■SOCCER
FIFA rules on Scotland game
Scotland will have to play a potentially crucial World Cup qualifier against Norway before the start of the Scottish club season after losing a battle to have the match switched from August to October next year. The Scots agreed last year that they would play in Norway on Aug. 19, but that international date was moved to Aug. 12 at the request of UEFA to accommodate Champions League qualifiers. Scottish officials argued for the match to be switched to October instead, but FIFA has now ruled that the game should go ahead on Aug. 12. Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith said: “We’re disappointed with the decision, but at least now the date has been clarified, Scotland supporters can finally make their travel arrangements.”
■SOCCER
Darren Anderton retires
Former England international midfielder Darren Anderton announced his retirement on Thursday. The 36-year-old is currently at League Two side Bournemouth and will play his last game against Chester City today. Anderton also played for Portsmouth, Tottenham Hotspur, Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Wanderers and won 30 caps for England. His last appearance will be the 569th game of his club career. “It’s a tough decision and Saturday will be a sad day,” he told the Bournemouth Echo.”
■RUGBY UNION
Waratahs lose Wallabies
The New South Wales Waratahs have paid a high price for the Wallabies’ win over the Barbarians on Wednesday, losing front-rowers Matt Dunning and Sekope Kepu for possibly the whole of next year’s Super 14 rugby season. Dunning ruptured an Achilles tendon in the final match of Australia’s European tour and faces six months on the sidelines, while Kepu has torn a pectoral muscle and could have a similar period out of the game, reports said yesterday. Dunning and Kepu slipped when the soft Wembley surface gave way during the same second-half scrum. The Waratahs will also be without Wallaby forwards Dan Vickerman and Rocky Elsom next year as they have left for Europe.
■SOCCER
Kenyan player goes missing
Organizers of the Homeless World Cup in Melbourne, Australia, are reportedly trying to find a Kenyan player who has been missing for a week. The man, in his 20s, has not joined his team since arriving in Melbourne on Nov. 28. Steve Persson, executive director of the event, which finishes tomorrow, said it was possible the man may seek asylum. “I guess we’d be naive not to think that it was a possibility,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio. The man, whose name was not released, has an Australian visa that is valid for another two weeks.
■SOCCER
Cop injured by brawling fans
A police officer was injured as Paris Saint Germain supporters fought among themselves during the UEFA Cup match at Manchester City. After Wednesday’s 0-0 draw that ended PSG’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout phase, a visiting fan was arrested in downtown Manchester, but later released. Inside the ground, police in protective riot gear clashed with fans and seats were ripped up. “At halftime, a small number of French supporters fought among themselves in the stadium concourse,” police superintendent Steve Nibloe said on Thursday. “During this disturbance, an officer was struck on the back with a metal bin thrown by a supporter. He suffered a minor injury and received first aid at the stadium.”
■ BASEBALL
Bonds indictment revised
Federal prosecutors in San Francisco dropped four counts of lying to a grand jury against baseball star Barry Bonds, leaving him to face trial next year on 10 counts of making false statements plus an addition obstruction of justice charge. Bonds faces the same potential sentence range — probation to roughly two years in prison — if convicted. His trial is scheduled to begin on March 2. Thursday’s indictment, the third against the MLB home run king, came in response to US District Judge Susan Illston’s decision last week ordering prosecutors to again rewrite the technically faulty indictment. Bonds was originally charged last year with four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. After a motion by his lawyers to dismiss the case, Illston ordered prosecutors to rewrite the indictment because multiple alleged lies were lumped into single charges. She agreed with Bonds’ attorney to dismiss two of the charges that were based on questions posed by prosecutors asking Bonds if he ever took steroids or received “flax seed oil stuff” because, she said, they were too vague to sustain a perjury charge. Illston also threw out another count based on Bonds’ repeated denials that he obtained human growth hormone from his personal trainer, Greg Anderson, because it too closely mirrored another charge, she said.
■BASKETBALL
Rogers reportedly paralyzed
Rodney Rogers, who starred in college and played in the NBA for 12 seasons, is paralyzed from the shoulders down as a result of an all-terrain vehicle accident, the News & Observer of Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, reported on Thursday. Dave Odom, who coached Rogers for four years at Wake Forest University, told the newspaper that his former All-America forward is paralyzed from the shoulders down. The report said the 37-year-old Rogers, who was working in his hometown for the city public works department as a heavy machine operator, was riding in the woods last week in rural Vance County when he fell off his vehicle. Chosen by Denver in the first round of the 1993 NBA draft, the rugged, Rogers averaged 10.9 points and 4.5 rebounds in 866 career games before retiring at the end of the 2004-2005 season.
■BIATHLON
Jonsson wins opener
Sweden’s Helena Jonsson won the opening event of the women’s World Cup biathlon calendar in Oestersund, Sweden, on Thursday ahead of Germany’s Kati Wilhelm and Russian Ekaterina Iourieva. Jonsson, a world champion in last year’s mixed relay event, produced a faultless shooting display on her way to winning the 15km race in 45 minutes, 5.1 seconds for her second victory on the world circuit.
■BASEBALL
Boston, Tazawa ink deal
Daisuke Matsuzaka helped the Boston Red Sox win the World Series in his first year and he won 18 games in his second. Now he’s pitching in with recruiting. The Red Sox signed their third pitcher from Japan on Thursday, adding right-handed amateur Junichi Tazawa to an organization that already included Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima. Tazawa said he spoke to his countrymen before signing the US$3.3 million, three-year deal and was impressed with the way the organization had helped them acclimate to the US. Tazawa, 22, played for four years for Nippon Oil of the Japan Industrial League. He was 13-1 with 5 saves and a 0.80 ERA this season in 21 games, 11 of them starts, striking out 114 batters and walking 15 over 113 innings and pitching four shutouts.
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
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
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two