■ CYCLING
Senator ordered to pay fine
Belgian Senator Jean-Marie Dedecker was ordered to pay a symbolic 1 euro (US$1.44) fine on Monday for making doping allegations against three unidentified cyclists. Dedecker said last year that three well-known Belgian riders had doped in Italy to prepare for the upcoming season. He didn't disclose names, but the Quick-Step team of former world champion Tom Boonen and several other top Belgian riders felt targeted and sued. Team leader Patrick Lefevere demanded 25,000 euros in damages but was still pleased with the symbolic fine. "I don't care about the euro, but it is important that they proved me right," he told VRT network. Dedecker said he would appeal.
■ SOCCER
Goalkeeper admits drug use
Former Chinese international goalkeeper Jiang Hong has admitted taking illegal drugs during his career, saying his addiction to the potent stimulant methamphetamine nearly ruined his life. Jiang, 40, whose brother, Jiang Jin, also played in goal for the Chinese national side, said that he only gave up drugs in August after realizing how close he was to wrecking his health and his happiness. "I realized the great harm that the drug was doing to me," he wrote on his Internet blog. "So I decided once and for all to rid myself of this devil." Jiang quit soccer two years ago after his club Shaanxi Guoli were kicked out of the league for failing to pay players' salaries. At the time, the club publicly accused the goalie of taking drugs. Jiang played for several top Chinese clubs and also appeared in the national squad during the 1990s.
■ OLYMPICS
Striker suspended by team
A Chinese Olympic squad member has been suspended by his team for one year for crashing his car while under the influence of alcohol, a month after the player's club denied he had been drinking. Cui Peng (崔鵬), a 20-year-old striker for Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng, crashed his car last month while driving at night with two young women in the northeast city of Dalian. The three were taken to hospital with light injuries. Shandong later denied Cui had been drinking, citing road conditions and other reasons for the crash in a report posted on its Web site last month. Police, however, had found that Cui had alcohol in his system and the player served a mandatory detention period at home due to his "special identity", a local newspaper report reproduced in the Beijing News said.
■ OLYMPICS
Brazil unveils 2016 bid
Rio de Janeiro on Monday unveiled its bid logo for the 2016 Olympics -- the famed Sugar Loaf mountain shaped as a heart to represent the Brazilian people's passion for sports. The logo -- in the green, yellow, blue and white colors of the Brazilian flag -- has the writing "rio20!6," with the exclamation point replacing the numeral 1 to symbolize Brazil's heightened expectations with the chance of hosting the event. "The Sugar Loaf in the shape of a heart represents the Brazilian's indisputable passion and vibration for sports," logo designer Ana Soter said. A Brazilian Olympic Committee panel chose the logo from a list of four finalists. "[The logo] replicates the Brazilians' energy, happiness and ability to serve as hosts," Brazilian Olympic Committee president Carlos Arthur Nuzman said. "These values represent Rio's 2016 Olympic bid.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
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