■GOLF
Monty to defend Omega title
Colin Montgomerie and Ian Poulter will lead the way for Scotland and England at next month’s Omega World Cup, which will see 28 teams compete for the title in southern China. The two-man teams will tee up at the Olazabal Course at Mission Hills in Shenzhen on Nov. 27 for the four-day event. Montgomerie will defend the title that he won for Scotland last year with Marc Warren, but will have a new partner in Alastair Forsyth. Poulter, fresh off a strong performance for Europe at the Ryder Cup, will team up with Ross Fisher for England. The US team will feature Ryder Cup player Ben Curtis and Brandt Snedeker. Both will be making their debuts at the Omega World Cup. Taiwan will be represented by Lin Wen-tang and Lu Wen-teh.
■BASKETBALL
Ex-NBA star to be adviser
Former NBA player Vlade Divac has become an adviser to Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic, Belgrade media reported on Thursday. Divac, an ex-player with the Sacramento Kings, will advise Dacic on humanitarian issues and sports. The former player said he is not interested in politics or money and that he had taken the post to help promote humanitarian work in Serbia. “The deputy prime minister called me a month ago and suggested I take the post of advisor for diaspora, sports and humanitarian issues. I’m interested in that and if they [the government] want to do something positive I can advise them,” Divac said. Divac, who played in the US from 1989 to 2005, runs a humanitarian organization.
■BASKETBALL
Amateur surprises Nets star
When a random Englishman asked US star Devin Harris if he fancied a quick game of one-against-one after visiting a refurbished basketball court in south London, the New Jersey Nets player was happy to oblige. Harris assumed he could pass on a few tips while charitably brushing off his challenger. What happened next, however, has become a YouTube sensation, with footage showing how amateur Stuart Tanner left Harris swiping at fresh air with his feints before inflicting the ultimate humiliation — slipping the ball between the NBA star’s legs. Shocked bystanders whooped with delight as Tanner ran the length of the court after scoring two hoops against the bamboozled American. “Man, did you see how fast he was?” puffed Harris. “He tricked me. He hustled me on my own court!” Tanner, a part-time basketball coach, gave up playing five years ago after failing to make the grade in the British league but gained a reputation for clever tricks as a “streetballer.” “It was a bit embarrassing for him as you shouldn’t ever really get beaten like that, but he took it really well and was very nice about it,” Tanner said.
■OLYMPICS
No cricket in 2016: Rogge
International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Jacques Rogge yesterday rejected growing demands from the cricket community to include the Twenty20 format of the sport at the 2016 Summer Games. Leading cricketers like Australian captain Ricky Ponting have called for cricket’s shortest version to be included in the Olympics, Ponting said after the Beijing Olympics that it was only a matter of time before the sport’s newest form was included in the Games, given its popularity in South Asia. “I actually think it’s inevitable Twenty20 cricket will be an Olympic sport,” Ponting said. “You think about the audiences in South Asia, 22 or 23 per cent of the world’s population is based in that area. The IOC could do a lot worse than put cricket into the Olympics.”
■ARGENTINA
Basile resigns after loss
National coach Alfio Basile resigned on Thursday, a day after a historic loss to Chile in World Cup qualifying. “Basile spoke with the president of the AFA, Julio Grondona, and irrevocably announced his resignation for personal reasons,” Argentine Football Association spokesman Ernesto Cherquis Bialo told reporters. “I’m surprised,” Grondona said. Cherquis Bialo said the AFA tried to persuade Basile to change his mind, but “he was very decided, very determined.” Potential replacements include Argentina youth coach Sergio Batista, who led Argentina to Olympic gold in Beijing this summer, River Plate’s Diego Simeone and Miguel Angel Russo of San Lorenzo. The team’s next match is a friendly on Nov. 19 against Scotland. Argentina ended a five-match winless streak in World Cup qualifying with a 2-1 victory against Uruguay on Saturday, but the grumbling of fans and media continued that Basile should have been doing more with a talented squad. That criticism intensified after a 1-0 defeat on Wednesday in Santiago, Argentina’s first ever loss to Chile in any official competition, and their first loss to Chile in 35 years.
■ROMANIA
Piturca briefly detained
National coach Victor Piturca was briefly detained by anti-corruption prosecutors on Thursday as part of an investigation into match-fixing in the domestic league. Piturca was taken by two prosecutors as he landed at Bucharest airport to give testimony at the National Department for Anti-Corruption on suspicion of aiding a criminal. He was later released. Piturca is suspected of giving false testimony to cover up for Steaua Bucharest owner Gigi Becali, who is being investigated in the match-fixing case. Becali is accused of offering US$2.6 million to CFR Cluj in June to fix the last match of the Romanian league and help Steaua win the title. Steaua lost and police arrested several people who were carrying money in a suitcase. Piturca has said that the money was for a real estate deal in Cluj and not for match-fixing.
■ITALY
Catania chief suspended
Catania chief executive Pietro Lo Monaco was suspended for 40 days and fined 15,000 euros (US$20,000) by the Italian federation on Thursday for threatening Inter coach Jose Mourinho. After Inter beat Catania 2-1 on Sept. 13 with an own-goal by Catania defender Christian Terlizzi, Mourinho suggested that Inter could have won 5-1. Lo Monaco replied that Mourinho had insulted all of Catania and should have “his teeth smashed in.” The federation ruled that Lo Monaco’s words were an incitement for violence.
■UNITED STATES
Conway and Parke banned
New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway and defender Jeff Parke became the first players in the history of Major League Soccer to be suspended on Thursday for doping. They were banned for 10 league games each. They tested positive for androstatriendione and boldenone metabolites after purchasing and using an over-the-counter nutritional supplement from a vitamin store, the league said. The players cannot play in other competitions during their 10-game ban and each was fined 10 percent of his salary. Conway makes US$115,000 a season and Parke has a base salary of US$57,488. “This is an important statement as to the high standards to which we hold our players,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
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