■SOCCER
Romario plans to sue Vasco
Romario is planning to sue Vasco da Gama for US$16.4 million he says the club owes him in payments, local media reported on Tuesday. The debt stems from image rights and other payments the club allegedly failed to pay the veteran striker, who retired this year after his contract with Vasco expired. Vasco officials acknowledged the debt last year and said they were paying the player, but Romario’s lawyers told the O Globo newspaper that the club stopped paying the installments in August. Vasco officials claimed they stopped the payments because the club was short on money. Romario alleges that the team’s new sponsorship deals have put the club in position to make the payments again. Both parties said they were willing to reach an agreement, but Romario’s lawyer Norval Valerio said the player would sue the club early next year if the club doesn’t resume the installments. Vasco, four-time national champions, were relegated to the second division of the Brazilian league after a dismal campaign this year. Romario began his career with Vasco in 1985. Considered one of the top Brazilian strikers of all time, Romario led Brazil to their fourth World Cup title in 1994, when he was named FIFA player of the year.
■FORMULA ONE
Karthikeyan pans Mallya
India’s first Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan said he was never interested in joining Force India and criticized team co-owner Vijay Mallya for saying no Indian was good enough to drive in F1. “I spent a frustrating time with Jordan, where I had a car that just could not perform. I have no desire to be with another pedestrian team that’s low on performance and loud on talk,” Karthikeyan told the Hindustan Times newspaper yesterday. Indian billionaire Mallya bought into the Spyker team last year and renamed it Force India. He told the newspaper recently that neither Karthikeyan nor the country’s next hope, Karun Chandhok, were good enough for his team. Force India failed to score a point in its first season and confirmed this month that Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and German Adrian Sutil will race for them again next year.
■SOCCER
Spain launches 2018 bid
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) plans to submit a joint bid with Portugal to host the 2018 World Cup. “The board have finalized today the formal tender for Spain’s candidature to organize the 2018 World Cup to be held jointly with Portugal,” the RFEF said in a statement on Tuesday. The winning bid will be announced in December 2010. European champions Spain and Portugal declared their interest in hosting the tournament after FIFA said it would welcome bids for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Spain, alone or with Portugal, were strong candidates for 2018, as were England and the Netherlands with Belgium. Australia, China, Mexico and Russia have also expressed interest.
■SWIMMING
Pellegrini diagnosed
Italy’s 200m freestyle Olympic champion Federica Pellegrini said she had been diagnosed with a form of asthma, which caused her to hyperventilate during a race at the Italian winter championships last month. “I gave a big sigh of relief today as I did a test in Verona and I’ve finally found out what my problem is,” the 20-year-old told the ANSA news agency. “I have bronchial spasms, basically I suffer from asthma. There’s no problem about being unfit for competition.”
Jobe Bellingham on Tuesday admitted to having “anxieties” on following in brother Jude’s footsteps after joining Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Jobe Bellingham, 19, is two years younger than Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in 2023 after three years at Dortmund. A centerpiece of the England national team, Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of the best players in the world in recent seasons. The younger Jobe Bellingham joined Dortmund in June from Sunderland after their promotion to the English Premier League. He admitted he understood what the perception would be ahead of the move to Germany. “It’s something you do think about.
Before Tuesday’s 7-2 win at the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy suggested “most people couldn’t tell you five players on our team.” A look at the standings would indicate more Brewers players soon will be recognized by more fans. After all, it is difficult to overlook a team that not only continues to extend their lead in the National League Central, but also boasts the best record in the majors. “What we’re doing in here right now is special,” right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta said after allowing only four hits and one run in five innings, while setting a career high with
A baseball team from New Taipei City won the US Pony Palomino Division World Series yesterday in Laredo, Texas, defeating the US West representative team from Azusa, California, 2-1. Ku-Pao Home Economics and Commercial High School earned the right to represent Taiwan in the Pony Palomino (17 to 18 age group) World Series after winning this year's Wang Chen-chih Cup, a competition named after Taiwanese-Japanese baseball legend Wang Chen-chih (王貞治), also known as Sadaharu Oh. In the championship game against Azusa, Ku-Pao's starting pitcher Luo Yu-yan (羅于晏) was erratic early, giving up two hits in the bottom of the first inning, followed
NEXT ROUND: World No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka opened their title defenses with straight-sets wins, while Iga Swiatek and Taylor Fritz also advanced Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka got their title defenses off to smooth starts as they powered into the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The men’s and women’s top seeds, each ranked No. 1 in the world, were both competing for the first time since Wimbledon, where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the women’s semi-finals. Sinner crushed Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-1, 6-1 in steamy afternoon weather, while Sabalenka beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 under the lights of the night session. Sabalenka needed 54 minutes and a service break in the final game
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