SOCCER
Video review fast-tracked
Major League Soccer (MLS) in North America is fast-tracking plans to use video reviews to aid referee decisions, commissioner Don Garber said on Thursday. Garber has long been a proponent of using video to help ensure crucial calls are correct, and the league recently hosted a visit to New Jersey by officials from rulemaking body the International Football Association Board for the first-ever live trials. The technology was tested during games between local youth teams, with the referee in constant communication with a video assistant referee. “I’ve always believed we need to have some video replay,” Garber told ESPN. “Fortunately, new leaders at [world body] FIFA are pushing this and it’s happening. It’s going to happen in our league in the next year or so. We want to be a guinea pig.” Soccer is one of the last major sports that does not use video reviews, other than goal-line technology in a handful of leagues that determines whether a goal has been scored. FIFA president Gianni Infantino in March said that video replay would start by the 2017-2018 season “at the latest” for goals, direct red cards, mistaken identities and penalties.
OLYMPICS
IOC member suspended
South Korea’s Moon Dae-sung has been suspended as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over allegations that he plagiarized his doctoral thesis. The IOC said that that Moon’s membership will be suspended until the South Korean Supreme Court reaches a verdict over his dispute with a Seoul university, which stripped him of his degree in 2014 after concluding that he stole from the works of another researcher. The IOC said the decision was recommended by its Ethics Commission, citing damage to the reputation of the Olympic Movement. Moon’s eight-year term as an IOC member is due to end after this year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. After winning the men’s heavyweight gold in taekwondo in the 2004 Athens Games, Moon pursued a career in international sports administration and also served in the South Korean National Assembly as a lawmaker from 2012 to this year. He received a doctorate in sports psychology from Kookmin University in 2007, but, following a two-year investigation, the school stripped Moon of the degree in 2014 after ruling that he had copied large parts of his work from the studies of another researcher. Moon responded with a lawsuit against Kookmin, but lower courts ruled in favor of the university before he appealed to the country’s highest court.
GOLF
Jaeger matches record
Stephan Jaeger shot a 12-under 58 on Thursday in the Web.com Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic in Hayward, California, to match the lowest score in major tour play. The 27-year-old German player finished with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-five ninth at TPC Stonebrae. Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa also shot a 12-under 58 to win the 2010 Crowns on the Japan Tour. Jaeger broke the Web.com Tour record of 59 held by Notah Begay III, Doug Dunakey, Jason Gore, Will Wilcox and Russell Knox. Six players have shot 59 in official PGA Tour events. Jaeger played both nines in six-under 29. He birdied Nos. 11 and 13 to 17 on his opening nine, and Nos. 1 and 2, 4 to 6 and 9 on his second nine.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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