SOCCER
VAR to be used at World Cup
Video assistant referees (VAR) are to be used at the World Cup for the first time and talks are under way with potential sponsor branding to appear when it is used, a FIFA executive said on Monday. “Definitely, VAR will happen,” FIFA chief commercial officer Philippe Le Floc’h said. “It’s great to have technology in football, because this is also a fair[ness] thing.” The final decision on allowing replays to become part of the rules of the game falls to the International Football Association Board on March 3, when its annual meeting is held.
BMX
Cyclist awakes from coma
Dutch cyclist Jelle van Gorkom has awoken from a coma and his life is no longer in danger, but he faces a long recovery, officials said on Monday. Van Gorkom, who won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was hurt in an accident on Jan. 9 during training on a BMX track at the national sports center. He was placed in an induced coma for several days after breaking his ribs, fracturing his face and skull, and damaging his liver, spleen and kidneys.
GYMNASTICS
US board members resign
Three top board members of USA Gymnastics on Monday resigned and 2012 Olympic team coach John Geddert was suspended after calls from angry gymnasts who say the organization did nothing to protect them after being abused by former team doctor Larry Nassar. Chairman Paul Parilla, vice chair Jay Binder and treasurer Bitsy Kelley announced they were stepping down as testimony in Nassar’s sentencing hearing moved into its second week. Many Olympians have testified, sued the US Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics, and called for the sports leaders to leave their jobs. “To believe in the future of gymnastics is to believe in change, but how are we to believe in change when these organizations aren’t even willing to acknowledge the problem?” gymnast Aly Raisman said last week.
BASEBALL
Brewers offer Darvish deal
Pitcher Yu Darvish has received a contract offer from the Milwaukee Brewers, multiple reports said on Monday. The 31-year-old right-hander tweeted a Japanese report of the deal with a thinking-face emoji while MLB’s Web site also reported the submission. The Chicago Cubs are also having talks with Darvish, a person with direct knowledge of the discussions said. The talks come amid reports the Cubs have agreed to a minor league deal with Chris Gimenez, who regularly caught Darvish while they were in Texas and developed a trusted working relationship with the pitcher.
HOCKEY
McAvoy has heart surgery
Boston Bruins rookie defenseman Charlie McAvoy on Monday underwent a heart procedure, team internist David Finn said in a statement. The procedure was to treat an abnormal heartbeat and McAvoy is expected to require two weeks to recover, Finn said. McAvoy originally notified the team of heart palpitations following the Bruins’ Nov. 26 game against Edmonton. He was diagnosed with a supraventricular tachycardia, but was able to play despite the condition. However, he decided to undergo the procedure after additional consultation with team physicians and cardiologists.
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