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
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
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
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
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