SOCCER
Maradona in hot water
Former Argentina coach Diego Maradona is in hot water after he accused sacked successor Sergio Batista of accepting bribes to include certain players in the team, local media reports alleged on Thursday. Batista was sacked after July’s Copa America flop on home soil having only replaced Maradona following last year’s World Cup, which ended in a quarter-final thrashing by Germany. Batista had already been in the Argentina coaching set-up before taking over from Maradona as coach of the senior side, having led the Olympic squad to glory at the 2008 Games. He said he is taking legal action after Maradona, now coach of United Arab Emirates club Al Wasl, told TyC Sports that “after we [Maradona and his entourage] took over the team there was an end to bribes.” Maradona suggested that certain arrangements had been in place to give certain players guarantees, before he stamped out the practice. Batista strongly rejected Maradona’s allegations and said he would take legal action to counter Maradona’s “falsehoods, [which are] a product of resentment” at being ousted as national coach.
SOCCER
Balotelli visits prosecutor
Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli has been interviewed by the public prosecutor in Naples over links to the local mafia, known as the Camorra, Italian media have reported. Balotelli traveled back to Italy with the Napoli team in the early hours of Thursday morning following Wednesday night’s Champions League clash at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. On Thursday, he went to the public prosecutor’s office to discuss a trip he took around a notorious Camorra stronghold in Naples called Scampia. Balotelli is said to have been accompanied on his visit, in June last year, by suspected Camorra leader Marco Iorio, who has been arrested for money laundering, amongst other things. The 21-year-old forward previously claimed he did not know who Iorio was. “I didn’t know who those people were, that day in Naples there were always many people around me,” Balotelli said in June this year.
CRICKET
Lancashire claim title
Lancashire won their first English championship title since 1934 when they defeated Somerset by eight wickets on the final day of the county season on Thursday. Steven Croft (40 not out) struck the winning runs to ensure a 10th win of the season and the title for Lancashire with five overs to spare after Warwickshire failed to beat Hampshire at the Rose Bowl. Lancashire have finished second eight times since 1934, five of them in the last 13 years. They shared the title with Surrey in 1950. “The boys have been amazing this year, competitive to the end,” captain Glen Chapple said. “We have played good cricket all the way through, we have won games that maybe some other teams wouldn’t have won.” Lancashire have been based in Liverpool this season while Old Trafford in Manchester is being redeveloped.
TENNIS
Hlavackova ousts Safarova
Andrea Hlavackova ousted second-seeded Czech compatriot Lucie Safarova 7-6 (7/1), 7-5 on Thursday to reach her first career WTA quarter-final at the Quebec City Challenge. Hlavackova, ranked No. 103, booked a last-eight date with sixth seed Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who ousted Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 2-6, 6-1, 6-3. New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic upset US seventh seed Irina Falconi 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, while top seed Daniela Hantuchova rallied for a 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-3 victory over Hungary’s Melinda Czink.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
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