■CANADA
Zidane suffers freak injury
Zinedine Zidane’s charity match today is in danger of being canceled after the soccer great suffered a freak injury. Nick Smith, a spokesman for the game organizers, said Zidane injured his back while bending down to pick up his child on Wednesday as he was watching Vancouver’s Canada Day fireworks display. The three-time world player of the year underwent physiotherapy on Thursday, but may have pulled a tendon in his back and recovery usually takes a week. Organizers were expected to make a decision on the game’s status late yesterday. Smith said Zidane’s chances of playing were “50-50.” The game at B.C. Place is the finale in the three-game “Friends of Zidane” tour that has already staged events in Toronto and Montreal. They pit Zidane and other current and retired internationals against local select sides with proceeds going to UNICEF and other causes.
■GERMANY
Ze Roberto joins Hamburg
Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto has joined Hamburg on a two-year contract. The 34-year-old former Brazil international signed for Hamburg on Thursday, the club said. Ze Roberto was a free agent after turning down Bayern Munich’s offer of a one-year extension to his contract. He played for Bayern between 2002 and 2006 and again between 2007 and last season, winning four Bundesliga titles and four German Cups. “He is a technically outstanding player and brings incredible experience with him,” Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia said. He also played four seasons at Bayer Leverkusen, had a season at Real Madrid, and spells with Santos, Flamengo and Portuguesa in his homeland.
■SWITZERLAND
FIFA won’t punish Iranians
FIFA won’t punish the Iran national soccer team for the green wristbands some players wore in solidarity with anti-government protesters during a World Cup qualifier last month. Soccer’s world governing body said last week it would review all relevant match reports from the June 17 fixture against South Korea to decide whether any rules on player dress were breached. Under the rules drawn up by the International Football Association Board, “the team of a player whose basic compulsory equipment has political, religious or personal slogans or statements will be sanctioned by the competition organizer or by FIFA.” “We received the match reports and there was no reference to the wristbands,” meaning there will be “no further action,” FIFA said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. FIFA last week asked the Iranian Federation to clarify media reports that several players were permanently banned for showing support for defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. It received a reply stating that “no disciplinary action has been imposed on any players of the Iran national team.”
■SOUTH AFRICA
Strike threat to stadiums
World Cup organizers will meet trade union officials to try to ensure a strike next week does not delay completion of stadiums. About 50,000 workers from South Africa’s biggest workers organization, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), plan to start a strike to support pay demands from next Wednesday. It is expected to halt work on stadiums for next June’s soccer finals, as well as power stations, hospitals, roads and a new high-speed urban rail project. “We are going to be engaging with the unions ... to understand the issues, because it is going to help us in our planning,” said Irvin Khoza, chairman of the local organizing committee.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Kody Clemens homered on Wednesday as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 9-6 and clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs. Castellanos had three hits and scored three times. Bryson Stott also had three hits and Brandon Marsh drove in three runs for the Phillies, who on Monday claimed their first National League East title in 13 years. Coupled with the Milwaukee Brewers’ 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia secured the bye and home-field advantage in the NL Division Series. The Phillies owned the tiebreaker with the Brewers after winning the season series against the
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