RUGBY UNION
Court drops charges
An Argentine court on Tuesday dropped aggravated sexual assault charges against two professional French players accused of raping a woman after playing a match in the country earlier this year. The judge in Mendoza dismissed the case against the 21-year-old athletes, Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, citing insufficient evidence. “The facts under investigation do not constitute a crime,” the court said. The case began in July, when a 39-year-old Argentine woman filed a police complaint alleging that she was beaten, choked and repeatedly raped by the players in their Mendoza hotel room. The players have admitted to having sex with the plaintiff — whom they met at during after their July 7 victory against Argentina’s Pumas — but said that the encounter was consensual. They were held in preventive custody, then placed under house arrest, for a month. The defense said the dismissal reinforced their faith in the justice system. “I think it will be a turning point,” German Hnatow, an attorney representing one of the two players, told Radio Mitre Mendoza, a local radio station. “There are many false accusations in terms of sexual crimes, in terms of gender violence, which cause harm.” The plaintiff can appeal the ruling. She has not said whether she intends to and her defense lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
Photo: AFP
RUGBY UNION
Player feared dead
British police on Tuesday said they had recovered the car of player Tom Voyce from a river in northeast England after Storm Darragh and feared that the former international was dead. “Sadly Tom is yet to be found,” Northumbria police said, adding that they suspected he had “gone into the River Aln” in northeast England on Saturday when the area was hit by heavy rain. “It is suspected Tom has attempted to cross Abberwick Ford in his car, which has then been pulled along with the current of the river,” police said in a statement. “It is believed in his attempts to escape [the car] he has been swept away and tragically died.” Police received a report on Sunday of the disappearance of the former international rugby player, 43, who wore the England team’s No. 15 jersey nine times from 2001 to 2006. He “had not returned home after being out with friends the previous evening” and “extensive inquiries have been ongoing since,” police wrote on X. The “searches continue” in “very challenging circumstances,” police said.
Photo: Reuters / Action Images / Paul Harding
SOCCER
China jails top officials
China yesterday jailed two more former top officials for bribery, court statements showed, following a sweeping crackdown on corruption in the domestic game. Liu Yi, who was secretary-general of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), was handed an 11-year sentence and fined 3.6 million yuan (US$497,000) for taking bribes, a court in Hubei Province said. A separate court in the same province said that Tan Hai, former head of the CFA’s referees management office, was given six-and-a-half years and a 200,000 yuan fine. “The property he obtained will be clawed back in accordance with the law and turned over to the state treasury,” both statements said. Another court on Tuesday said that Qi Jun, the CFA’s ex-chief of strategic planning, was sentenced to seven years and slapped with a 600,000 yuan penalty, also for bribery.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Starting with three fights in the first nine seconds and ending with a celebration and a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, the US on Saturday delivered exactly what Matthew Tkachuk hoped for by beating Canada. “We needed to send a message,” Tkachuk said. “The message we wanted to send is ‘It’s our time.’” Tkachuk fought Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, brother Brady tussled with Sam Bennett the next time the puck dropped, J.T. Miller dropped the gloves with Colton Parayko next and the Americans followed those fisticuffs with a 3-1 victory over their biggest rival. “That was one of the
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,