Popov, who said that the club owed money to the Government and banks for the past three years and that wages and transfer fees had not been settled.
■ENGLAND
Villa promote kids’ charity
Aston Villa are forgoing a lucrative shirt sponsor to promote a children’s charity.The Premier League club has followed the lead of FC Barcelona’s free tie-up with UNICEF. Villa will publicize the work of Acorns children’s hospices in central England on its claret and blue jerseys after a multimillion dollar deal with an Internet gaming company expired. “Yes, the shirts have monetary value, but they also have emotional value to fans and this is something to give back to them,’’ said Duncan Riddle, the club’s head of community relations. Villa are the first Premier League club to shun a lucrative sponsorship deal. “Real credit must go to Aston Villa for being the first Premier League club to use their shirt sponsorship to highlight their charity partnership with Acorns,’’ Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said.
■GERMANY
Massive win triggers probe
A suspicious 54-1 win in a weekend lower-league match in the Cologne area is to be probed, local news reports said on Tuesday. Rheinkassel-Langel II claimed the controversial win over DJK Loewe II which earned them promotion into a higher tier on goal difference from Germania Nippes II, whose 10-0 win at Ditib-Tuerk II turned out to be in vain. Germania were 37 goals ahead of Rheinkassel before the final round. But Rheinkassel made up the deficit, with 41 of the 54 goals scored in the second half alone. “This is a shame. Such a result cannot stand. Anyone involved in football must have doubts,” said local soccer official Hermann-Josef Schmitz who announced an investigation.
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Cycling great Marianne Vos won the opening stage of the women’s Tour de France with a brilliant late attack on Saturday. The 38-year-old Dutchwoman overtook her Visma–Lease a Bike teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot approaching the line, and then held off Mauritian rider Kim Le Court in the closing meters of a grueling uphill finish. Ferrand-Prevot looked set to win the stage, but the Frenchwoman attacked too early from 600m and could not withstand the late surge from Vos, who punched the air with her left fist as she crossed the line. Moments later, Vos hugged an exhausted-looking Ferrand-Prevot, the Paris-Roubaix winner. “I didn’t know if
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
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