■BASKETBALL
Iverson loses court appeal
A US appeals court upheld on Tuesday a jury award of US$260,000 against four-time NBA scoring champion Allen Iverson and his bodyguard to a man injured in a 2005 brawl at a Washington nightclub. Marlin Godfrey sued bodyguard Jason Kane for assault and battery and Iverson for negligent supervision of Kane. Godfrey suffered a concussion, a ruptured eardrum, a burst blood vessel in his eye, a torn rotator cuff, cuts, bruises and emotional injuries, the ruling by the appeals court said. A three-judge panel of the appeals court unanimously rejected the argument by lawyers for Iverson, that the evidence was legally insufficient to support the verdict against him for negligent supervision. In 2007 a jury awarded Godfrey US$250,000 for pain and suffering and US$10,000 for medical expenses. The fight broke out when Kane and another man who sometimes acted as Iverson’s bodyguard ordered Godfrey and his party to leave the club’s VIP area to make room for Iverson and his friends. “Iverson stayed out of the fray in the back corner of the VIP area, standing on a couch or bench and observing. He did not say or do anything to try to stop Kane or anyone else from fighting,” the ruling said.
■Boxing
‘Pacman’ scoops honor
Filipino star Manny Pacquiao has been voted fighter of the year by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) after a dominating win over Oscar De La Hoya. Joe Calzaghe was runner-up, but voted manager of the year on Tuesday for guiding his own career. The undefeated former super middleweight champion recently retired. Pacquiao won three times last year, the highlighted being his stoppage of De La Hoya. “Pacmans”’s trainer, Freddie Roach, was voted trainer of the year, the third time he has won the award. The super bantamweight match between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez was chosen fight of the year. Vazquez won the fight by split decision.
■BOXING
Former champ dies
Former world bantamweight champion Raul Macias has died from cancer aged 74. Known by the nickname “Mouse,” the 1.61m Macias took part in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics then turned pro the next year. He won the vacant NBA — which later became the WBA — world bantamweight title by beating Thailand’s Chamrern Songkitrat in 1955. The boxer, famed for keeping in shape by dancing, became Mexico’s top sports hero. More than 50,000 people filled the Mexican capital’s bullfighting ring to see him defeat Nate Brooks in 1954 for the North American title. Macias defended his world title twice before losing to Alphonse Halimi in 1957. Macias retired in 1962 at age 28 with a professional record of 41-2. He then worked as a trainer and acted in TV soap operas.
■BOXING
Series slots up for grabs
Six countries are in the fray for four Asian city slots in the World Series of Boxing, which will pit franchise teams against each other in a league format from late next year. China, India, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Qatar were interested in taking the slots, an Indian boxing official said on Tuesday. Twelve franchises, four each from Asia, Europe and the Americas, will compete against each other in a league format. With professional boxing splintered because of the array of different governing bodies and weight classifications, the amateur version hopes the World Series of Boxing will strike a chord with disaffected fans.
■FORMULA ONE
Glock talks about threats
Timo Glock was a victim of personal threats after Lewis Hamilton passed him in the closing stages of last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix to secure the drivers’ title, the German said on Tuesday. Briton Hamilton overtook Glock, who had stayed on dry-weather tires, a few hundred meters from the finish to grab fifth place in the race. “This was not a pretty way to end the season,” Glock told the Darmstaedter Echo newspaper as he prepared for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. “The reactions from many German fans were very bad. It seems there are many racist people who did not like seeing Hamilton become world champion. The reactions ranged from ‘we know where your parents live’ to ‘you belong in the gas chamber,’” the Toyota driver said. McLaren driver Hamilton, the sport’s first black champion, has occasionally been the target of racial abuse and last November his father Anthony said the taunting had made him doubt whether his son should be competing in Formula One. “I did think maybe this is not the place for my family,” Hamilton senior told the Daily Express newspaper.
■SOCCER
Unemployed to get in free
Villarreal will offer unemployed season ticket holders free passes for next season to help fans feeling the effects of the global economic crisis, club president Fernando Roig said on Tuesday. “Season ticket holders who are on the dole will be allowed in free next year,” Roig told a news conference. “The idea is to think of the club’s wider social base and those who have been unlucky to lose their jobs so they can continue to watch football in the Madrigal.” Roig said the club’s board, coaching staff, players and sponsors would combine to set up a fund to help subsidize the plan, with the precise details agreed in the next few weeks. Striker Joseba Llorente gave his backing to the scheme. “We are keen to get involved because it seems like a good idea considering the times we are in,” Llorente said. “There are many people without work and it’s a shame if they don’t come to the stadium because of this.”
■SOCCER
Player sentenced to death
A court in the United Arab Emirates has condemned to death a top national soccer player and two other men for stabbing a man to death in a street fight, local media reported yesterday. Fayez Jomma, who played for the national soccer team, his brother Mousa and another soccer player Mohammad Najeeb, were found guilty of killing the victim known only as J.J. with a sword and a knife in May, the 7Days newspaper reported. Although the UAE has the death penalty, which is imposed for crimes including murder and drug trafficking, executions are very rare. Abdul Hamid al-Kumaity, the lawyer representing the victim’s family, told the Gulf News his clients were seeking 1 million dirhams (US$272,000) “in compensation for emotional, psychological and financial damages.”
■SOCCER
Torino fire Novellino again
Torino fired coach Walter Novellino on Tuesday for the second time in a year and hired Giancarlo Camolese to lead the club out of the relegation zone. After losing 3-1 at home to Sampdoria on Sunday, Torino are tied for next to last in Serie A with Lecce, with nine games remaining. Torino president Urbano Cairo confirmed the move, Apcom news agency reported. Novellino was also fired with five rounds remaining last season, when Giovanni De Biasi was brought in and saved the club from relegation.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
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