BASKETBALL
Russia ban remains
Russia is to remain banned from international competition with its men’s national team prohibited from participating in this year’s pre-Olympic qualification tournaments, the FIBA Executive Committee announced on Tuesday. The committee said it was following the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee in banning Russia and Belarus over the war in Ukraine.
ATHLETICS
Runner uses vehicle in race
A Scottish runner has been stripped of third place in an ultramarathon after data showed she had used a vehicle for part of the route, the race director said. Data from the tracking system at the GB Ultras Manchester to Liverpool 80km race on April 7 showed that Joasia Zakrzewski, who represented Scotland in the marathon at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, used a car for a 4km stretch of the race, the BBC reported. Race director Wayne Drinkwater said he had received information that a runner had gained an “unsporting, competitive advantage during a section of the event.” Zakrzewski has not commented publicly on the incident, but the BBC quoted a running friend of hers as saying she had felt sick and wanted to drop out. “She has cooperated fully with the race organizers’ investigations, giving them a full account of what happened,” Adrian Stott said. “She genuinely feels sorry for any upset caused.”
SOCCER
Maradona trial to continue
An Argentine appeals court on Tuesday confirmed that eight medical professionals accused of responsibility in the death of soccer legend Diego Maradona would stand trial. Neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and six others had appealed a decision issued last year to put them on trial for homicide with potential aggravating circumstances. Maradona died in November 2020 aged 60 while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot, and after decades of battles with cocaine and alcohol addictions. Prosecutors accused the medical professionals of being involved in “reckless” and “deficient” home treatment of a patient.
TENNIS
Sabalenka speaks out
Aryna Sabalenka on Tuesday said she cannot control what Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says about her and that while his comments might make her even more unpopular on the WTA she would “stop the war” in Ukraine if she could. The world No. 2 spoke last month about the “hate” she encountered in the locker room amid strained relations between some players following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which was supported by Belarus. Lukashenko celebrated Sabalenka’s Australian Open victory in January and said more recently that people knew which country she hailed from even if she was playing under a neutral flag. “I’m pretty sure that it’s not helping,” Sabalenka told reporters in Stuttgart when asked about Lukashenko’s comments. “I don’t know what to say because he can comment [on] my game, he can comment whatever he wants to. I have nothing to do with politics ... If Ukrainians will hate me more after his speech, then what can I do? If they feel better by hating me, I’m happy to help them with that. They can do that.”
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS