E-SPORTS
Jordan invests in aXiomatic
NBA icon Michael Jordan is branching out into e-sports, investing in the parent company of Team Liquid, aXiomatic. Jordan was one of two new investors announced on Thursday by aXiomatic, along with Declaration Capital, the family office of Washington-based billionaire David Rubenstein. According to Forbes, the investments were part of a US$26 million funding round. “I’m excited to expand my sports equity portfolio through my investment in aXiomatic. E-sports is a fast-growing, international industry and I’m glad to partner with this great group of investors,” said Jordan, who joined his fellow Dream Team teammate Magic Johnson as an aXiomatic investor, as is Ted Leonsis, owner of the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL champions Washington Capitals. “The next generation of sports fans are e-sports fans,” Leonsis told ESPN in a statement. In 2016, aXiomatic acquired a majority stake in Team Liquid, one of the oldest and most popular teams in e-sports with more than 60 competitive gamers based out of Los Angeles and the Netherlands.
FOOTBALL
Official fired over failed call
An NFL official has been fired for poor performance. Down judge Hugo Cruz was on the officiating crew in Week 6 when the Los Angeles Chargers played the Browns in Cleveland. Cruz failed to call a false start on Chargers left tackle Russell Okung, and while the Browns’ defenders expected the play to be whistled dead, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers completed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Tyrell Williams. According to FootballZebras.com, he is the first official fired during the season for performance issues in the Super Bowl era.
SOCCER
Late substitute ban mulled
The International Football Association Board is keen to clamp down on time-wasting tactics, with a ban on injury-time substitutions one of the areas being considered to increase actual playing time, the Times reported yesterday. The board has observed that changes are being made after 90 minutes in one-quarter of English Premier League matches. “A rule to say there should be no substitutions during added-on time is an interesting one and could work well. Referees add on 30 seconds for a substitution, but in practice it can eat up a lot more time than that,” it said. The average playing time for a Premier League match is 55 minutes, 9 seconds this season, while Cardiff City’s clash against Burnley saw just more than 42 minutes of game time.
SOCCER
Women’s prize to double
FIFA president Gianni Infantino understands why female players are unhappy about the lack of gender equality in World Cup prize money, but on Thursday said that doubling the cash for finalists to US$30 million represents significant progress. Ahead of the FIFA Council yesterday ratifying the financial package for next year’s Women’s World Cup, players’ unions in Australia, Norway, Sweden and New Zealand wrote to FIFA to raise concerns about why there is vastly more cash set aside for the men’s tournament. France earned US$38 million for winning the men’s World Cup in July. A person with knowledge of the figures said the women’s champions next year are to earn US$4 million, which is twice the amount collected by the Americans in 2015.
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
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
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
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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