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.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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