AMERICAN FOOTBALL
NFL clears Peyton Manning
The NFL said it found no credible evidence that Peyton Manning was provided with HGH or other prohibited substances, as alleged in a documentary by al-Jazeera America last fall. The league said the quarterback and his wife fully cooperated in the seven-month investigation, providing interviews and access to all records sought by investigators. Manning vehemently denied the allegations when they were made late last season. Manning retired from the NFL a month after Denver’s 24-10 win over Carolina in Super Bowl 50. The NFL is continuing its investigation into allegations made against other NFL players in the documentary, which the league said involves “different lines of inquiry and witnesses.”
CRICKET
Australia dominate Sri Lanka
Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood picked up three wickets as Australia ripped through Sri Lanka’s brittle top order on the first morning of the opening Test in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, yesterday. At lunch, the hosts were reeling on 84-5 with debutant all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva (24) and Kusal Perera (12) unbeaten at the crease. Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and had no hesitation in opting to bat on a dry pitch in the first of the three-match Test series. However, Australia pace duo Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc ensured their team took full control with the new ball by reducing the hosts to 18-3 inside 10 overs. Starc sent back Dimuth Karunaratne, with the opening batsman failing to get the umpire’s LBW verdict overturned on review. Hazlewood then dismissed Kusal Mendis and Kaushal Silva, and returned for another spell before lunch to lure Dinesh Chandimal into an edge behind to wicketkeeper Peter Nevill. Left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe was brought on in the ninth over by Australia captain Steve Smith and he was rewarded when he dismissed Mathews.
SOCCER
Give Africa places: Infantino
Africa should be given two more places at the FIFA World Cup finals if the tournament is expanded to 40 teams, FIFA president Gianni Infantino told reporters on a brief trip to Nigeria on Monday. Infantino repeated his presidential election manifesto pledge to push for the World Cup to grow by eight teams to 40 and said he wants Africa to get at least two extra slots from 2026. “I believe for the World Cup 2026 — because the 2018 and 2022 finals are already decided — there should be 40 teams ... and out of the eight more, there should be at least two slots for African teams,” Infantino told reporters. “This is what I declared during my campaign and as you know, I am not a dictator, but a democratically elected FIFA president, so I have to speak to everyone and listen to everyone as well,” he added in Abuja.
RUGBY UNION
Reds appoint new coach
Former Wallabies prop Nick Stiles was yesterday appointed the Queensland Reds’ permanent coach. Stiles, who played 12 times for Australia, has been the interim co-coach along with Matt O’Connor since Richard Graham was let go two rounds into this year’s Super Rugby season. “The panel and board ... ultimately determined Nick to have the right attributes to take this group forward,” Queensland Rugby Union general manager Daniel Herbert said.
American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher is to join 15-a-side club Bristol next month in a bid to play in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the English club announced on Monday. Maher, 28, helped the US to a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris and is the seven-a-side sport’s most popular player on social media. “This is a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” Bristol head coach Dave Ward said. “She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LeBron James is in quite the shooting slump — especially from long distance, highlighted by his zero-for-four effort from three-point range for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 109-80 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. That return stretched the nearly-40-year-old’s skid to zero-for-19 from deep over his past four games. James’ birthday is on Dec. 30. After going four-for-16 from the floor overall with six of his team’s 20 turnovers for a season-low 10 points against the Timberwolves, James was asked to reflect on the Lakers reaching the quarter mark of their 2024-2025 schedule under rookie coach J.J. Redick at 12-9. “I
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
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