■ Horse racing
Crooked jockeys suspended
Four jockeys were suspended for between one and three years on Friday after being found guilty of involvement in a betting scam. Robbie Fitzpatrick and Luke Fletcher received three-year suspensions, Fran Ferris two years and Robert Winston, the most successful and best known of the four, a 12-month disqualification by Britain's Horseracing Regulatory Authority. The charges related to 37 races between June 16, 2003 and Feb. 29, 2004 and included providing inside information for financial reward, aiding and abetting a corrupt practice and misleading investigators. All four denied the allegations. The charges related to 21 horses ridden by Winston, 11 ridden by Fletcher, four by Ferris and two by Fitzpatrick.
■ Soccer
Blues sign Belgian striker
English Premiership strugglers Manchester City boosted their ailing attack with the signing of veteran Belgian international striker Emile Mpenza until the end of the season on Friday. The 28-year-old, who has finished his contract with Qatari side al-Rayyan, still awaits international clearance before joining City, who are presently fifth from bottom of the Premiership, though 10 points clear of the relegation places. Mpenza, who has scored 17 goals in 52 internationals for his country and has mostly played abroad including two spells in the Bundesliga with Schalke 04 and Hamburg, has been on trial at City. Mpenza, twice a winner of the German Cup with Schalke 04 in 2001 and 2002, will be unavailable for today's difficult FA Cup fifth-round tie at Championship highflyers Preston.
■ Tennis
Police question FFT official
The head of the French Tennis Federation (FFT) is under official investigation for alleged abuse of office, it was reported by yesterday's edition of L'Equipe. Christian Bimes, 59 years old and head of the FFT since 1993, was held by police for two days earlier this week and subsequently released but is still under investigation. Suspicions were first raised in December 2004 when five employees of the FFT brought a complaint against Bimes for abusing his position. They chiefly accused him of using official cars for personal use, not paying back personal expenses, claiming for unjustified personal expenses (such as plane tickets, using the telephone for personal use and buying groceries) and that his wife had continued to work, after they had got married, for the company that supplied the hostesses for the French Open.
■ Collegiate sports
School drops Indian mascot
The University of Illinois said on Friday it would send its "Chief Illiniwek" to the graveyard of sports mascots, bowing to pressure from those who said the war-whooping symbol it used for more than 80 years offended American Indians. The action, part of a continuing debate in the US over sensitivity and political correctness, followed an edict from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The NCAA had said schools with hostile or abusive American Indian symbols may not host lucrative post-season championship play from next year, except for football as the NCAA does not oversee its post-season play. The university was also under pressure from some American Indians do away with the mascot. American Indian and ethnic symbols are still found as nicknames for school and professional teams at all levels. A school in Pekin, Illinois, once used but eventually dropped "Chinks" as its designation, a reference to the town's namesake Peking.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Starting with three fights in the first nine seconds and ending with a celebration and a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, the US on Saturday delivered exactly what Matthew Tkachuk hoped for by beating Canada. “We needed to send a message,” Tkachuk said. “The message we wanted to send is ‘It’s our time.’” Tkachuk fought Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, brother Brady tussled with Sam Bennett the next time the puck dropped, J.T. Miller dropped the gloves with Colton Parayko next and the Americans followed those fisticuffs with a 3-1 victory over their biggest rival. “That was one of the
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,