■ Soccer
World XI gala canceled
A World XI Players Awards gala scheduled for Athens next week has been called off with organizers pointing the finger of blame at two British companies. The event, backed by FIFPro, the international players' ruling body, was due to honor the 11 best soccer players in the world as voted by the 43,000 professional players from 40 national federations. But Monday's show was scrapped on Thursday when the two British firms involved in organizing the gala were unable to guarantee that all the award winners would turn up. Greek sports minister Stavros Douvis told Supersport radio: "The two companies, even though they had asked a lot of money which was not refused by both FIFPro and us, began telling us that they couldn't bring some of the 11 players invited."
■ Soccer
Men held over stabbing
Chinese police have detained three men in connection with the near-fatal stabbing of Dalian Shide midfielder Quan Lei, local media reported yesterday. Quan, 21, was rushed to hospital last month after being stabbed at least 10 times in the northeastern city of Dalian by several men as he got out of his car on the way to a birthday party for his father. The newspaper did not say if the three had been charged. The Beijing News, citing a police statement from a press conference on Thursday, said the Super League player had been attacked because he had become "too intimate" with the girlfriend of a businessman. Quan's return to professional football depended on the nerves and tendons in his legs fully healing, the paper said citing staff at the Dalian hospital that treated him.
■ Horse Racing
NYRA files for bankruptcy
The New York Racing Association (NYRA), the private entity that has held the state horse racing franchise since 1955, filed for protection from creditors in bankruptcy court on Thursday. NYRA's hold on the state franchise to run racing is scheduled to end Dec. 31, next year. "Chapter 11 bankruptcy does not mean going out of business," said NYRA president Charles Hayward, who has headed a new management team after years of critical audits and investigations into spending and mismanagement. Hayward said filing for bankruptcy court protection was a "last option." On Monday, the state's racing board released the US$19 million to NYRA, but NYRA officials said on Thursday that it comes with too many restrictions.
■ New Zealand
Rugby league chief quits
New Zealand Rugby League chairman Selwyn Bennett resigned yesterday, accepting responsibility but refusing to admit fault over the selection of Australian Nathan Fien for the Kiwis' Tri-Nations squad. The executive committee of the Rugby League International Federation on Thursday stripped New Zealand of two competition points and banned Fien from the remainder of the Tri-Nations tournament when it found the Australian-born hooker was not eligible for the Kiwis as the New Zealand league had claimed. Bennett had put forward Fien's claim of eligibility, saying he qualified through a New Zealand-born grandmother. But checks by the international federation found his great-grandmother rather than his grandmother was New Zealand-born. Bennett said he accepted responsibility for Fien's selection and was resigning to avoid further criticism of New Zealand Rugby League officials.
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
With a hat-trick on Wednesday, Victor Osimhen moved atop the UEFA Champions League scoring table, with the Nigeria striker netting all three goals in Galatasaray’s 3-0 victory over Ajax in Amsterdam. Osimhen moved to six goals this season in Europe’s elite club competition, one more than Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland. The Istanbul club signed Osimhen to a permanent deal from SSC Napoli in the summer for a record transfer fee in the Turkish League reportedly worth US$86 million. The 26-year-old striker needed less than 20 minutes to complete his first hat-trick in the competition. He headed in the opener in the
An amateur soccer league organized by farmers, students and factory workers in rural China has unexpectedly drawn millions of fans and inspired big cities to form their own, raising hopes China can grow talent from the ground up and finally become a global force. The nation of 1.4 billion people has about 200 million soccer fans, more than any other country, but it has failed to build world-class teams, partly due to a top-down approach where clubs pick players from a very small pool of prescreened candidates. The professional game is marred by a history of fixed matches, corruption, and dismal performances,
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
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