The second round of regional Olympic soccer qualifiers has been postponed even before the completion of the first round as Asian soccer spins into turmoil amid the deadly outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). \nThe Asian Football Confederation announced yesterday that five second-round Asian qualifying matches for the 2004 Athens Olympics had been postponed indefinitely. \nThe second round matches, also contested on a home-and-away basis, had been set down for May 3 and either June 6 or June 7. \nSouth Korea was due to meet the winner of the Hong Kong-Sri Lanka match, while Saudi Arabia was against the winner of the Taiwan-Singapore match and North Korea faced the winner of the Iraq-Vietnam encounter when the next round eventually gets underway. \nSecond-round matches between Thailand and the winner of the United Arab Emirates vs. Tajikistan match and China against the winner of the Syria vs. Pakistan match were also postponed. \nIn first-round matches going ahead, Syria is hosting Pakistan twice, on April 16 and April 19, and the UAE will host Tajikistan at Dubai on April 19 and travel to Dushanbe for the return leg on April 26. \n``In view of the severity of the SARS outbreak in the region, we have decided to postpone these five matches as the players, officials and fans health are of utmost importance to us,'' said AFC General Secretary Peter Velappan. \nSARS has reportedly killed 162 of the 3,000 people infected worldwide, mostly in Hong Kong and China, where the virus was believed to have originated. \n``FIFA and AFC will closely monitor the developments of the situation with the advice of the World Health Organization (WHO) and inform the teams and everyone involved of the new dates in due time,'' added Velappan. \nEarlier this month, the AFC postponed three first-round Olympic qualifiers and shelved the 14-nation Asian qualifying tournament for the women's World Cup. The Asian championship was due to be held in Bangkok, Thailand starting this week. \nSoccer's regional authorities have scrapped an East Asian men's series involving China, Japan and South Korea, while FIFA, soccer's international governing body, postponed the draw for the Sept. 23 to Oct. 11 women's World Cup in China. \nThe draw was due to be held in Wuhan, China on May 24 but was delayed as a ``preventive measure in the interests of the health of those taking part,'' FIFA officials said. \nDespite speculation that the women's World Cup will be postponed or switched to another venue, FIFA and the Chinese FA have said they're confident the quadrennial tournament will go ahead as scheduled. \nMeanwhile, English Premier League clubs Everton and Aston Villa have abandoned plans to tour China and Hong Kong for exhibition matches next month. \nOlympic qualifiers have been hit hard in Asia. \nOther sports have abandoned major events in the region. The women's ice hockey World Cup was canceled four days before its scheduled April 3 opener in Beijing, while the International Rugby Board pulled its Sevens Series events in China and Singapore.
Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting lost her bronze medal at the International Boxing Association (IBA) Women’s World Boxing Championships after she failed to meet eligibility criteria, the governing body of amateur boxing said yesterday. The IBA did not elaborate on Lin’s disqualification. Bulgarian Svetlana Kamenova Staneva, who lost to Lin in the under-57kg quarter-finals, was awarded the bronze medal. Algeria’s Imane Khelif was also disqualified hours before her gold medal bout. The 23-year-old was scheduled to meet Yang Liu in the 66kg division final, but Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng, who lost to Khelif in the semi-finals, would fight the Chinese instead. “A boxer from Algeria
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara yesterday said they wanted to inspire a new generation after becoming Japan’s first ever figure skating pairs world champions. The Japanese duo survived a late slip to hold off Americans Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier for the gold in front of an expectant crowd in Saitama, north of Tokyo. The win gave Miura and Kihara an incredible season sweep, the pair having already claimed the NHK Trophy, Skate Canada, Grand Prix final and Four Continents titles. Kihara said he hoped their latest win would usher in a new era of Japanese pairs success. “I would love it if boys
Retired Formula One champion Nelson Piquet has been ordered by a Brazilian court to pay more than US$950,000 in “moral damages” for making racist and homophobic comments about Lewis Hamilton. The 70-year-old Brazilian had referred to seven-time champion Hamilton as “neguinho,” a racially offensive term that means “little black guy,” in 2021. In another interview, Piquet used racist and homophobic language. The court in Brasilia on Friday ordered Piquet to pay 5 million (US$952,998) reals “in collective moral damages, to be allocated to funds for the promotion of racial equality and against discrimination of the LGBTQIA+ community.” The charges were filed by several
FOUL MOOD: Suns coach Monty Williams said that there had been a pattern of unfair officiating against his team after the Lakers shot 46 free throws to 20 Anthony Davis on Wednesday had 27 points and nine rebounds in the Lakers’ 122-111 victory over the Phoenix Suns, who were furious with the game’s large free-throw disparity favoring Los Angeles. Suns coach Monty Williams gave just one answer before leaving his post-game news conference, criticizing the game officials and describing what he called a pattern of unfair officiating against his team in recent games. The Lakers shot 46 free throws to the Suns’ 20, outscoring Phoenix by 21 points at the line. “Where do you see a game with 46 free throws for one team?” Williams said. “That’s just not right. I
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