SOCCER
Authorities seize evidence
Swiss authorities say evidence has been seized in a search at the French soccer federation headquarters for their criminal case against former FIFA president Sepp Blatter. The office of Switzerland’s attorney general says the governing body for French soccer consented to the search, which was carried out on Tuesday with the cooperation of the French Financial Prosecution Office. Criminal proceedings were opened against Blatter in September last year for suspected financial mismanagement over a US$2 million payment he approved from FIFA funds for suspended former UEFA president Michel Platini in 2011. The Swiss attorney general’s office says “documents were seized in connection with the suspected payment.” Blatter and Platini were both banned from soccer for six years after an investigation by FIFA’s ethics committee. They deny wrongdoing and are appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
SOCCER
Villacis named FEF head
Carlos Villacis was named head of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) on Tuesday to replace former president Luis Chiriboga, who has been under house arrest since December last year on money laundering charges, the association said. Chiriboga was head of the organization for 18 years until being indicted in December as part of the FIFA corruption scandal. His indictment by US officials led authorities in his homeland to order his house arrest while he faces money laundering charges. Villacis, who assumes control of the FEF until 2019, said: “My promise is to work hard so that both the sports and administrative side remain at a high level.” Ecuador currently sit top of South America’s World Cup qualifying competition and are the only one of the 10 teams to have won all four of their games so far.
BASEBALL
Watanabe forced to resign
Japanese media baron Tsuneo Watanabe has been forced to resign his post at the Yomiuri Giants after a fresh betting scandal rocked the country’s top baseball team. Watanabe, 89, is one of three senior executives who is to step down after relief pitcher Kyosuke Takagi was found to have bet on baseball games. Gambling is generally illegal in Japan. The veteran tycoon is chairman of the Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings media empire and chief editor of its flagship Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, Japan’s top-selling daily. His resignation as the team’s chief adviser was announced late on Tuesday as the Giants said they would file a complaint with Japan’s professional baseball organization about Takagi, who could face a lifetime ban.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Sport to get Games debut
Organizers of the 2018 Commonwealth Games have taken advantage of the sun, surf and sand which are already attractions on Australia’s Gold Coast to add beach volleyball to the sports program. The Commonwealth Games Federation and local organizers yesterday announced the expansion of the program from 17 to 18 sports, with beach volleyball making its debut at the event. “The Gold Coast’s beautiful beaches are a huge Games drawcard and beach volleyball is the perfect sporting fit,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said. Australian Commonwealth Games Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said organizers were scouting for a location “that showcases our magnificent beaches,” but is also suitable to stage the event. The Commonwealth Games are scheduled to take place from April 4 to 15 in 2018.
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier