Schalke 04 fans on Saturday staged a protest against chairman Clemens Tonnies before the 5-0 win over fourth-tier SV Drochtersen/Assel in the first round of the German Cup.
Club supporters suggested they no longer want him at the club as they held red cards and displayed a banner that read: “We’re showing Tonnies the red card.”
The 63-year-old Tonnies has been criticized since making comments described as racist at an Aug. 1 public meeting, at which he campaigned against tax increases to fight climate change by saying that it was better to fund power plants in Africa, “then the Africans would stop cutting down trees and they would stop making babies when it gets dark.”
Photo: AP
Tonnies, Schalke chairman since 2001, apologized for the remarks and decided to step down for three months.
In other games, Augsburg and FSV Mainz 05 were knocked out by lower-league opponents. Augsburg lost 2-1 to fourth-tier SV Verl and third-division Kaiserslautern surprised Mainz 2-0.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen progressed against fourth-tier Alemannia Aachen 4-1, while top-flight sides SC Freiburg and Fortuna Dusseldorf needed extra time to progress.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann saved two penalties in a shootout victory over Wurzburger Kickers to get new coach Alfred Schreuder off to a winning start.
Peruvian Claudio Pizarro scored twice in Werder Bremen’s 6-1 rout of Atlas Delmenhorst.
LIGUE 1
AP, MARSEILLE, France
A change of coach has not yielded Olympique de Marseille instant dividends.
Lacking passion and grit, the side — now coached by Andre Villas-Boas — made a disappointing start on Saturday to the Ligue 1 by losing 2-0 to visitors Reims.
Striker Boulaye Dia scored the opening goal and also delivered an assist as Reims claimed their first win in more than five years at the Velodrome.
Villas-Boas got his first taste of French soccer and saw how much work needs to be done. He replaced Rudi Garcia after Marseille failed to qualify for the Europa League and his mission is to bring the kings of Europe from 1993 back into the Champions League.
Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda kept his side afloat in the first half with two good saves until Kevin Strootman volleyed against the bar in the 57th minute.
However, Mandanda could not stop Dia’s effort in the 58th minute, following Tristan Dingome’s assist. Dia then beat the offside trap and turned provider in the 90th minute with a fine pass to South Korean forward Suk Hyun-jun, who pounced to score.
“It’s a big disappointment given what we hoped for and what we had shown in our [pre-season] matches,” Mandanda said. “There is a long way to go to perform in this league.”
Unlike their rivals, 10-time champions AS Saint-Etienne were immediately up to speed, winning 2-1 against hosts Dijon FCO.
Saint-Etienne built a two-goal lead in 10 minutes thanks to Romain Hamouma and Jean-Eudes Aholou, before Julio Tavares converted on a penalty in the 34th minute.
Playing without injured but newly signed Teji Savanier, the best assist-provider last season during his time with Nimes, Montpellier were upset 1-0 at home by 10-man Rennes after Andy Delort missed a penalty.
Angers SCO defeated Girondins de Bordeaux 3-1, promoted Brest drew 1-1 with Toulouse and former Brazil defender Dante headed in the winner in stoppage time as OGC Nice beat Amiens 2-1.
Paris Saint-Germain yesterday started the defense of their title against Nimes Olympique at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB