UGANDA
Eritrean team disappears
Eritrea’s national soccer team has disappeared while visiting Uganda, in what would be potentially the fourth team to abscond from authoritarian Eritrea, officials said on Monday. Police were alerted after 16 soccer team members disappeared after losing to Rwanda 2-0 in a regional tournament, the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) said. “The police have been notified,” CECAFA official Moses Magogo said, adding that the players failed to return to their hotel after a shopping trip in Kampala. Thousands leave the Red Sea nation every month, fleeing conscription and a hardline government that jails critics in harsh desert labor camps, and is ranked worst in the world for press freedom, the UN says.
CHILE
National team get new boss
Argentinian Jorge Sampaoli was appointed manager of the national team on Monday, replacing compatriot Claudio Borghi, who was sacked last month. Sampaoli, 52, has been tasked with securing the country’s place at the 2014 World Cup from sixth place in the qualifying table after they failed to build on a bright start to the qualifiers and lost three in a row. “I take this job on with a huge responsibility and obligation hanging over me to take Chile to Brazil [where the World Cup is being held],” Sampaoli said. Sampaoli got the job on the back of guiding Universidad de Chile to three national titles and the South American Cup last year. His task is not insurmountable, as while the team are sixth after nine games, the top four qualify automatically while the fifth can still make it through a play-off, they only trail fourth-placed Venezuela on goal difference.
LA LIGA
Valladolid beat slow Sevilla
Two early goals gave promoted Real Valladolid a 2-1 victory at Sevilla that moved them up to seventh in La Liga and the brink of the European places on Monday. Miroslav Djukic’s side have 21 points from 14 games, one behind Malaga in fifth and Getafe in sixth who are tied on 22 points. Wildly inconsistent Sevilla, who have beaten third-placed champions Real Madrid and fourth-placed Real Betis Balompie at home this season, left the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to whistles from the crowd and are 11th with 18 points. Valladolid’s German winger Patrick Ebert netted on a break away after only two minutes and midfielder Oscar squeezed a shot over Diego Lopez for the second in the 12th. Sevilla struggled to react until visiting striker Manucho headed into his own net just after the restart, but their fightback was hindered when Gary Medel was sent off in the 64th minute for a second yellow card.
BUNDESLIGA
Hoffenheim fire manager
Struggling Bundesliga side TSG1899 Hoffenheim sacked manager Markus Babbel on Monday, the day after a 4-1 drubbing by Werder Bremen left them 16th in the table and with nine defeats in their past 10 matches. The 40-year-old former Germany international — who has previously coached Hertha BSC Berlin and VfB Stuttgart — will be replaced temporarily by the under-23 team manager Frank Kramer. “The deteriorating situation on the sporting front and the negative atmosphere left me no choice,” general manager Andreas Mueller said. Mueller said that Babbel — whose overall record was seven wins, eight draws and 14 defeats — had worked hard, but that things simply had not worked out. “I am conscious of the work that Markus has put in. What is dreadful is that the team didn’t follow his lead on the pitch,” he said.
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