SOCCER
Fulham fires Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri was fired by Fulham on Thursday, even though owner Shad Khan said that the manager is not fully responsible for failing to lift the club out of the Premier League relegation zone. Ranieri agreed a “change was in the best interest of everyone” after Wednesday’s 2-0 loss at Southampton left Fulham 10 points from safety in next-to-last place, Khan said in a statement. Fulham has Ranieri with a caretaker manager who is almost half his age and less than two years into his coaching career. Former Fulham midfielder Scott Parker was put in charge of the team until the end of the season, with his first game tomorrow at home against Chelsea. Since being hired in November last year, Ranieri had only collected 12 points from 16 matches.
RUGBY LEAGUE
Crime rules see suspensions
A second Australian player was suspended indefinitely yesterday under tough new rules against players accused of serious crimes, while the sport’s bosses vowed a crackdown on lewd videos. Under a new regime announced on Thursday, players who are charged with serious criminal offenses would be automatically stood down. Previously, they could continue playing while they awaited the outcome of their court cases. After St George Illawarra’s Jack de Belin, who is facing sexual assault allegations, became the first to be banned, the Manly Sea Eagles’ Dylan Walker suffered the same fate yesterday after being accused of domestic violence. Cowboys forward Scott Bolton was suspended for 10 weeks and fined 5 percent of this year’s salary after he pleaded guilty in January to common assault involving a woman, while Canterbury Bulldog’s star Dylan Napa was fined 10 percent of his salary for appearing in several lewd videos. League chief Todd Greenberg warned anyone appearing in videos from now on would face much harsher punishment.
FOOTBALL
Kraft pleads not guilty
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has pleaded not guilty to charges of soliciting sex following a massage parlor bust in Florida, US reports said on Thursday. The 77-year-old was formally charged on Monday with two counts of soliciting prostitution. Court records showed that Kraft’s attorneys had entered a plea of not guilty to the charges, the local subsidiary of ABC television reported. Kraft is required to appear in court on March 27, reports said. The first degree misdemeanor charges against Kraft are punishable by up to one year in jail, a US$5,000 fine or community service.
GOLF
Olson nabs Singapore lead
American Amy Olson yesterday held her nerve and kept a pack at bay that includes world No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn with a second-round three-under-par 69 to lead the HSBC Women’s World Championship by two strokes. Jutanugarn had scented the lead as the day wore on before Olson edged clear with a birdie on 16, and then the Thai’s putter let her down for a bogey five on the 18th. Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling carded an 80 to leave her seven-over and near the back of the pack in a share of 51st.
Taiwan’s Lee Hao-yu on Friday went 0-for-3 in his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, becoming the 19th Taiwan-born player to reach the big leagues. The Tigers ultimately lost 1-0 in 10 innings, ending their six-game winning streak. The 23-year-old started at third base and batted eighth for Detroit. He was promoted from Triple-A Toledo ahead of the four-game series against the Red Sox at the latter’s home stadium, replacing injured utility player Zach McKinstry. “Being right-handed, and given our schedule, I think six of the next 12 games are going to
Matheus Cunha on Saturday fired Manchester United toward the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 win at Chelsea, while Tottenham Hotspur remain in the relegation zone after twice blowing the lead to draw with Brighton & Hove Albion. Chelsea failed to take advantage of a United defense ravaged by injury and suspension as a fourth straight league defeat for the Blues left their Champions League hopes in ruins. United have missed out on the riches of Europe’s elite competition for the past two seasons, but are closing in on a return thanks to an upturn in fortunes under interim manager
Denmark’s double Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen, long a rival of Taiwan’s former world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen, yesterday announced his retirement at age 32, saying back problems meant he could no longer “compete and train at the highest level.” Axelsen, who won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and again in Paris in 2024, had back surgery in April last year and said he had not overcome his physical issues. “Accepting this situation has been incredibly difficult,” he said in a statement. “But I have now reached a point where my body won’t allow me to continue.” Axelsen retires as one
Italian soccer is at its lowest ebb in nearly 40 years after a wholesale European exodus at club level followed the nation’s failure for the third successive time to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, and compounded a leadership and structural crisis. The exits suffered by Bologna and ACF Fiorentina on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League respectively meant no Italian teams are left in European competition this season. Italy’s last remaining UEFA Champions League contenders, Atalanta BC, went out in the round of 16 last month. It is the first time since the 1986-1987 campaign that Italian clubs
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