SOCCER
Guardiola charged over ribbon
The English Football Association has charged Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for promoting a political message by wearing a ribbon in support of imprisoned and ousted pro-independence Catalan politicians. Guardiola was born in Catalonia and is revered in the region because of his links with Barcelona’s soccer team, as both a player and coach. Guardiola has been wearing the yellow ribbon at matches and news conferences since Catalonia’s failed secession bid in October last year when a banned independence referendum was held. The association said the ribbon is a “political message” which requires him to be charged with being in breach of uniform and advertising regulations.
TENNIS
Bouchard reaches settlement
Eugenie Bouchard said she feels relieved and happy about a settlement in her liability lawsuit against the US Tennis Association. The Canadian tennis player made the remark to reporters on Friday after the deal on damages was struck at a New York City court. It came a day after a jury found the association mostly liable for when Bouchard slipped on a wet locker room floor at the 2015 US Open and hit the back of her head. Bouchard claimed she suffered what she said was a “serious head injury” that has harmed a once-promising career. Lawyers met for several hours before reaching the settlement. They declined to disclose the terms.
TENNIS
Top-seed Thiem out of Rio
Top-seeded defending champion Dominic Thiem of Austria on Friday tumbled out of the Rio Open in Brazil, falling 6-4, 6-0 to Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in the quarter-finals of the clay-court event. Thiem won the Argentina Open on Sunday last week for his ninth career title. Verdasco was yesterday to play fifth-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy, who was victorious over Alijaz Bedene of Slovenia. Bedene lost to Thiem in the Argentina Open final. In the other semi-final at Jockey Club Brasileiro, sixth-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina was to face Chile’s Nicolas Jarry. Schwartzman beat France’s Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-4, and Jarry topped Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 7-5, 6-3.
OLYMPICS
Sergeyeva fails drugs test
Russian bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeyeva has been banned from the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea after failing a doping test, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said yesterday. The court said that she had tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine and had admitted the offense, the fourth doping case to hit this year’s Games. Sergeyeva, who finished 12th in the two-woman bobsleigh, “is excluded from the Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018,” the court said in a statement.
BASKETBALL
Butler out with injury
Minnesota All-Star Jimmy Butler on Friday left the Timberwolves’ game against the Houston Rockets with an apparent injury to his right knee. After grabbing a rebound late in the third quarter, Butler pivoted and planted hard on his right foot before collapsing and grabbing his right knee. He was on the floor for at least three minutes before he was carried off the court by two teammates. He appeared to avoid putting weight on his right leg when heading to the locker room. Butler leads the Timberwolves with 22.4 points and 1.9 steals per game, adding 5.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game in his first season with Minnesota after being traded from Chicago in the off-season.
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