UNITED KINGDOM
Cameron to target racism
Prime Minister David Cameron was to meet with soccer chiefs and anti-racism campaigners late yesterday to address the recent spate of racist incidents that have blighted the national game. Representatives from the Football Association, the Premier League, the Football League, The Professional Footballers’ Association and the League Managers’ Association were expected to attend. Cameron’s intervention comes following high-profile incidents. Controversy was stirred when Liverpool striker Luis Suarez refused to shake hands with Manchester United’s Patrice Evra before their clubs’ match at Old Trafford earlier this month. Suarez has only recently returned for Liverpool after serving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Evra during a game in October. Meanwhile Chelsea’s John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy while he awaits a criminal trial on charges of racially abusing Queens Park Ranger’s Anton Ferdinand.
ROMANIA
FRF reports illegal deal offer
The Romanian Football Federation (FRF) made an official complaint on Tuesday after being offered money to appoint a different referee for next week’s friendly against Uruguay. FRF media officer Paul Zaharia said the federation had reported the matter to world soccer’s governing body FIFA and Europe’s ruling authority UEFA after receiving an approach to replace Hungarian Viktor Kassai. “We received a phone call from abroad and it was followed by an email from the same person,” Zaharia told Reuters. “He asked us to release Viktor Kassai to officiate another friendly and in exchange he offered us a donation of US$20,000 and also to provide FIFA referees for the game against Uruguay free of charge.” The FRF, which said it did not want to disclose the name of the person or the federation while the investigation was ongoing, said the other federation had asked for an official invitation to change referees.
INDIA
No fields, no play for PLS
The inaugural edition of India’s Premier League Soccer (PLS), featuring World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro and former France international Robert Pires, has been postponed because of a lack of venues, organizers in New Delhi told reporters yesterday. “Discussion is on with the state government, but even if it is sorted out by the end of this week, we would need time to prepare the fields,” Dharamdutt Pandey, CEO of the event management company that conceived the PLS idea, said by telephone. “These are minor issues and PLS is very much on. We are now targeting a mid-April start for the league,” he said.
UNITED KINGDOM
Leon McKenzie sent to jail
A former Premier League soccer player has been jailed for six months for sending fake letters to the police to avoid a driving ban. Leon McKenzie, who played for Norwich in England’s top division in the 2004-2005 season, sent letters claiming to be from a fictional garage that said his car was off the road. The 33-year-old -McKenzie was sentenced at a court in Northampton, England, on Tuesday after pleading guilty to six charges of perverting the course of justice between February 2008 and December 2009. McKenzie released a statement on Twitter, saying his behavior was “totally unacceptable and very naive” during a time in which he “fell deep into depression, which led me to try and take my life.” He retired from soccer in December.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care