ICE HOCKEY
Fans backing Girgensons
Latvia-born forward Zemgus Girgensons is the unlikely runaway leader in the NHL’s All-Star fan voting thanks to massive support from his hockey-crazed nation, results released on Tuesday showed. Girgensons is far from a household name in North America, but his supporters at home are determined to see the 20-year-old Riga native play in the annual exhibition alongside the game’s biggest stars. The Buffalo Sabres forward has received nearly 82 percent of his 803,805 votes from Latvia. The total is more than double the next player on the list and more than 450,000 more than Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby, who has long been the face of the NHL. Girgensons, a first-round draft pick by Buffalo in 2012 playing in his second NHL campaign, has 14 points in 27 games this season and is ranked 142nd overall in scoring. All-Star voting concludes Jan. 1 and the All-Star Game will be played on Jan. 25 in Ohio.
SOCCER
AS Roma to play ICC
Serie A giants AS Roma will join Manchester City and Real Madrid in next year’s International Champions Cup (ICC) in Melbourne, Australia, organizers said yesterday. The three-time Serie A champions round out the three teams taking part in the tournament at the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground from July 18 to July 24. “We had an excellent experience in last year’s ICC in the United States and are confident this tournament will also be a great success with top-notch competition,” Roma chief executive Italo Zanzi said. Organizers are looking to build on the local appetite for top European teams after a crowd of 95,000 watched Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Melbourne Victory at the same venue last year. The tournament is to kick off with Real facing Roma on July 18, followed by City playing the Italian side three days later and then City playing Real on July 24.
SOCCER
FIFA fines Indonesian sides
FIFA said it has fined three Indonesian clubs for publishing secret transfer information on Twitter, the first time soccer’s world governing body has handed out sanctions for such social media offences. Persebaya Surabaya and Persires Bali Devata were each fined SF25,000 (US$25,800) for publishing confidential data on club-linked Twitter accounts, FIFA said in a statement. PSIS Semarang was ordered to pay 15,000 Swiss francs for republishing the other team’s tweets and publishing a confidential letter sent to them by FIFA, the governing body said. The clubs were sanctioned “for breaching their obligation to keep data contained within the FIFA Transfer Matching System strictly confidential,” it said. The Transfer Matching System is a form of online monitoring requires both clubs involved in a deal to input a string of data before FIFA approves it.
SOCCER
Platini wants new FIFA face
Michel Platini is refusing to back incumbent Sepp Blatter or challenger Jerome Champagne in next year’s FIFA presidential election, with the UEFA boss saying he hopes a third candidate will emerge. Speaking to French radio Europe 1 on Tuesday, Platini said it was time for Blatter, who is running for a fifth consecutive term, to leave the stage. “I supported him in 1998 because I think he was the right person at the time, but after five [sic] terms it is time to let some fresh air in and leave the place to someone else,” the Frenchman said. “The image of FIFA is very, very, very bad so that’s why I think it would be good that he [Blatter] stops, but I don’t think he wants to.”
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
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
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two