CYCLING
Tinkoff-Saxo lose sponsor
Two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador’s elite cycling team Tinkoff-Saxo have lost their sponsor Saxo Bank, as the Danish online traders announced they would sever ties on Thursday. The team also features crowd-pleasing superstar Peter Sagan, who is the world road race champion, but with the firing of Danish team manager Bjarne Riis in March, fears Saxo Bank would end its sponsorship developed into reality. “It has been a privilege working with the team over the past eight seasons and we are extremely proud of the numerous successes we have achieved together during this time,” co-chief executives Lars Seier Christensen and Kim Fournais said in a statement.
FOOTBALL
Derrick Coleman arrested
Seattle Seahawks running back Derrick Coleman, who helped the team’s Super Bowl title run last year, was on Thursday arrested for vehicular assault and hit-and-run, and suspended by the NFL club. The 24-year-old fullback, the first legally deaf player in the NFL who uses hearing aids and reads lips to compete, was being held at King County Jail after being booked at 1:20am by police in suburban Bellevue. “The Seattle Seahawks have suspended Derrick Coleman indefinitely pending further information,” the team said in a statement. Coleman has played 22 games for the Seahawks since arriving in 2013, with two of his six starts coming this season after missing the final 11 games of last season with a broken foot. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Coleman embodies his “no excuses” approach to NFL coaching by not letting his hearing impairment keep him from playing in the league.
OLYMPICS
Kofi Annan honored
Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan has received the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) highest award. Annan was presented with the Olympic Order in Gold on Thursday by IOC president Thomas Bach. Annan was announced as a recipient of the order in 2007, but was unable to attend an award ceremony until now. He said during the presentation that “the Olympic spirit is something that has been with me for a long time.” Annan, who served as UN secretary-general from 1997 to 2006, attended several Olympics during that time. Bach thanked Annan for his “many years of service to sport and for championing the unifying power of sport through the Kofi Annan Foundation.” The IOC has enjoyed UN observer status since 2009. The UN traditionally passes a resolution calling for the observance of an “Olympic Truce” before each Games.
SOCCER
Mouriho hits out at FA
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has criticized the Football Association (FA) after he was fined over comments made toward match officials. Mourinho used his book launch on Thursday to respond to the FA’s decision on Wednesday to fine him ￡50,000 (US$77,400) fine and a suspended one-match stadium ban. He said that officials were “afraid” to award his side a penalty following a 3-1 home defeat to Southampton in the Premier League at the start of the month. “50,000 is a disgrace. The possibility of getting a stadium ban is astonishing,” Mourinho said at his book signing. The Blues boss was aggrieved after referee Robert Madley refused to point to the spot following a challenge by Saints goalkeeper Martin Stekelenburg on striker Radamel Falcao in the penalty area.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
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