SOCCER
PSG jersey funds virus care
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have raised more than 200,000 euros (US$220,156) for local healthcare professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic with the release of a limited-edition jersey, the Ligue 1 champions have said. The shirt is a replica of PSG’s current home strip, but has the words Tous Unis, or “All Together,” where the main sponsor logo usually sits and features badges pledging support to doctors. All the proceeds are going to Assistance Publique Hopitaux de Paris. “We cannot be grateful enough for the tremendous and courageous work that healthcare staff are doing every day to deal with this emergency,” PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi said.
NBA
Curry quizzes virus expert
NBA star Stephen Curry on Tuesday took his questions on the pandemic to Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the US National Institutes of Health, in an Instagram conversation that drew almost 50,000 viewers, including former US president Barack Obama. The message from Fauci: “This is serious business.” Fauci said he was hopeful that a vaccine would be available by next winter, but in the meantime social distancing, testing and use of personal protective gear are important measures to protect healthcare providers and those battling the illness. “Vaccines are going to be important for next time around, not for what we’re dealing with now,” he added.
E-SPORTS
NBA player invests in Tribe
Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward is among the early investors in Tribe Gaming. The mobile-focused e-sports organization, which has 15 million subscribers and 67 million monthly views on YouTube, on Thursday announced that it had raised US$1.04 million in its first investment round. “I’ve been an NBA All-Star and made it to the NCAA championship, but I still get a rush when I’m taking down my enemy’s towers in a game of Clash,” Hayward said in a press release. “Tribe is about celebrating mobile gaming, whether it’s by cheering your team on the sidelines or watching your favorite streamers on your couch.” Other initial participants include WWE wrestler Claudio “Cesaro” Castagnoli. “Just a few years ago, mobile games were dismissed as simple puzzles and time-wasters — now mobile has grown into its own ecosystem of complex games and world-class competition,” Tribe founder and CEO Patrick Carney said.
MMA
Champion Jones arrested
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones has been arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated (DWI) and other offenses after officers heard gunshots and found him in a parked car with a handgun and a half-empty bottle of liquor early on Thursday, Albuquerque police said. The 32-year-old Jones was arrested on suspicion of aggravated DWI, negligent use of firearms, possession of an open container of alcohol and no proof of insurance for a vehicle, police said, adding that Jones was found in the driver’s seat of a parked vehicle with the engine running at about 1am. Bernalillo County Jail records indicate that Jones was released after being booked. Jones (26-1) retained his title in February by beating Dominick Reyes by unanimous decision.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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