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.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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