SOCCER
Giroud to end France career
France striker Olivier Giroud said he plans to end his international career after the UEFA European Championship next month. The 37-year-old forward has scored 57 goals in 131 matches for France and was part of the France squad who won the 2018 FIFA World Cup. “To be honest, this will be my last competition with Les Bleus. Obviously, I’m going to miss it a lot,” Giroud told L’Equipe in an interview published on Thursday.
SOCCER
Stefano Pioli leaves Milan
Stefano Pioli has left AC Milan, the Serie A club said yesterday, after a season of disappointing results. The 19-time Italian champions were second this season, miles behind champions Inter, and had a lackluster run in the UEFA Champions League and the domestic cups. “AC Milan extends heartfelt thanks to Stefano Pioli and his entire staff for leading the first team over the past five years, securing an unforgettable league title and re-establishing AC Milan’s consistent presence in the top European competition,” the club said.
SOCCER
Lucas Paqueta charged
West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paqueta on Thursday was charged by English soccer authorities after it was alleged that the Brazil international deliberately received cards during Premier League matches to influence betting markets. “I deny the charges in their entirety and will fight with every breath to clear my name,” Paqueta wrote on Instagram. The case centers around four matches from November 2022 to August last year. Paqueta received a yellow card in each of them. The Football Association said Paqueta has been charged with misconduct for breaching two of its rules. “It’s alleged that he directly sought to influence the progress, conduct, or any other aspect of, or occurrence in these matches by intentionally seeking to receive a card from the referee for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market in order for one or more persons to profit from betting,” it said. He was also charged with “alleged failures to comply,” it said.
SOCCER
Trophy sale opposed
Diego Maradona’s heirs have taken legal action in France to block the sale of the Argentine legend’s Golden Ball trophy from the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. The trophy given to the tournament’s best player had been missing for decades before being found by an antique dealer in the French capital. It is due to be sold by Aguttes auction house in Neuilly-sur-Seine on June 6. Lawyers for the family of Maradona, who died in 2020 aged 60, said that the item, which is expected to fetch millions, rightly belongs to his five heirs.
BASKETBALL
Toronto to get WNBA team
Toronto is to be the home of a WNBA expansion franchise, the first outside of the US, starting in 2026, officials said on Thursday. “Toronto, welcome to the W,” league commissioner Cathy Engelbert told a news conference. “It’s such a pivotal moment for our league,” she said. Toronto’s as-yet-unnamed WNBA team is to be the league’s newest club, with the 13th team coming next year, the Golden State Valkyries, playing out of San Francisco.
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
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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