SOCCER
Messi departure expected
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has called off negotiations over renewing his contract with the club and is ready to leave the Catalans when his current deal expires next year, Spanish radio station Cadena Ser reported yesterday. The report said Messi and his father, Jorge, had begun discussing renewing his last deal with the club, which was signed in 2017, but that he no longer wishes to stay at the Camp Nou. The report said that Lionel Messi is angry about leaked media reports that appeared to make him seem responsible for events at the club. Barca trail Real Madrid by four points in the title race with five games remaining after Real beat Getafe 1-0 on Thursday. Earlier, Real Sociedad stayed in the race for European qualification by winning 2-1 at home against RCD Espanyol, while CA Osasuna beat Sociedad Deportiva Eibar 2-0.
SOCCER
Bremen held to draw
Werder Bremen were held to a 0-0 draw at home to second-division side Heidenheim in the Bundesliga promotion-relegation play-off first leg on Thursday. Bremen captain Niklas Moisander is suspended for the second leg on Monday after being sent off for a second yellow card.
SOCCER
Atalanta defeat Napoli
Atalanta BC beat SSC Napoli 2-0 in Serie A on Thursday to keep up the pressure on Inter in the fight for third place. Mario Pasalic and Robin Gosens scored in the second half to extend Atalanta’s club record tally to 82 league goals this season. They moved back to within four points of Inter. Napoli remained sixth, three points below AS Roma, who lost 2-0 against Udinese.
FOOTBALL
FedEx seeks name change
The title sponsor of the Washington Redskins’ stadium wants the NFL team to change its name. “We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name,” FedEx said in a statement on Thursday. The company paid the team US$205 million in 1999 for the naming rights to FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.
RUGBY UNION
Barrett to play in Japan
All Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett yesterday confirmed he has signed a one-year deal to play for Suntory Sungoliath in Japan’s Top League club competition. Barrett is in the first year of a four-year deal with the Auckland Blues in Super Rugby, but has exercised a “sabbatical” option that allows him to take up a short-term contract overseas. He will join the Tokyo-based club next year, returning to New Zealand in time for the international season.
MOTORSPORT
Bell pulling double shift
Townsend Bell is putting his own unique twist on “double duty” by calling the IndyCar race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before jetting to Florida to compete in the IMSA sports car race. The NBC Sports analyst on Thursday flew from California to Daytona International Speedway for a practice with his AIM Vasser Sullivan team. His itinerary has him traveling to Indianapolis, where he is due at the track at 9am today for his broadcasting duties. When the race ends, he is to take a plane to Daytona for the 6:10pm start. “For the love of the game,” Bell joked.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
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