SOCCER
Australian clubs charged
A-League sides Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers have been charged with bringing the game into disrepute by Australian soccer officials after a brawl involving their fans before a match last weekend. Both clubs were charged yesterday by Football Federation Australia (FFA) not only for the behavior of their supporters, but also for the dispute that erupted afterwards and had until Tuesday next week to explain why they should not face sanctions, the FFA said. Local media reported a fight had broken out between opposing fans outside a bar in central Melbourne before their clash last Saturday, which resulted in eight supporters needing medical treatment. Western Sydney said Victory fans had sparked the fight, while Victory then said that flares had been set off by visiting fans inside the stadium during the match as both sides engaged in a public tit-for-tat blame game earlier this week.
SOCCER
Fifty million follow Barca
Barcelona have become the first sports club to reach 50 million followers on social networking Web site Facebook, the Spanish soccer champions said on Thursday. Barca’s Facebook page, which provides fans with photo and video content, has the most followers in Indonesia with 4.73 million, followed by Mexico (3.5 million), Brazil (2.5 million), the US (2.1 million) and Turkey (1.75 million), the club said on their Web site. Cairo is the city with the most Barca followers with 746,000, followed by Mexico City (666,000), Jakarta (623,000), Lima (481,000) and Bogota (420,000). “Barca is the world’s most popular club and this is just the latest evidence of that,” said Didac Lee, a Barca director responsible for new technology. Real Madrid are not far behind bitter rivals Barca with 46.7 million followers, while Real’s Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has nearly 69 million and Barca’s Argentine World Player of the Year Lionel Messi 52 million.
SOCCER
Solskjaer aims at Swansea
Former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was named as manager of English Premier League strugglers Cardiff City on Thursday and told the fans one of his immediate aims was to finish higher than rivals Swansea City. The 40-year-old Norwegian earned a place in United’s history by scoring the winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final against Bayern Munich. And just as he did as a player, Solskjaer hit the target perfectly when he told a news conference: “I would like us to finish above Swansea, that must be an aim ... that will be important for everyone here.” Cardiff are fourth from bottom, while Welsh rivals Swansea are four places higher in the table.
RUGBY UNION
Chabal faces lengthy ban
Former France international Sebastien Chabal was to face a lengthy ban for throwing a hefty punch during his club Lyon’s second division game against Agen when he appeared before a disciplinary hearing yesterday. The bearded back-row forward, who has made it clear he intends to plead guilty, could be suspended for between two weeks and one year over the incident, which has become a popular YouTube hit. Chabal struck Agen’s Marc Giraud, who was holding onto his shirt in the game last month. The blow knocked Giraud unconscious and he was carried off on a stretcher. Chabal picked up a yellow card for the strike. The 36-year-old, an iconic figure in the French game, earned 62 international caps between 2000 and 2011.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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