RUGBY UNION
Baby Blacks accused of rape
South African police are investigating rape charges against members of New Zealand’s junior rugby team after they lost to South Africa in the Junior World Championship, a police spokesman said yesterday. “We are investigating a case of rape after a 22-year-old Cape Town woman alleged she was raped,” national police spokesman Vish Naidoo said. “It is alleged the rape took place during the course of Friday night,” he said. The charge was laid on Saturday. On Friday, South Africa beat New Zealand 22-16 in the IRB Junior World Championship at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town. Four Baby Blacks players were involved in the incident, according to the New Age newspaper. Naidoo declined to say how many players were being investigated. Forensic experts combed the Southern Sun Hotel Newlands on Saturday for DNA evidence in a hushed investigation, the newspaper reported. The whole Baby Blacks team was allowed to leave South Africa after the New Zealand High Commission intervened, according to the newspaper. Hotel staff told the newspaper the woman came to the hotel on Friday night and told the front desk she was visiting a cousin. She knew the hotel players’ rooms and had apparently met them before. “According to some of my colleagues, she was apparently drunk. And on Saturday morning she called her parents to fetch her at the hotel after claims that she was raped,” a hotel employee told the publication. “Her parents insisted on opening a case of rape. We are not certain that she was raped, but there was blood found on a sheet on a bed. The rugby players left the hotel at 12am on Saturday.”
OLYMPICS
Records fall at UK trials
Polevaulter Holly Bleasdale and long jumper Shara Proctor both set new British records on Sunday to seal their places at the Olympics. Bleasdale arrived at the trials in Birmingham without a current “A” standard qualification mark, but improved her previous best by 1cm with a clearance of 4.71m. Proctor broke a 29-year-old British record in the long jump to seal her place in the Games with a leap of 6.95m, surpassing the previous mark of 6.90m set by Bev Kinch back in 1983 — five years before Proctor was born. Only five women have jumped further than Proctor this year and the 23-year-old is certainly aiming high when it comes to the Olympics. “Of course I’m thinking gold, why am I here?” said Proctor, who hails from the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla.
SOCCER
Miki Roque dies at 23
Former Liverpool defender Miki Roque has died at the age of 23 after losing his battle with cancer, the English Premier League club announced on Sunday. The Spanish player was on Liverpool’s books between 2005 and 2009 and was part of their FA Youth Cup-winning team in 2006. He made just one substitute appearance for the first team in a Champions League clash with Galatasaray in December 2006. After being released by Liverpool in 2009, he joined Real Betis, but was diagnosed with pelvic cancer in March last year. “Everyone at Liverpool Football Club would like to send their thoughts to Miki’s family at this sad time,” a Liverpool statement said. Former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez tweeted: “I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the family of my former player Miki Roque, it is a tragedy to lose such a good boy so young.”
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
RSS