HOCKEY
Gillies suspended, fined
New York Islanders forward Trevor Gillies was suspended for 10 games and fined more than US$60,000 on Friday for striking an opponent in the head from behind. Gillies, who has only just returned from serving a nine-game suspension for a similar offense, landed himself in more trouble with officials after he slammed the Minnesota Wild’s Cal Clutterbuck into the boards in a game on Wednesday. Under the terms of the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, Gillies was treated as a repeat offender so his punishment included a US$60,975 fine — or almost a fifth of his US$500,000 salary — that goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
FOOTBALL
McCarthy nabs extension
Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has been rewarded for his Super Bowl triumph with a multi-year contract extension, the NFL team said on Friday. The Packers, who beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in last month’s Super Bowl for their first title in 14 years, did not disclose terms of the deal beyond calling it a “multi-year” contract. “We are very pleased to finalize this agreement with Mike,” Packers general manager Ted Thompson said in a statement. “He’s a good football coach, a good leader and a good man.” McCarthy had two years remaining on his current contract and the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel said the extension was for three more years.
BASEBALL
Cervelli out with fracture
New York Yankees backup catcher Francisco Cervelli will miss the start of the Major League Baseball season after fracturing his foot. Cervelli will be in a protective boot for at least four weeks after fouling a ball off his left foot in a game several days ago against the Houston Astros, Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters today in Tampa, Florida. With Russell Martin signed during the offseason to be the Yankees’ starting catcher, the team doesn’t have plans to use Jorge Posada, who is now New York’s designated hitter, as a catcher during spring-training games. Cervelli played in 93 games last season, batting .271 with 38 runs batted in and 11 doubles.
TENNIS
Jankovic through to semis
Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia reached the semi-finals of the Monterrey Open with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over fifth-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia. Jankovic next will face No. 8 seed Polona Hercog of Slovenia, who defeated Belarus’ Olga Govortsova 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Second-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia overcame a determined Greta Arn of Hungary 6-2, 7-6 (3) to advance to the semi-finals. Pavlyuchenkova will play Gisela Dulko of Argentina, who downed Russian Ksenia Pervak 6-1, 6-0.
BASEBALL
Castro undergoes surgery
Houston Astros catcher Jason Castro will miss most or all of the Major League Baseball season after having surgery on his right knee, the team said on Friday. Castro, who earned the Astros’ regular catching job last year as a rookie, was injured while trying to avoid a tag at first base during a pre-season game against Detroit on Wednesday. He had surgery on Friday to repair a large tear of the medial meniscus and a reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament. The team, which opens the regular season on April 1, said he was expected to miss six months.
Agencies
SOCCER
Duke used to lure votes
England’s failed 2018 World Cup bid tried to use Prince Andrew’s relationship with the Qatari royal family to secure a voting alliance, a report said yesterday. The BBC claimed a freedom of information request it submitted showed that diplomats and the Football Association had worked on a strategy for Qatar’s support. Andrew, 51, the Duke of York, has served as Britain’s special representative for international trade and investment since 2001, and has significant influence and contacts worldwide. Correspondence from British diplomats in Qatar made it clear that securing the support of the emir would be crucial to England’s chances of landing the 2018 tournament, the BBC said. Its report said a plan was discussed to use royal influence — Andrew in particular — to secure a voting alliance. One e-mail from a Foreign Office official said: “The advice from the ambassador in Doha is that, subject to anything that happened at that meeting, we should ask the duke to be kind enough to speak to the emir on the phone as soon as is convenient ... in order to seek his support for the England bid.”
SOCCER
Ferguson to fight charges
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has vowed to fight improper conduct charges following his criticism of referee Martin Atkinson, the club announced on Friday. Ferguson appeared to question Atkinson’s impartiality following United’s 2-1 loss at Chelsea on Tuesday, which saw the Red Devils manager hit out at Atkinson’s failure to dismiss Blues defender David Luiz. The United manager has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association and faces a lengthy touchline ban if it is upheld. In a scathing post-match tirade broadcast on Manchester United’s official television channel, Ferguson gave a damning verdict on Atkinson’s display. “You want a fair ref. I don’t know how he got this game. I must say, when I saw who it was, I did fear that,” Ferguson told MUTV.
SOCCER
Fan tries to stab Mourinho
A fan tried to stab Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho at a Spanish airport, but ended up injuring his bodyguard instead, Spain’s Cadena Ser radio network reported on Friday. The attack at A Coruna airport in northwestern Spain occurred when Mourinho was signing autographs. The bodyguard only became aware of the stab wound when he boarded a bus. According to El Mundo newspaper, the attacker had targeted the Portuguese coach.
CYCLING
Matthews wins first stage
Michael Matthews of Australia won the first stage of the Vuelta de Murcia by sprinting ahead of the pack after a 178.7km ride from San Pedro del Pinatar to Alhama de Murcia in Spain on Friday. The Rabobank rider crossed the line in 4 hours, 26 minutes, 9 seconds after handling the cold and often rainy conditions. Britain’s Russell Downing was second and Italy’s Davide Appollonio was third, both on the same time, while Tour de France champion Alberto Contador finished 14th in a second pack, two seconds behind.
SWIMMING
Phelps claims butterfly title
Michael Phelps took the early lead in the 200m butterfly on Friday night and held off Brazil’s Kaio Almeida to win his third gold medal at the Indianapolis Grand Prix. The 14-time Olympic gold medalist and world record holder in the event finished in 1 minute, 55.34 seconds. Almeida was second in 1 minute, 55.85 seconds, while Wu Peng of China was third.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
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