OLYMPICS
N Korean flag draws fine
International sport’s anti-doping watchdog on Friday said that it has fined the Olympic Council of Asia US$500,000 for allowing North Korea to fly its flag at the Asian Games, despite a ban for non-compliance. The Montreal-based World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned North Korea from hosting major international events or flying its flag at such events, excluding the Olympics and Paralympics, in 2021 because it had not implemented an effective drug-testing program. However, WADA said the North Korean flag was displayed throughout the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September and last month. “Despite reminders from WADA before and during the Games, the OCA refused to comply,” WADA said in a statement. There was no immediate comment from the OCA, which has three weeks to contest WADA’s decision.
RUGBY UNION
Australian boss criticized
Six state unions have demanded the immediate resignation of Rugby Australia (RA) chairman Hamish McLennan in the wake of the failed tenure of former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones. An open letter signed by six of the eight union chairs called for an extraordinary general meeting of the RA board to oust McLennan if he ignores their call to stand down, saying they have lost “trust or faith in his leadership.” The ultimatum comes in the wake of a miserable year for the Wallabies under Jones in which they won just two of nine Tests and failed to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time. McLennan was a key driver in the January decision to replace former coach Dave Rennie with Jones, whose tumultuous tenure ended last month. McLennan was “acting outside his role as a director,” it said. “During the past 12 months, Mr McLennan has made a series of calls that have harmed the standing and reputation of our game and led us to question his judgement and his understanding of high-performance sport.”
FOOTBALL
Thompson defends work
Fox Sports and Amazon host Charissa Thompson took to social media on Friday to clarify her comments on a podcast earlier this week that she “would make up” sideline reports during NFL games. Thompson, who hosts Fox’s NFL Kickoff show and Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football coverage, said in a post on Instagram that she did not fabricate quotes from players or coaches, and that she would report her observations on the sidelines. “Working in the media I understand how important words are and I chose wrong words to describe the situation. I’m sorry. I have never lied about anything or been unethical during my time as a sports broadcaster,” Thompson wrote. “In the absence of a coach providing any information that could further my report I would use information that I learned and saw during the first half to create my report. For example if a team was none for seven on third down, that would clearly be an area they need to improve on in the second half. In these instances I never attributed anything said to a player or coach.” Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel said that he had not heard a reporter fabricate any quotes by him. “I’m sure it’d be boring if they fabricated what I had to say. Don’t all laugh at one time, guys,” he said.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
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