SOCCER
Dempsey rips ref’s book
Clint Dempsey’s bout of ref rage could see the US captain miss the Gold Cup, if US Soccer determine his ripping up of a referee’s notebook warrants a three-month ban. Dempsey was sent off after snatching referee Daniel Radford’s notebook and tearing it up in extra time of his Seattle Sounders’ 3-1 loss to bitter regional rivals Portland in the fourth round of the US Open Cup on Tuesday. He had already received a yellow card for dissent, and lost his cool when teammate Michael Azira was shown a red card for a challenge on the Timbers’ Gaston Fernandez in the 112th minute. The outburst from former Fulham and Tottenham man Dempsey was just the most spectacular of a more than testy match, after which the officials were escorted from the field by police.
SWIMMING
Palmer fails doping test
Former Olympic relay champion Kylie Palmer has pulled out of the Australia team for next month’s swimming world championships in Russia after being informed she had failed a dope test at the 2013 edition of the event. Palmer, a 4x200m freestyle relay champion at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a silver medalist in the same event four years later in London, was informed earlier this year that a sample she gave had shown traces of a banned substance. When the “B” sample she submitted in Barcelona two years ago also showed traces of the substance, Palmer accepted a provisional suspension until the case was heard by the doping tribunal of swimming’s world governing body FINA.
SOCCER
FIFA film ‘disaster’: director
Critics and audiences panned it, and now the man who directed the US$30 million FIFA film flop has admitted: “It’s a disaster.” United Passions, directed by Frederic Auburtin, came out in US theaters earlier this month — just as a massive corruption scandal erupted at soccer’s world governing body. FIFA president Sepp Blatter — the hero of the widely criticized movie — announced his intention to quit soon after the allegations of huge graft emerged. Auburtin told The Hollywood Reporter that he tried to make a movie somewhere between “a Disney propaganda film and a Costa-Gavras/Michael Moore movie,” but added: “Now I’m seen as bad as the guy who brought AIDS to Africa or the guy who caused the financial crisis. My name is all over [the film] and apparently I am a propaganda guy making films for corrupt people.” The Frenchman said he was interested in making a sequel focusing on FIFA’s current dire predicament, but wants to put United Passions well behind him. US media and cinemagoers dismissed the movie, with a mocking Los Angeles Times saying it “kicks far wide of its goal.” United Passions grossed just US$918 in the US during the June 6 weekend, The Hollywood Reporter said.
SOCCER
Villa sign Micah Richards
Aston Villa completed a four-year deal for Micah Richards on Wednesday, ending the 26-year-old’s decade-long association with Manchester City. Richards, who spent last season on loan at Fiorentina in Italy, will officially join Villa on a free transfer on July 1 after his City contract expires. The England defender started his career at City in 2005 and won the Premier League in 2012 and FA Cup in 2011, but found his chances limited in recent seasons. He made just 10 appearances in 2013-2014, and just two in the league, as City regained the title and was loaned out to Fiorentina last season.
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