SOCCER
Australian clubs charged
A-League sides Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers have been charged with bringing the game into disrepute by Australian soccer officials after a brawl involving their fans before a match last weekend. Both clubs were charged yesterday by Football Federation Australia (FFA) not only for the behavior of their supporters, but also for the dispute that erupted afterwards and had until Tuesday next week to explain why they should not face sanctions, the FFA said. Local media reported a fight had broken out between opposing fans outside a bar in central Melbourne before their clash last Saturday, which resulted in eight supporters needing medical treatment. Western Sydney said Victory fans had sparked the fight, while Victory then said that flares had been set off by visiting fans inside the stadium during the match as both sides engaged in a public tit-for-tat blame game earlier this week.
SOCCER
Fifty million follow Barca
Barcelona have become the first sports club to reach 50 million followers on social networking Web site Facebook, the Spanish soccer champions said on Thursday. Barca’s Facebook page, which provides fans with photo and video content, has the most followers in Indonesia with 4.73 million, followed by Mexico (3.5 million), Brazil (2.5 million), the US (2.1 million) and Turkey (1.75 million), the club said on their Web site. Cairo is the city with the most Barca followers with 746,000, followed by Mexico City (666,000), Jakarta (623,000), Lima (481,000) and Bogota (420,000). “Barca is the world’s most popular club and this is just the latest evidence of that,” said Didac Lee, a Barca director responsible for new technology. Real Madrid are not far behind bitter rivals Barca with 46.7 million followers, while Real’s Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has nearly 69 million and Barca’s Argentine World Player of the Year Lionel Messi 52 million.
SOCCER
Solskjaer aims at Swansea
Former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was named as manager of English Premier League strugglers Cardiff City on Thursday and told the fans one of his immediate aims was to finish higher than rivals Swansea City. The 40-year-old Norwegian earned a place in United’s history by scoring the winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final against Bayern Munich. And just as he did as a player, Solskjaer hit the target perfectly when he told a news conference: “I would like us to finish above Swansea, that must be an aim ... that will be important for everyone here.” Cardiff are fourth from bottom, while Welsh rivals Swansea are four places higher in the table.
RUGBY UNION
Chabal faces lengthy ban
Former France international Sebastien Chabal was to face a lengthy ban for throwing a hefty punch during his club Lyon’s second division game against Agen when he appeared before a disciplinary hearing yesterday. The bearded back-row forward, who has made it clear he intends to plead guilty, could be suspended for between two weeks and one year over the incident, which has become a popular YouTube hit. Chabal struck Agen’s Marc Giraud, who was holding onto his shirt in the game last month. The blow knocked Giraud unconscious and he was carried off on a stretcher. Chabal picked up a yellow card for the strike. The 36-year-old, an iconic figure in the French game, earned 62 international caps between 2000 and 2011.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
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