■SOCCER
FIFA suspends El Salvador
FIFA has suspended El Salvador from all international competition after its government has refused to recognize the authorities set up to run football in the Central American country. FIFA prohibits governments from interfering in the election of officials to run football and could extend El Salvador’s ban for a further year if the situation is not resolved by June 8. FIFA said it considers the actions of the El Salvador government to be “clear interference.” El Salvador failed to qualify for the World Cup.
■MOTORSPORT
Chile seeks Dakar damages
The Chilean office in charge of archaeological and historical sites said it wants US$570,000 in compensation for damage caused by participants in the Dakar rally in January. The office wants the money from the country’s National Sports Institute, which co-hosted the rally, the daily El Mercurio reported on Tuesday. The National Monuments Council (CMN) said that rally participants caused damage to 56 of the 111 heritage sites the route went through, and 13 of the sites, mostly in the Quillaga region northeast of Antofagasta, reported a serious loss of archaeological data. Four of those sites, including a site where pre-Hispanic natives made stone tools, suffered major damage of more than 50 percent, according to the Council.
■ICE HOCKEY
Glendale to keep Coyotes
The city of Glendale, Arizona, on Tuesday agreed to guarantee the National Hockey League up to US$25 million to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in the city for the next season. By a unanimous vote, the Glendale City Council approved the agreement that would come into effect if no buyer can be found for the financially struggling franchise by September. The NHL bought the Coyotes last November. City officials said that separate negotiations continue with two groups, Chicago sports figure Jerry Reinsdorf and Ice Age Holdings, to buy the team and that they anticipate an agreement by the end of next month.
■GOLF
Mitsuka bans herself
Japanese golfer Yuko Mitsuka has banned herself from a total of 11 women’s tournaments after being fined for storming off the course over a two-stroke penalty. The 25-year-old downed clubs and quit midway through her first round at last week’s World Ladies Championship in protest at being penalized for slow play. Mitsuka was fined a record ¥2 million (US$21,590), but voluntarily withdrew from eight domestic and three overseas events as a sign of contrition. “This is the biggest fine in Japanese LPGA history and reflects the seriousness of what took place,” the tour’s Hideaki Otani said yesterday. “The player offered to withdraw from those tournaments and the tour accepted that as the right punishment.”
■BASEBALL
G20 meet forces move
Baseball officials said on Tuesday that next month’s G20 summit in Toronto has forced them to move a three-game series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies to Philadelphia. Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said that because of security concerns, moving the June 25 to June 27 series was the best option. The game would have been ace pitcher Roy Halladay’s first return visit to Toronto’s Rogers Center since he was traded to the Phillies in the offseason. It’s the lone interleague matchup between the clubs this season. The series was expected to be one of the Blue Jays’ biggest draws of the season.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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