ITALY
Ten-man Lazio grab a point
Depleted SS Lazio moved up to third place in Serie A to sit six points off leaders Juventus after earning a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw away to Hellas Verona on Thursday. Senad Lulic got the visitors off the mark three minutes before halftime, but Verona were handed a lifeline when defender Luis Cavanda saw red for a second bookable offense after fouling Juanito Gomez in the penalty area. Veteran Verona striker Luca Toni stepped up to beat Federico Marchetti from the penalty spot and level in the 69th minute, but Verona then failed to capitalize on their man advantage. It was Lazio’s first draw of the season, but, following a run of four consecutive wins for Stefano Pioli’s men, it was enough to move them up to third just ahead of AC Milan on goal-difference.
WALES
Fernandez’s red rescinded
Swansea City defender Federico Fernandez had his ban for a red card against Liverpool rescinded on Thursday after a successful appeal by the English Premier League club. Fernandez was sent off by referee Keith Stroud for a tackle on Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho during stoppage-time in the midweek 2-1 League Cup defeat at Anfield. The tackle was deemed as serious foul play and the Argentine centerback faced a three-match ban, starting with today’s Premier League trip to Everton. However, Swansea appealed against the decision with a written statement and video evidence, and a Football Association appeals panel has now overturned the red card. “It clearly wasn’t a sending off,” said Swansea manager Garry Monk, who was due to meet Mike Riley, the general manager of Professional Game Match Officials Limited, yesterday to discuss decisions which he says have consistently gone against his side this season.
SCOTLAND
Tonev gets seven-game ban
Celtic’s Bulgarian international winger Aleksandar Tonev was banned for seven matches by the Scottish Football Association (SFA) on Thursday for racially abusing Aberdeen defender Shay Logan in a match in September. There was no immediate reaction from Aberdeen, but a Celtic spokesperson was quoted on their Web site as saying Tonev would appeal the ban. The SFA said on their Web site that the punishment was imposed by the disciplinary tribunal, which established that the complaint against Tonev on Sept. 13 was proven. It ruled that Tonev had broken Disciplinary Rule 202 and was guilty of “excessive misconduct by the use of offensive, insulting and abusive language of a racist nature.” Tonev, 24, moved to Celtic on loan from Aston Villa in August and has played eight times in all competitions for the Scottish champions.
INDONESIA
PSS and PSIS disqualified
PSS Sleman and PSIS Semarang could be relegated from the Indonesia Super League’s premier division after scoring five own-goals in a match to decide their opponents in the playoffs, the nation’s soccer association said. Disciplinary committee chairman Hinca Pandjaitan said the teams had been disqualified from the competition and that they could expect even tougher sanctions if evidence of match-fixing was uncovered. The clubs met in their final Group 1 match on Sunday with the winners set to play Group 2 runners-up Pusamania Borneo in the semi-finals. The newspaper reported that PSS scored the first own-goal in the 78th minute, then another shortly after to give their opponents a 2-0 lead. However, PSSI then scored three own-goals of their own, to leave PSS with a 3-2 win.
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