SOCCER
England restart doubted
Football Association chairman Greg Clarke has reportedly told the Premier League that he does not believe the domestic soccer season will be completed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Premier League on Friday suspended all fixtures at an emergency meeting. “It was unanimously decided to suspend the Premier League with the intention of returning on 4 April, subject to medical advice and conditions at the time,” the Premier League said in a statement. Clarke said at the meeting that he did not think it was feasible for the season to be completed, the Times reported. The virus is not expected to peak in Britain for many weeks, raising doubts over a restart early next month. The Times said it is understood that Brighton & Hove Albion chief executive Paul Barber also questioned the brevity of the suspension. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters is reported to have said it would at least allow time to consider the potential consequences and debate the possible solutions. The decision was taken after Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for COVID-19. Arteta welcomed the move to put the season on hold. “Feeling better already,” he tweeted. “We’re all facing a huge & unprecedented challenge.Everyone’s health is all that matters right now.”
GYMNASTICS
Biles snaps at birthday tweet
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles wants more than good wishes from USA Gymnastics. The US federation wished Biles a happy 23rd birthday on social media on Saturday. Biles used the tweet to demand an independent investigation into the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal. “How about you amaze me and do the right thing ... have an independent investigation,” Biles wrote on Twitter after the federation’s birthday tweet. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the most decorated gymnast of all time, @simonebiles!” USA Gymnastics wrote, posting a video of Biles in action in a floor exercise. “We know you will only continue to amaze us and make history!” Former national gymnastics team doctor Nassar was jailed for life for abusing more than 250 athletes, including stars of the US’ 2012 and 2016 gold medal-winning Olympic teams. A US Senate investigation found that “multiple institutions” failed to adequately respond to credible allegations against Nassar, but Biles has said that USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee still owe his victims, including herself, more answers and a framework to ensure such abuses would not occur again. “Wish they BOTH wanted an independent investigation as much as the survivors & I do,” she tweeted earlier this month.
MOTORSPORT
Ogier wins shortened rally
Sebastien Ogier won the Rally Mexico for a sixth time yesterday after the world championship event was cut short due to changing travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to end the rally after Saturday’s second leg was to allow teams and officials time to travel home to Europe from Mexico. “A victory is a victory of course, but this one feels different from any other,” said six times world champion Ogier, who had led the Leon-based event since Friday and whose win was the Frenchman’s first with Toyota.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
Dakar and Rabat have longstanding ties, but relations have been strained since the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, which Senegal won in mid-January before being stripped of the title, which was transferred to Morocco. Now, the AFCON trophy is something of a thorn in the two countries’ sides. On Rue Mohamed V, the street where Moroccan vendors are based in the Senegalese capital, a police van is parked. “The police have been on high alert since the Confederation of African Football [CAF] decided to award the title to Morocco, but there have been no incidents,” a local resident said.
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