■ SOCCER
Spurs unveil stadium plans
Tottenham Hotspur unveiled revised plans for their new stadium yesterday that now include a hotel and public spaces built alongside it. The new ground, to be built almost exactly on the site where White Hart Lane now stands, will have a capacity of 58,000, the club said in a statement. It will include a dedicated space for community events, such as street markets, performers, an ice rink or educational activities and a second smaller, quieter space. The development now also includes a hotel, which “will provide a further economic boost for the area,” the club said. The plans will be shown to the public between today and next Tuesday. Club chairman Daniel Levy said: “Too often new stadiums are surrounded by empty, dead space and we did not want that in Tottenham. Instead ... we have embraced the opportunity to create something truly special for local people.”
■ SOCCER
Dalmat charged with assault
Sochaux captain Stephane Dalmat was charged on Tuesday with assaulting his wife and a policeman, a spokesman at the Paris prosecutors’ office said. Dalmat, who plays in midfield for the struggling Ligue 1 team, was released on bail and will appear before a Paris court on May 27. The 30-year-old was arrested early on Monday on the exclusive Champs Elysees avenue in central Paris after he was seen hitting his wife. He punched the policeman who intervened, the prosecutors’ spokesman said, adding that Dalmat was drunk at the time. “Obviously, he will be punished, sportingly and financially,” Sochaux coach Francis Gillot told reporters on Tuesday. “But we have two months left to escape relegation and we will need everybody, including Stephane Dalmat.”
■ SOCCER
Maicon out for several weeks
Inter’s Brazilian defender Maicon will be out of action for several weeks after injuring his right leg in Sunday’s World Cup qualifier draw in Ecuador, club doctor Franco Combi said on Tuesday. Combi told the Inter Web site that Maicon had suffered” a serious injury to his right leg,” without elaborating. He added that Brazil doctor Jose Luis Runco would treat the player until he returned to Italy in around 10 days. Italian media said that Maicon, a regular under Inter coach Jose Mourinho scoring five times in 40 games, would not be back in action before the final two or three matches of the season.
■ CYCLING
Kohl’s manager arrested
Banned Austrian cyclist Bernhard Kohl’s former manager was arrested on Tuesday on doping charges. Stefan Matschiner was arrested in the middle of the night after he returned to Austria from a trip to the US, Vienna state prosecutor Gerhard Jarosch said. “He has been arrested on suspicion that he supplied athletes with doping drugs ... right up until recently,” Jarosch said. Jarosch said Matschiner could be prosecuted under Austria’s new, tougher anti-doping law which took effect in August. Under the law, selling banned substances is a criminal offence carrying a punishment of up to five years in prison. Jarosch said that in Matschiner’s case, the maximum prison sentence for the crimes he was accused of was up to three years. Kohl was handed a two-year ban last November for testing positive for the new generation blood-booster CERA in retroactive tests carried out on samples provided during last year’s Tour de France. Kohl told a Vienna news conference on Tuesday that he had engaged in doping since his first contact with Matschiner in 2005.
■ BASKETBALL
Ilgauskas gives ball to boy
The case of the missing basketball has taken a heartwarming bounce. The ball Cleveland Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas used to score his 10,000th point in the NBA turned up in the hands of a local youngster who left with it after it was thrown into the seats at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, following a March 21 game against Atlanta. Ilgauskas, who hit the 10,000 mark early in the first quarter, was hoping to find the ball and keep it as a memento. There was even an outcry for its return by some local media outlets. The eight-year-old boy’s mother contacted the Cavaliers to say her son had the ball and wanted to return it. But Ilgauskas told the youngster to keep it as a souvenir. Ilgauskas wasn’t sure how the ball wound up in the seats to begin with. But the Lithuanian didn’t criticize the youngster for wanting to hang on to it when it fell into his hands. “I would have taken it home, too,” he said. “He just walked out. There are 20,000 fans walking out of the building. They don’t do a strip search. I hope not.”
■ BASEBALL
Jones inks Braves extension
Atlanta Braves All-Star third baseman Chipper Jones has agreed to a three-year, US$42 million contract extension through 2012, the team said on Tuesday. The deal includes an option for a fourth year, making the potential for the extension worth US$61 million. “It means a lot to me to know that I’m going to spend my entire career with one organization,” the 36-year-old slugger told reporters. Jones is a six-times All-Star and 1999 National League MVP who has played all 15 of his major league seasons with the Braves. He is a career .310 hitter with 408 home runs and 1,374 RBIs.
■ BASKETBALL
Celtics ‘shut down’ Garnett
Kevin Garnett will miss at least the next four games with a sore right knee and may return for the final three games of the Boston Celtics’ regular season. The emotional leader and defensive star of the defending NBA champions has missed 15 of the last 19 games, including the last two. Coach Doc Rivers said after practice on Tuesday that the team would “shut down” Garnett for most of the remaining seven regular season games because of continued soreness in the knee he first injured on Feb. 19. Boston’s next four games are all at home against Charlotte, Atlanta, New Jersey and Miami. The last three are at Cleveland and Philadelphia and at home against Washington.
■ FOOTBALL
Burress’ gun case adjourned
A gun possession case against New York Giants star Plaxico Burress was adjourned on Tuesday until June. Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg with an unlicensed gun at a Manhattan nightclub last year. The star receiver arrived at Manhattan Criminal Court in the company of his wife and his attorney, Benjamin Brafman. Both sides agreed to adjourn the case to June 15 following a brief hearing before Judge Michael Yavinsky. Burress’ bail was continued. Prosecutor John Wolfstaetter told the judge that the prosecution was continuing its investigation. Asked by reporters afterward whether Burress would play for the Giants this year, Brafman said, “It’s not my decision. It’s the Giants’ decision and Plaxico’s decision. It’s not a legal decision, it’s a sports decision.” Burress was charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, a felony carrying a minimum prison sentence of three-and-a-half years upon conviction.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care