■SOCCER
Man United fan kills four
A Manchester United fan in Nigeria killed four people when he drove his minibus into a crowd of Barcelona supporters after his team lost the Champions League final, police said yesterday. The crowd in the town of Ogbo were celebrating Barcelona’s victory after Wednesday night’s match when the bus drove into them. A police spokeswoman said 10 people were injured and the driver was arrested. “The driver had passed the crowd then made a U-turn and ran into them,” she said. Barcelona and Manchester United have large fan bases in Nigeria.
■RUGBY UNION
Kahui cleared for final
Waikato Chiefs center Richard Kahui has been cleared to play in tomorrow’s Super 14 final against the Bulls in South Africa. Kahui missed last weekend’s semi-final win over the Wellington Hurricanes because of a calf muscle strain but was passed fit to play in the final. He replaces injured wing Sitiveni Sivivatu, who was ruled out of the final after dislocating a shoulder against the Hurricanes. Dwayne Sweeney, who replaced Kahui at center last week, switches to the wing in an otherwise unchanged team for the title decider at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
■BOXING
Mundine claims world title
New Australian IBO champion Anthony Mundine says he wants to unify the middleweight world titles after beating compatriot Daniel Geale to claim his third world title. Mundine, 34, won a split points decision against former WBO champion Geale over 12 rounds in Brisbane late on Wednesday to improve his career record to 36 wins and three losses in 39 bouts. Mundine, a former rugby league footballer, said he will now look to unify the middleweight title against Kelly Pavlik, the American WBC and WBO champion, and Germany’s WBA champion Felix Sturm. “I’m going worldwide now. I want Kelly Pavlik, I want Felix Sturm but I think Daniel Geale gave me a harder fight than they will,” Mundine told reporters after his gruelling fight. Mundine’s manager, Khoder Nassar, confirmed at ringside that his fighter was keen to face Sturm for the WBA title. “We want to fight the best fighters at middleweight and Felix Sturm is one of the best guys in the world at 160 pounds,” Nassar said.
■CRICKET
Ponting most marketable
Test cricket captain Ricky Ponting remains Australia’s most marketable sports star but teammate Andrew Symonds has lost his luster with sponsors, a survey has found. Ponting, who is preparing to lead the Australian team in defense of the Ashes in England over the coming months, has held his place at the top for the third consecutive year of the Sweeney Sports Report. The Aussie skipper tops the list ahead of recently retired Olympic swimming champion Grant Hackett and semi-retired cricketer Adam Gilchrist. But while Ponting is in favor, the controversial Symonds is on the nose with the marketeers and has tumbled to 36th in the survey after reaching a high of 10th position in last year’s report. Symonds last week missed selection for the Ashes tour following his struggle to regain form after a series of off-field incidents. The problems started when Symonds was axed from the national team after his “gone fishing” episode last year, while he was also fined for an alcohol-fueled rant in a radio interview. Triple Beijing Olympic swimming gold medalist Stephanie Rice debuted in seventh place in the latest survey and is the highest-ranked sportswoman, ahead of former Olympic 400m champion runner Cathy Freeman, in eighth.
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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