SOCCER
Ex-China official pleads guilty
Former head of the Chinese Football Association Chen Xuyuan yesterday pleaded guilty to bribery, Beijing’s state media said, as an anti-corruption drive sweeps up once-major players in the sport. Chen — who as boss of the association once promised to turn a page on the corruption scandals that have plagued the sport — was placed under investigation in February last year for “serious violations of discipline and the law.” The prosecution accused him of taking more than 81 million yuan (US$11.3 million) in bribes in exchange for helping with “project contracting, investment and operation,” among other matters. Chen pleaded guilty and “expressed remorse,” state-run Xinhua news agency said.
SOCCER
Egypt exits Africa Cup
The injured Mohamed Salah would not get the chance to return to the Africa Cup of Nations after his Egypt side were knocked out of the competition on Sunday in a dramatic penalty shoot-out against the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), while Guinea progressed to the last eight. Record-seven time champions Egypt lost 8-7 on penalties against the Congolese after their last-16 tie ended 1-1 at the end of extra time. The DR Congo on Friday are to play their quarter-final in Abidjan against Guinea, who beat Equatorial Guinea 1-0 earlier with a dramatic winner by Mohamed Bayo in the eighth minute of injury-time.
ICE HOCKEY
Player turns himself in
Former NHL player Alex Formenton on Sunday turned himself in to police in connection with an investigation into an alleged sexual assault by several members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team. Formenton’s legal team confirmed that police in London, Ontario, have charged Formenton and several other players. Lawyer Daniel Brown did not say what charge or charges Formenton was facing. Five players from Canada’s 2018 gold medal-winning world junior team have taken a leave of absence over the past week from their current clubs amid a report that five members of that team had been asked to surrender to London police to face sexual assault charges. That included Formenton, a former Ottawa Senators player who is now in Europe. NHL players Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils, Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers and Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames also went on leave in the past few days.
SOCCER
Ten Hag to ‘deal’ with player
Erik ten Hag said he would deal with Marcus Rashford’s absence after the Manchester United star missed Sunday’s 4-2 victory at Newport in the FA Cup. Ten Hag said Rashford was absent from the fourth-round clash in south Wales after saying he was ill on Friday. However, reports over the weekend suggested that the England forward had spent Thursday evening at a Belfast nightclub before missing training with United the next day. “He reported ill,” United boss Ten Hag said after the team blew a two-goal lead before surviving their trip to fourth tier Newport. “The rest is an internal matter. I deal with it, we will deal with it.” Rashford was also dropped for a Premier League match against the Wolverhampton Wanderers last season after turning up late to a team meeting when he overslept.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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