■SOCCER
Donovan athlete of the year
Landon Donovan was named winner of the US Soccer Federation’s male athlete of the year award in Chicago on Monday after helping spark the US into next year’s World Cup in South Africa. The 27-year-old playmaker also won the award in 2003 and 2004 and his third honor matches the all-time mark held by goalkeeper Kasey Keller. Donovan, named Major League Soccer’s Most Valuable Player as well, scored three goals and made key set-up passes to assist on nine others as the US squad advanced to the World Cup for the sixth time in a row. Donovan’s 35 caps and 12 career World Cup qualifying goals are US records.
■GOLF
India tournament launched
The first new tournament for the alliance between the European and Asian tours will be staged at an Arnold Palmer-designed course in New Delhi in February. The joint venture company, known as EurAsia Golf Ltd, will co-sanction the 1.5 million euro (US$2.1 million) Avantha Masters with the Professional Golf Tour of India at the DLF Golf and Country Club from Feb. 11 to Feb. 14, the Asian Tour said yesterday. Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla Han said the New Delhi tournament, part of a three-year agreement with Indian business group Avantha, was poised to become the highlight of his tour’s schedule for next year.
■OLYMPICS
Canada drug raids possible
Canada has all the legal power it needs to enforce anti-doping rules in athlete villages for next year’s Winter Olympics, including authorizing police raids, Vancouver Olympics official Dick Pound said on Monday. Canada does not have specific laws dealing with athletes’ use of performance-enhancing drugs, which has raised questions about police being able to conduct raids in athlete villages. Pound said police tipped off with evidence could conduct raids as long as they had obtained a warrant from a judge. “Convincing the court to approve a warrant would require that the drug an athlete is suspected of possessing would have to be illegal under Canadian law,” Vancouver police constable Lindsey Houghton said. Athletes would have the same rights to privacy as normal residents or visitors, but would not have any special legal protections in the villages, such as those for foreign embassies.
■SOCCER
Kroenke nears threshold
US sports and real estate entrepreneur Stan Kroenke has bought another 25 shares in Arsenal, taking him close to the threshold for a mandatory takeover offer. The Premier League club said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange on Monday that Kroenke bought the shares for £8,500 (US$13,710) each on Thursday, giving him control of 18,649 ordinary shares. That gives him 29.97 percent of the 62,219 shares in the club, Reuters calculations show. Under UK takeover rules, a shareholder buying more than 30 percent of stock in a company is obliged to make a mandatory takeover offer for all the remaining shares at the highest price paid in the previous 12 months. Some bankers have said Kroenke may be unwilling to breach the 30 percent barrier until May 2010 because he announced this May he had paid £10,500 each for a block of shares, well above the existing market. However, shares in Arsenal are owned by a small group of investors who might be unlikely to accept an offer for their shares, even at a high price. So even a breach of 30 percent might not significantly alter the ownership of the club.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and