TENNIS
Ref back after murder rap
A referee whose career was almost ended by a charge that she murdered her husband with a coffee cup has been reinstated after the charge was dismissed for lack of evidence. Lois Goodman’s attorneys said on Friday in Los Angeles that the US Tennis Association approved her to resume judging matches next year. The organization confirmed her reinstatement. She was suspended after her arrest in August while preparing to work as a line judge at the US Open. Prosecutors dropped the murder case on Nov. 30, saying they had received additional information and were unable to proceed because of insufficient evidence. Goodman had been accused of bludgeoning her 80-year-old husband to death with a coffee cup. She said she was innocent, and her lawyers suggested Alan Goodman died in an accidental fall.
FOOTBALL
Bills to stay in New York
The Buffalo Bills have reached an agreement that will keep the NFL team in western New York for at least the next seven years, the team said on Friday. The deal, which includes a 10-year lease for the Bills’ current stadium and US$130 million in upgrades to the facility, ends speculation that the team might be targeted for relocation because of its small market. “This agreement ensures the Bills stay where they belong right here in New York, while also protecting tax payer dollars and putting in place a longer-term vision for the team’s continued presence in Buffalo,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. The Bills, who play their home games at Ralph Wilson Stadium in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, are committed to remain there for at least seven years regardless of ownership, the team said. If after the seventh year, the Bills do not buy out the remaining three years of the lease, they would need to pay US$400 million to break it, the Buffalo News reported. The lease also allows the Bills to play one preseason game every other year and one regular-season game each year in Toronto, the newspaper reported.
SQUASH
David in seventh heaven
Record-breaking Nicol David extended her haul of World Open titles to seven from eight finals when she overcame Laura Massaro on Friday in a match of long and patient rallies. The Malaysian’s 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 triumph over her English opponent silenced critics who suggested that younger rivals had closed the gap on the 29-year-old champion. Massaro forced many long rallies and even led 7-5 in the second game, but David’s tremendous ability to contain, retrieve, and change the direction of her movement prevented the third seed from getting a strong foothold in the match.
SOCCER
Nigeria axe star strikers
Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has left star strikers Peter Odemwingie and Obafemi Martins out of his squad for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa. West Brom attacker Odemwingie last featured for Nigeria in a Nations Cup qualifier in Rwanda in February, while Martins, now playing for Levante in Spain, failed to impress in a recent friendly in Venezuela. Danny Shittu, who has been in superb form for his English second-tier side Millwall this season, has been recalled after last playing an international match at the 2010 World Cup. The 32-man provisional Nigeria squad has two uncapped overseas youngsters in Rabiu Ibrahim of Celtic and Kenneth Omeruo, who plays for Dutch club ADO Den Haag on loan from Chelsea. The Africa Cup of Nations starts on Jan. 19.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later