■UKRAINE
Salenko to sell award
The 1994 World Cup’s joint top goalscorer Oleg Salenko is prepared to sell his Golden Boot award for US$500,000 to pay off his debts, local media reported on Thursday. “I received a good offer from the United Arab Emirates,” Kiev-based Salenko was quoted as saying by Blik newspaper. “I had a small business but after the [global] crisis everything is down and I need to pay off some debts,” added the former Russia striker, who played for various clubs including Zenit, Dynamo Kiev, Valencia and Rangers before retiring in 2001. “I’m not totally broke or anything like that so I have to sell everything, but the offer was hard to resist. I was told wealthy Arab sheikhs would take good care of the award by putting it in a local museum.”
■UNITED KINGDOM
Man United plan tour
There will be little time to rest for Manchester United’s players in the off-season, with the English Premier League club revealing plans to tour North America immediately after the World Cup. Manchester United announced on Thursday they would play one match in Canada and another three in the US, kicking off just five days after the World Cup final, although any players involved in the latter stages of the tournament in South Africa are unlikely to be included. They will begin their tour against Scottish Premier League runners-up Celtic in Toronto (July 16), before playing Philadelphia Union (July 21) and Kansas City Wizards (July 25) then the Major League Soccer All-Stars in Houston (July 28).
■ARGENTINA
Riot police protect refs
Police were needed to protect the match officials when Alianza Lima protested vehemently against a late Universidad de Chile equalizer that knocked the Peruvians out of the Libertadores Cup on Thursday. Alianza were minutes away from qualification on the away goals rule. However, a shot by Felipe Seymour two minutes into stoppage time was deflected off a defender past Alianza goalkeeper George Forsyth and into the net to give the U a 2-2 draw and send them through instead, 3-2 on aggregate. Alianza were incensed because the linesman signaled for offside at first, but after consultation with the referee Carlos Verase the goal was allowed to stand. The Peruvians argued that Chilean players in offside positions blocked Forsyth’s vision, a view backed up by video replays. Riot police formed a protective wall around the match officials in the middle of the pitch as Alianza players tried to argue with them. Play was held up for more than a quarter of an hour before the referee resumed the match, playing out the remaining two minutes of stoppage time in a climate of hostility.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Mancini to stay at Man City
Roberto Mancini will remain as Manchester City manager for many years, club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said on Thursday. “Roberto’s going to do a wonderful job for us for many years,” Mubarak said in a video interview on the City Web site. “Roberto is our manager. He’s done an excellent job coming in mid-season, organizing the team. I’m very happy, and [owner] Sheikh Mansour is delighted with the way he’s organized the team.” City’s chance of fourth place in the Premier League and a berth in the Champions League disappeared with Wednesday’s 1-0 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur. That led to media speculation that Italian Mancini could be fired.
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
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