SOCCER
Malaga hire Pellegrini
Struggling Spanish club Malaga hired former Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini on Thursday. The Chilean, who oversaw Villarreal through their greatest successes during a five-season stint, will hope to reverse the Andalucian club’s poor start to the season. Malaga, 18th after nine games, fired Jesualdo Ferreira on Monday after the team’s winless streak was stretched to six games.
SOCCER
FIFA slams rule change
World governing body FIFA has joined Chinese players, coaches and fans in criticizing a move by Chinese authorities to extend half-time in a bid to stamp out graft, state press said on Thursday. In an effort to fight corruption, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced that during the final weeks of the Super League, half-time would be extended from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. This is intended to ensure the second half of all league games kick off at the same time, with the aim of preventing referees and players from fixing matches. Chinese soccer is in the midst of a match-fixing scandal that has led to the arrests of two former CFA heads. However, according to the Modern Express newspaper in Jiangsu Province, FIFA is not happy with the rule change. “The order by the CFA to standardize the time does not fall into the scope of extenuating circumstances,” the newspaper quoted a statement issued by FIFA on the matter as saying. “This kind of behavior amounts to amending football match rules and is obviously a violation of the rules.”
RUGBY LEAGUE
Player in dog sex shocker
Australian star Joel Monaghan was awaiting his fate yesterday after he admitted simulating a sex act with a dog in a drunken moment of “abject stupidity,” further sullying the sport’s image. The Canberra Raiders board will meet on Monday to discuss how to deal with Monaghan after a photo of the center with a teammate’s labrador was posted on a social networking site this week. Monaghan issued a statement on Thursday through his manager Jim Banaghan, who said it was an “act of stupidity that will haunt him for the rest of his life. He apologizes unreservedly for the outrage that people feel at the moment and blames nobody but himself.” Banaghan said Monaghan was receiving counselling and accepted that “there must be ramifications” for his drunken moment of madness.” Monaghan was playing a prank on a teammate by his actions during a party. “It was a moment of abject stupidity brought about by too much drink and a complete lack of any thought process,” Banaghan said. The National Rugby League has been hit by string of alcohol-fuelled assaults and sex scandals, as well as one unsavoury incident where the Sydney Roosters’ Nate Myles defecated in a hotel corridor.
SOCCER
Heart problem ends career
Real Madrid midfielder Ruben de la Red has been forced to end his playing career after suffering a heart problem during a match two years ago. The 25-year-old was a member of Spain’s European Championship-winning squad in June 2008, but three months later he collapsed during a match and has not played since. On Thursday De la Red said he had taken the advice of doctors to retire. Spanish soccer has been rocked in recent seasons by the deaths during matches of Sevilla’s Antonio Puerta and Espanyol’s Dani Jarque, both due to heart failure. Last month, Salamanca’s Miguel Garcia collapsed with a cardiac arrest during a game and had to be resuscitated.
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