SOCCER
Marin faces sentencing
The first bigwig convicted in the US in the FIFA corruption scandal that disgraced world soccer awaited sentencing yesterday. Prosecutors are seeking 10 years in prison and a US$6.6 million fine for former Brazilian Football Federation president Jose Maria Marin, who was convicted of accepting bribes from sports marketing companies in exchange for contracts to broadcast major tournaments. Citing his age and frail health, prosecutors are asking that he be sentenced to 13 months in prison. Marin was one of the FIFA executives arrested in May 2015 at a luxury hotel in Zurich, Switzerland, in a raid requested by the US. Marin was imprisoned immediately after his conviction on Dec. 22 last year on six counts of racketeering, money laundering and bank fraud.
AUSTRALIAN RULES
Newman blasts Muslims
Former player Sam Newman yesterday sparked controversy after lashing out at Australia’s Muslim community, saying they “share no common interest” with the rest of the nation. Newman, who cohosts the Footy Show, was reacting after two leading Muslim players embraced in a show of solidarity before a game last weekend. Richmond’s Bachar Houli and Essendon’s Adam Saad hugged in a planned silent protest during the coin toss after Australian Senator Fraser Anning used a speech in parliament to urge “a final solution” to immigration. He was widely condemned, but Newman said the Australian Football League (AFL) was playing with fire by allowing political debate in the sport. “Keep out of our minds... Let people go to the games and not be lectured on politics,” he said on his Sam, Mike and Thommo podcast. However, he also took aim at the Muslim community, saying: “70 percent of the people would agree with [Anning’s] sentiment. There are 600,000 Muslims in Australia, they share no common interest with what we’re on about. They have no common values, they preach to a different deity, they don’t generally nationalize, they colonize and this has been a huge problem in Europe and is becoming a huge problem in America. Why would the AFL think they’re being virtuous by getting those boys to shake hands? They’re being divisive.”
RANKINGS
Serena highest-paid woman
Serena Williams was the highest-paid female athlete for a third consecutive year this year, according to an annual list published by Forbes on Tuesday that was dominated by tennis players. Williams, who returned to competition in March, earned US$62,000 in winnings over the past year, but received US$18.1 million from an endorsement portfolio, Forbes said. Williams, who is to try to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles at the US Open, earned twice as much off the court as any other female athlete, Forbes said. Dane Caroline Wozniacki was second with combined earnings of US$13 million, while reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens was third with US$11.2 million. Spaniard Garbine Muguruza (US$11 million) and Russian Maria Sharapova (US$10.5 million) rounded out the top five. Indian badminton player P.V. Sindhu (US$8.5 million) and retired race car driver Danica Patrick (US$7.5 million) were the only non-tennis players to crack the top 10, filling the seventh and ninth spots respectively.
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
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