SOCCER
FAM faces suspension
Malaysia’s sports minister has threatened to suspend the country’s soccer body after last week’s record 10-0 drubbing, which has already prompted their coach to quit. Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said he was prepared to take “drastic” measures against the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) after Malaysia’s embarrassing World Cup qualifying defeat to the United Arab Emriates. Khairy said he may come down hard if the body “still recycle their earlier excuses,” the New Straits Times quoted him as saying. Coach Dollah Salleh stepped down on Saturday, two days after presiding over Malaysia’s thrashing in Abu Dhabi, their worst-ever defeat. Khairy said FAM officials must ask “after this embarrassing defeat if they are still qualified to hold office as they have been given a sufficiently long time, but without results.” He said one option would be a move similar to that by Indonesia’s soccer body, which suspended the country’s top domestic league in April after a dispute with the sports ministry.
HORSE RACING
State funeral for Cummings
Australia on Monday paid tribute to legendary horse racing trainer Bart Cummings with a state funeral at a packed St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney. Politicians and punters joined racing royalty to bid farewell to the “Cups King,” who died of pneumonia on Aug. 30, aged 87. “Australians like success in sport, and so even the shyest racehorse trainer was bound to become a national figure if he trained 12 Melbourne Cup winners,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in his own tribute to parliament in Canberra. “He was the trainer every jockey wanted to ride for, every owner wanted to engage and every punter felt safe betting on. Race day will not be the same without him.” Cummings trained winners in 268 Group 1 races, including seven Caulfield Cups, five Cox Plates, four Golden Slipper Stakes, 13 Australian Cups, 32 Derbies and 24 Oaks.
SOCCER
Palmeiras president in row
The president of Palmeiras watched the second half of his team’s derby with Corinthians in the changing rooms on Sunday after almost coming to blows with a fan of the rival team, Brazilian media reported. Palmeiras drew 3-3 with league leaders Corinthians in a thrilling tie played in front of a 36,000 crowd at Palmeiras’ Allianz Parque. The home side took the lead on three occasions, but Corinthians pegged them back each time and when an overzealous Corinthians fan celebrated his team’s second goal in a nearby executive box, Palmeiras president Paulo Nobre took offense, the globoesporte Web site said. The two men almost came to blows before security guards stepped in and Nobre departed to the dressing rooms to watch the remainder of the game, according to other reports.
MOTOR RACING
Edwards wins Southern 500
Carl Edwards took the lead on the last pit stop and held off Denny Hamlin on a restart eight laps from the end for his first Southern 500 victory on Sunday night. Edwards was two laps behind early in the nearly five-hour NASCAR Sprint Cup race, slowed by a record 18 cautions at Darlington Raceway. Pole-sitter Brad Keselowski was second and Hamlin finished third. Joey Logano was fourth, followed by defending race champion Kevin Harvick and the Busch brothers, Kurt and Kyle.Edwards won for the second time this season, and gave Joe Gibbs Racing their seventh victory in the past 10 events. JGR swept the weekend, with Hamlin winning the Xfinity race on Saturday.
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