Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv have been thrown out of this year’s UEFA Champions League over match-fixing claims and will be replaced by PAOK of Greece, UEFA said on Wednesday.
PAOK, who had lost 3-1 on aggregate to Metalist in the third qualifying round, now face Schalke 04 of Germany in a playoff on Wednesday next week and on Aug. 27 to enter the group stage of the competition.
The new tie means PAOK coach Huub Stevens, who steered Schalke to UEFA Cup glory in 1997 during the first of two stints at the club, will be up against the team who sacked him last year.
“It’s great for PAOK that we are now in the playoffs and even more so for me as I’ll be up against Schalke, which is a familiar place for me with many friends and acquaintances,” said Stevens, who coached the Gelsenkirchen side from 1996 until 2002, then from September 2011 until December last year. “Of course, it will be difficult, but we will fight for our chance to go through.”
Schalke general manager Horst Heldt said the Royal Blues’ task will not be any easier against the Greeks, who finished second in last season’s Greek top flight.
“No one has to now think that it will be any easier just because they didn’t qualify directly,” Heldt said.
UEFA said that PAOK, who had been due to drop down into the Europa League, will not be replaced in that competition, meaning their scheduled playoff opponents Maccabi Tel-Aviv of Israel advance directly to the group stage.
“This decision is final,” European soccer’s governing body said, although it acknowledged that Metalist can still appeal the disqualification to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Kharkiv have said they will do just that, with vice president Kostyantyn Pyvovarov telling the Russian news agency Interfax: “We’ve got an appeal ready, because we were prepared for any eventuality. We will fight for the rights of the club and protect them in accordance with all legal requirements.”
UEFA opened disciplinary proceedings against the Ukrainian club earlier this month after suspicions were raised about matches they were involved in.
Given that qualifying for this year’s competition was already under way, the case was heard directly by UEFA’s appeals tribunal.
“The UEFA Appeals Body carefully analyzed the statements and documents submitted by the club, as well as the statements and documents submitted by the UEFA Disciplinary Inspector and reached the following decision: FC Metalist Kharkiv are disqualified from the 2013/14 UEFA competitions,” UEFA said.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
RSS