■SOCCER
FIFA suspends El Salvador
FIFA has suspended El Salvador from all international competition after its government has refused to recognize the authorities set up to run football in the Central American country. FIFA prohibits governments from interfering in the election of officials to run football and could extend El Salvador’s ban for a further year if the situation is not resolved by June 8. FIFA said it considers the actions of the El Salvador government to be “clear interference.” El Salvador failed to qualify for the World Cup.
■MOTORSPORT
Chile seeks Dakar damages
The Chilean office in charge of archaeological and historical sites said it wants US$570,000 in compensation for damage caused by participants in the Dakar rally in January. The office wants the money from the country’s National Sports Institute, which co-hosted the rally, the daily El Mercurio reported on Tuesday. The National Monuments Council (CMN) said that rally participants caused damage to 56 of the 111 heritage sites the route went through, and 13 of the sites, mostly in the Quillaga region northeast of Antofagasta, reported a serious loss of archaeological data. Four of those sites, including a site where pre-Hispanic natives made stone tools, suffered major damage of more than 50 percent, according to the Council.
■ICE HOCKEY
Glendale to keep Coyotes
The city of Glendale, Arizona, on Tuesday agreed to guarantee the National Hockey League up to US$25 million to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in the city for the next season. By a unanimous vote, the Glendale City Council approved the agreement that would come into effect if no buyer can be found for the financially struggling franchise by September. The NHL bought the Coyotes last November. City officials said that separate negotiations continue with two groups, Chicago sports figure Jerry Reinsdorf and Ice Age Holdings, to buy the team and that they anticipate an agreement by the end of next month.
■GOLF
Mitsuka bans herself
Japanese golfer Yuko Mitsuka has banned herself from a total of 11 women’s tournaments after being fined for storming off the course over a two-stroke penalty. The 25-year-old downed clubs and quit midway through her first round at last week’s World Ladies Championship in protest at being penalized for slow play. Mitsuka was fined a record ¥2 million (US$21,590), but voluntarily withdrew from eight domestic and three overseas events as a sign of contrition. “This is the biggest fine in Japanese LPGA history and reflects the seriousness of what took place,” the tour’s Hideaki Otani said yesterday. “The player offered to withdraw from those tournaments and the tour accepted that as the right punishment.”
■BASEBALL
G20 meet forces move
Baseball officials said on Tuesday that next month’s G20 summit in Toronto has forced them to move a three-game series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies to Philadelphia. Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said that because of security concerns, moving the June 25 to June 27 series was the best option. The game would have been ace pitcher Roy Halladay’s first return visit to Toronto’s Rogers Center since he was traded to the Phillies in the offseason. It’s the lone interleague matchup between the clubs this season. The series was expected to be one of the Blue Jays’ biggest draws of the season.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Starting with three fights in the first nine seconds and ending with a celebration and a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, the US on Saturday delivered exactly what Matthew Tkachuk hoped for by beating Canada. “We needed to send a message,” Tkachuk said. “The message we wanted to send is ‘It’s our time.’” Tkachuk fought Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, brother Brady tussled with Sam Bennett the next time the puck dropped, J.T. Miller dropped the gloves with Colton Parayko next and the Americans followed those fisticuffs with a 3-1 victory over their biggest rival. “That was one of the
Porto and AS Roma on Thursday drew 1-1 in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League playoff, while Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce took a big step toward the last 16 with a 3-0 win over RSC Anderlecht. Zeki Celic gave 2023 runners-up Roma the lead in first-half stoppage-time in Portugal, but Porto defender Francisco Moura’s deflected strike ensured the teams head to Italy next week with the tie finely poised. Roma played the final 18 minutes a man down after Bryan Cristante was sent off for two yellow cards, with coach Claudio Ranieri fuming at the final whistle. In Turkey, former English Premier