■WORLD CUP
Lodeiro ruled out by injury
Uruguay’s creative midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro has been ruled out of the World Cup with a broken foot, while captain Diego Lugano is having tests on a knee injury, the team said in a statement on Saturday. Lodeiro fractured a bone in his right foot during Friday’s quarter-final victory over Ghana, the team said ahead of their semi-final against the Netherlands in Cape Town tomorrow. The 21-year-old, who has been used mostly as a substitute, replaced Alvaro Fernandez at halftime against Ghana. The team is already without suspended striker Luis Suarez after he was sent off. Defender Lugano, who limped off just before halftime, is having tests after damaging the ligaments in his right knee. The goods news for coach Oscar Tabarez is that defender Diego Godin, who was ruled out of the Ghana match with a thigh injury, has returned to training, the statement added.
■WORLD CUP
FFA cleared of corruption
The Australian government has cleared Football Federation Australia (FFA) of corruption allegations surrounding the bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cups, the FFA said yesterday. FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said the government’s Football World Cup Bid task force had cleared the federation of allegations it attempted to mislead the government by creating dual accounts to hide spending. The Fairfax newspaper group reported last week that the FFA bid team had sought to hide the true use of millions of dollars of government funding. Fairfax claimed to have balance sheets showing one set of accounts prepared for the government and another internal set revealing secret expenditure. The money allegedly was for multimillion-dollar lobbyist fees and gifts to FIFA executives and their wives. Buckley said in a statement yesterday that the task force had written to the FFA to confirm that an inspection of the federation’s books had found no evidence to support the allegations.
■MOTOGP
Lorenzo sets the pace
Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo continued to set the pace at Montmelo, taking pole position for the Catalan MotoGP in soaring temperatures on Saturday. The Spaniard, who was quickest in practice on Friday, is on course for a hat-trick of wins and will start from the front after setting the quickest time of 1 minute, 42.046 seconds on his penultimate lap. Australian Casey Stoner, on a Ducati, was pushed into second, 0.364 seconds behind Lorenzo. Frenchman Randy de Puniet, on a Honda, completed the front row. “The track is like an ice rink. There is a big problem with the tires — we don’t have any grip,” Lorenzo told reporters after another sweltering day in which the air temperature hit 35ºC and the ground temperature peaked at 53ºC.
■CRICKET
India skipper gets engaged
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become engaged to his girlfriend, newspapers reported yesterday. Dhoni, previously described as India’s most eligible bachelor, exchanged rings with his girlfriend, Sakshi Singh Rawat, at a ceremony in Dehra Dun in the northern state of Uttarakhand. The Indian Express said Dhoni’s teammates Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina were among those present at the private event. “It has been on the cards for a long time now and both families thought the time was right to formalize the relationship,” an unnamed relative told the Express. Some TV channels reported that the engagement would be followed within days by a full Hindu wedding ceremony.
■CHILDREN’S GAMES
Taipei team takes 23 medals
A Taipei City team performed well at the International Children’s Games in Manama, Bahrain, held from June 28 to Saturday, taking seven gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals. The Taipei City team of 21 athletes won the medals in the track and field, swimming, table tennis and taekwondo categories at the games that brought together athletes from 68 cities in 31 countries. The Taipei City athletes performed particularly well in swimming, winning three gold, five silver and five bronze medals in various divisions. The other four gold medals were clinched in the men’s 400m relay, shot put, taekwondo men’s over 55kg and women’s 51kg to 55kg. The other four silvers were won in the men’s high jump, men’s 100m sprint, taekwondo men’s 47kg to 51kg and women’s 47kg 51kg.
■BASKETBALL
Cavs pitch LeBron James
The Cleveland Cavaliers finally had their chance to meet with free agent LeBron James and make their pitch to retain the services of the NBA’s reigning MVP. After two days of waiting as James met with the New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers, the Cavaliers spent 90 minutes with him at their Cleveland office. The Cavs were represented by newly hired coach Byron Scott, general manager Chris Grant, assistant general manager Lance Blanks and owner Dan Gilbert. James then met with the Chicago Bulls’ top brass, the final stop in his free agency tour, where he was wooed with a presentation that lasted less than three hours.
■BASKETBALL
Nowitzki to stay with Mavs
Dirk Nowitzki will stay with the Dallas Mavericks, ending speculation about his future amid the NBA’s free agency negotiations. Nowitzki’s adviser, Holger Geschwindner, told reporters late on Saturday that Nowitzki and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban have agreed “to get it done.” “Dirk agreed with Mark, one-on-one,” Geschwindner said. “We’re pumped.” Teams and free agents can strike deals at any time, but can’t sign them until Thursday. According to a person familiar with negotiations, the deal is for more than US$80 million over four years, with a no-trade clause.
■BASEBALL
Ramirez on disabled list
The Los Angeles Dodgers have placed slugger Manny Ramirez on the 15-day disabled list to allow his right hamstring to recover. Ramirez strained the hamstring on Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants and his placement on the disabled list is retroactive to Wednesday. He will be eligible to return to the lineup after the All-Star break. “To me, there’s no reason to gamble,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre told reporters.
■SUMO
Authority fires stablemaster
Japan’s sumo authority yesterday fired a stable master and a high-ranking wrestler mired in an illegal gambling scandal that exposed the ancient sport’s ties to organized crime, reports said yesterday. An executive meeting of the Japan Sumo Association in the central city of Nagoya formalized its decision to fire stablemaster Otake, 42, and wrestler Kotomitsuki, 34, according to local media. Kotomitsuki, ranked second only to the yokozuna grand champions, became the first senior wrestler to be dismissed by the association. Dismissal is an effective expulsion as it prevents Otake and Kotomitsuki from ever returning to the sport. The two were dismissed for taking part in illegal gambling on baseball, an alleged funding source for yakuza crime syndicates.
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
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
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