NEW ZEALAND
Surplus to aid development
The country’s soccer governing body recorded a record budget surplus of NZ$7.7 million (US$6.2 million) last year, boosted by prize money from the All Whites’ appearance at the World Cup finals in South Africa. The surplus, up from NZ$1.35 million the previous year, would provide a good platform for the game’s growth, New Zealand Football chairman Frank van Hattum said on the governing body’s Web site yesterday. Van Hattum said the surplus had already been re-invested and cited a NZ$4 million foundation set up to fund grassroots development and a NZ$2.5 million chest established to help finance the national and age-group teams’ international schedules.
ITALY
Di Michele disciplined
Lecce forward David Di Michele has been banned for three games after video evidence was used to show he struck an opponent. The Italian body charged with applying sporting justice used pictures from Sky TV to sanction the former West Ham player for an incident in Sunday’s match at Chievo. “The television images showed that ... Di Michele ... approached Bostjan [Cesar] ... and with a sudden movement of his left arm slapped him across the right cheek,” the sporting justice statement said.
COLOMBIA
Medina faces suspension
The country’s soccer authorities say a leading player has been suspended for three months, fined the equivalent of US$3,000 and ordered into rehab after admitting using marijuana. Wilder Medina, a striker with the Deportes Tolima club, which is currently joint top-scorer in the Colombian top division, tested positive for the drug for the third time on March 26 following a 2-0 victory over Deportivo Cali. Medina acknowledges he used the drug. His lawyer says the player has an addiction and does not use marijuana to enhance his performance. Medina also had positive tests after matches on Feb. 5 and Feb. 13. Charria says an appeal is possible. Otherwise, Medina’s suspension begins this weekend.
THAILAND
Palestine nets Thai qualifier
Palestine will replace Thailand in the second round of Asian qualifying for next year’s Olympics after the Thais were booted out for fielding an ineligible player. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said yesterday that Palestine, beaten on a penalty shootout by Thailand in the first round, had been awarded a 3-0 first-leg win. Thailand had won the home leg 1-0 in Bangkok before being found to have fielded suspended player Sutjarit Jantakol, the AFC said on their Web site. The Thai soccer association hit back at the AFC, accusing them of being unclear on the rules, but their formal appeal was over-ruled by FIFA, according to the AFC.
CONCACAF
Jack Warner re-elected
Trinidadian Jack Warner was re-elected unanimously as president of the Confederation for North and Central America and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF) at its congress on Tuesday. Warner, who was unopposed, returns for his sixth consecutive term as head of the region, which covers 35 FIFA member federations. “I am honored to have been entrusted to lead this Confederation for another four years, particularly in our 50th anniversary year,” said Warner, who has headed CONCACAF since 1990. Warner is widely viewed as a key power-broker within FIFA, where he is a vice-president and has long been considered a key ally of FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
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