OLYMPICS
Tokyo ‘best prepared’ city
A year before hosting the Olympics, Tokyo is better prepared than any other city in that has hosted the Games, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said yesterday. Bach came to Tokyo to attend several events marking one year until the opening ceremony in the almost-completed National Stadium. Only three Olympic venues remain to be finished. About 3.22 million tickets were sold during the first domestic sales phase last month, while more than 200,000 people have applied to be volunteers in an indication of the building excitement.
Photo: EPA-EFE
BOXING
Changes to Hall of Fame
The International Boxing Hall of Fame is making changes to its voting process, shortening the retirement time for consideration and creating two categories for female fighters. The categories for female boxers are Trailblazer, boxers whose last bout was no later than 1988, and Modern, those whose last contest came no earlier than 1989. Female and male boxers must be retired for at least three years before the end of the calendar year in which voting takes place, meaning that boxers who last fought in 2016 are now eligible for consideration.
MANAGEMENT
Cowboys top richest list
The Dallas Cowboys top Forbes’ list of the world’s most valuable sports clubs for the fourth straight year as English Premier League giants Manchester United slipped four places to sixth. In figures released on Tuesday, Forbes pegged the value of the Cowboys at US$5 billion. The NFL club generate twice as much sponsorship and seating revenue at their AT&T Stadium than any other team, the publication said. The MLB’s New York Yankees jumped from fifth to second, their value coming in at US$4.6 billion. Twenty-six of the NFL’s 32 teams appear on the list of 50, while the Yankees are among seven MLB teams to feature. La Liga giants Real Madrid (US$4.24 billion) and Barcelona (US$4.02 billion), and the NBA’s New York Knicks (US$4 billion) round out the top five. Manchester United saw their value drop from US$4.12 billion to US$3.18 billion.
SOCCER
Player reverses coming out
A Twitter user who claimed to be an anonymous English Football League Championship player intending to come out as gay has reversed his decision, saying he is “not strong enough to do this.” Having previously declared his intention to hold a news conference yesterday at which he would reveal his identity after a series of tweets about his experiences, @FootballerGay on Tuesday posted two messages before deleting the account that had amassed more than 50,000 followers. Former England striker Gary Lineker and Burton Albion forward Marvin Sordell were among those to publicly express their support for the player, who is believed to be under the age of 23 and currently playing in a Championship club. Justin Fashanu remains the only British male player to have publicly come out while playing in the Football League, in 1990.
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