■SOCCER
Henry escapes punishment
French captain Thierry Henry escaped being punished for his infamous handball incident in the 2010 World Cup finals play-off against Ireland, FIFA announced on Monday. FIFA’s disciplinary committee said they were powerless to punish the 1998 World Cup winning striker because their rules forbade them to do so if the original misdemeanor had not been seen by the match officials. “At its meeting on January 18, 2010, the disciplinary committee reached the conclusion that there was no legal foundation for the committee to consider the case because handling the ball cannot be regarded as a serious infringement as stipulated in article 77(a) of the FIFA disciplinary code,” the statement from the committee said. “There is no other legal text that would allow the committee to impose sanctions for any incidents missed by match officials.”
■FOOTBALL
Ellis to play despite injury
New York Jets player Shaun Ellis says he will play against Indianapolis in the AFC championship game despite a broken left hand that requires surgery. The defensive end was hurt on New York’s first defensive play in their 17-14 playoff win at San Diego on Sunday. Ellis, who says he immediately knew the hand was broken, had a cast put on it and continued to play against the Chargers. The team doctor confirmed the injury. He will have surgery to insert pins and screws after the Indianapolis game and will have to wear a special cast next Sunday.
■CRICKET
England too slow: ICC
England’s crushing innings and 74 run defeat in the fourth and final Test against South Africa was compounded on Monday when the team was fined for maintaining a slow over-rate in Johannesburg. In a statement issued from its Dubai headquarters, the International Cricket Council (ICC) imposed the fine after Andrew Strauss’ team were ruled to be one over short of its target at the end of the match when time allowances were taken into consideration. New ICC code of conduct regulations governing minor overrate offenses stipulate that players be fined 10 percent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount. Therefore, Strauss was fined 20 percent of his match fee, while his players received 10 percent fines. If Strauss is found guilty of two further minor over-rate offenses in Tests over the next year, he will receive a one-match suspension.
■SOCCER
Ibrahimovic honored
Former Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was named Italian players’ association player of the year on Monday despite now being with Barcelona. The awards, known as the Italian soccer Oscars, were voted on by Italy-based players during the offseason and reflect performances during the 2008-2009 campaign. This allowed Sweden’s Ibrahimovic, top scorer last term with 25 goals, to win the best player and best foreign player awards having joined Barcelona in July. His former coach Jose Mourinho, who has often clashed with rival managers and journalists but is respected by players throughout the game, won the best coach award after leading Inter to last season’s Serie A title in his first campaign in charge. Inter were elected team of the year. The best Italian player awards went to AS Roma and Italy’s midfielder Daniele De Rossi, while Inter’s Julio Cesar was voted top goalkeeper. Best young player was AC Milan’s Brazilian Alexandre Pato and the defender award went to Juventus center back Giorgio Chiellini.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
Italian defender Marco Curto has been banned for 10 matches for racially abusing South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan while playing for Como 1907 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a pre-season friendly in July. Curto, who is on loan from Como to Serie B club Cesena, would serve half of the punishment immediately with the other half suspended for two years. “The player Marco Curto was found responsible for discriminatory behavior and sanctioned with a 10-match suspension,” a FIFA spokesperson said. “The player is ordered to render community services and undergo training and education with an organization approved by FIFA.” Wolves said the club would
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