ICE HOCKEY
Fans backing Girgensons
Latvia-born forward Zemgus Girgensons is the unlikely runaway leader in the NHL’s All-Star fan voting thanks to massive support from his hockey-crazed nation, results released on Tuesday showed. Girgensons is far from a household name in North America, but his supporters at home are determined to see the 20-year-old Riga native play in the annual exhibition alongside the game’s biggest stars. The Buffalo Sabres forward has received nearly 82 percent of his 803,805 votes from Latvia. The total is more than double the next player on the list and more than 450,000 more than Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby, who has long been the face of the NHL. Girgensons, a first-round draft pick by Buffalo in 2012 playing in his second NHL campaign, has 14 points in 27 games this season and is ranked 142nd overall in scoring. All-Star voting concludes Jan. 1 and the All-Star Game will be played on Jan. 25 in Ohio.
SOCCER
AS Roma to play ICC
Serie A giants AS Roma will join Manchester City and Real Madrid in next year’s International Champions Cup (ICC) in Melbourne, Australia, organizers said yesterday. The three-time Serie A champions round out the three teams taking part in the tournament at the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground from July 18 to July 24. “We had an excellent experience in last year’s ICC in the United States and are confident this tournament will also be a great success with top-notch competition,” Roma chief executive Italo Zanzi said. Organizers are looking to build on the local appetite for top European teams after a crowd of 95,000 watched Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Melbourne Victory at the same venue last year. The tournament is to kick off with Real facing Roma on July 18, followed by City playing the Italian side three days later and then City playing Real on July 24.
SOCCER
FIFA fines Indonesian sides
FIFA said it has fined three Indonesian clubs for publishing secret transfer information on Twitter, the first time soccer’s world governing body has handed out sanctions for such social media offences. Persebaya Surabaya and Persires Bali Devata were each fined SF25,000 (US$25,800) for publishing confidential data on club-linked Twitter accounts, FIFA said in a statement. PSIS Semarang was ordered to pay 15,000 Swiss francs for republishing the other team’s tweets and publishing a confidential letter sent to them by FIFA, the governing body said. The clubs were sanctioned “for breaching their obligation to keep data contained within the FIFA Transfer Matching System strictly confidential,” it said. The Transfer Matching System is a form of online monitoring requires both clubs involved in a deal to input a string of data before FIFA approves it.
SOCCER
Platini wants new FIFA face
Michel Platini is refusing to back incumbent Sepp Blatter or challenger Jerome Champagne in next year’s FIFA presidential election, with the UEFA boss saying he hopes a third candidate will emerge. Speaking to French radio Europe 1 on Tuesday, Platini said it was time for Blatter, who is running for a fifth consecutive term, to leave the stage. “I supported him in 1998 because I think he was the right person at the time, but after five [sic] terms it is time to let some fresh air in and leave the place to someone else,” the Frenchman said. “The image of FIFA is very, very, very bad so that’s why I think it would be good that he [Blatter] stops, but I don’t think he wants to.”
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barca secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barca a 2-0 win over
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