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Ireland keeper banned
Ireland goalkeeper Paddy Kenny has been banned for nine months after testing positive for a banned drug. Traces of ephedrine were found in a urine sample Kenny provided after playing for Sheffield United against Preston in May. Kenny, who was suspended by United in June, admitted wrongdoing and was banned on Monday by the English Football Association. The suspension is backdated to July 22. Regulatory Commission chairman Christopher Quinlan said: “The substance was not taken with the intention of enhancing sporting performance, [but] his admitted conduct displayed significant fault.” Quinlan said Kenny knowingly ingested an over-the-counter medicine above the prescribed dosage.
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Cisse sees red over chants
Panathinaikos striker Djibril Cisse on Monday threatened to report Greek fans to European soccer governing body UEFA following racist insults he received in a match at the weekend. The French player was on the receiving end of remarks by spectators during the friendly between his team and Olympiakos Volos on Sunday. “I didn’t come to Greece to receive racist attacks and for fans to make monkey sounds every time I touched the ball,” Cisse said. “This is the first time in my career that I have been treated this way. What happened today I will not allow to go unpunished.” Cisse, who in June signed a four-year contract with Panathinaikos, scored in the match won by second division Olympiakos Volos 2-1. “After I scored the goal I went to the fans and told them to shut up and they threw bottles at me, and I threw one back at them,” Cisse said. He criticized the referee for not taking action when he told him that the fans’ behavior was bothering him. Olympiakos Volos issued a statement criticizing their fans’ actions. “We denounce the sporadic incident which came from five to 10 mindless people which cannot blacken yesterday’s match which was festive,” the statement said.
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Merriman pleads innocence
San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman said on Monday he didn’t hurt reality television host Tila Nguyen but was trying to protect her when he stopped her leaving his house. Merriman was arrested on Sunday and accused of choking and throwing her to the ground as she tried to leave his home. She signed a citizen’s arrest warrant charging Merriman with battery and false imprisonment. Merriman, who spent about two hours in jail before posting bail, reiterated at team practice on Monday that he was trying to prevent Nguyen from driving because she appeared to be intoxicated. “I think when it all surfaces, it will be a different situation. Period,” said Merriman, who described Nguyen as an acquaintance. Nguyen was the star of the MTV reality show A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila and has also modeled for Playboy.
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Shirt clash proves costly
A clash of shirt colors has cost Chinese Super League (CSL) side Shenzhen three points and 100,000 yuan (US$14,650) after it caused the delay of their home match against Shanghai on Aug. 30. Both teams play in white but Shenzhen forgot to provide their players with a change — as they were obliged to do as hosts — resulting in a nearly one hour kickoff delay as officials scoured the city before finding a batch of blue shirts. “The incident not only violated disciplinary rules but also distracted from the orderliness, damaged the football environment and undermined the CSL’s image,” the Chinese Football Association said.
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier