■ Basketball
Kung fu fighters get fined
Fourteen Chinese basketball players have been fined a total of more than US$21,700 (17,600 euros) for attacking players from Puerto Rico in an incident that sports authorities called a national disgrace, the country's basketball association said Friday. State media called the on-court violence on July 29 during the six-nation Stankovic Cup in Beijing a "night of shame" and said it damaged China's reputation in advance of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Fighting erupted when two Chinese players rushed onto the court after a Puerto Rican player fouled a Chinese forward. Fans threw cups and other objects, forcing Puerto Rican players to shield their heads with upturned chairs as they left the court. Referees cut short the game.
■ Boxing
Ali knocks out dealers
Muhammad Ali settled a lawsuit against several sports collectibles dealers to block the sale of artwork and other memorabilia relating to the former heavyweight champion, including a Koran given to him by a former president of Egypt. An injunction issued after the lawsuit was filed in 2003 prevented the sale of hundreds of lithographs which bore forged Ali signatures, along with other items, Ali's attorney, Ron DiNicola, said on Thursday in a statement. Among the items were the Koran Ali received from former Egypt President Gamal Abdul Nasser, and a walking stick from Mobutu Sese Seko, the former president of Zaire. The lithographs were copies of an artist's rendering of Ali's knockout of Sonny Liston in 1965. Handwriting and memorabilia experts determined that the signatures on the lithographs were forged, the statement said. Named in the suit, and included in the settlement, were Grey Flannel Auctions, Inc and B&E Collectibles, Inc, of New York; and Broadway Ricks Strike Zone, Inc, of Florida.
■ Hockey
Niedermayer now a Duck
MVP defenceman Scott Niedermayer signed with Anaheim Mighty Ducks on Thursday, in another wild day of business on the NHL free agent market. A three-time Stanley Cup winner with the New Jersey Devils, Niedermayer, rated as one of the biggest prizes in a deep free agent market, agreed to a four-year contract worth US$27 million and a chance to play on the same team as his brother Rob. It was reported the Devils had offered him US$1 million more a season but the 31-year-old all-star rejected the contract. "Scott Niedermayer is one of the top defencemen in the game today, whose skating, puck-moving ability and leadership qualities make him a great addition to our team," Ducks GM Brian Burke said in a statement.
■ Horse racing
Pat decides to call it a day
With tears in his eyes, Pat Day brought an end to one of horse racing's most successful careers. "Since I made the decision to retire, there's been a joy and a peace that flooded my soul," the Hall of Fame jockey said Thursday during a news conference at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Day, with his wife Sheila and daughter Irene at his side, said he won't ride, but will continue to be a presence at race tracks around the country with the Race Track Chaplaincy program, working with chaplains behind the scenes. Day said he spent time in recent days at a friend's cabin on the Kentucky River, pondering his decision.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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