SOCCER
Help sought for journalist
The family of a French sports journalist who has been sentenced to seven years in prison in Algeria is calling for help from the sporting world and soccer great Zinedine Zidane. Christophe Gleizes, a 36-year-old freelance sportswriter, was sentenced last week over an interview with a soccer official accused of ties to a banned separatist movement. Gleizes was arrested and placed under judicial supervision more than a year ago for entering Algeria without a proper visa, “glorifying terrorism” and “possessing propaganda publications harmful to the national interest,” Reporters Without Borders said last week. Gleizes’ relatives on French television on Thursday called on sports personalities to support his case. “It would be great if Zinedine Zidane were to get involved in this fight,” Gleizes’ father in law, Francis Godard, told France 2 channel. “After all, it’s a fight for both freedom of the press and the world of football. Journalists are mobilized, as we know, but we would like the sporting world to be just as mobilized. Christophe is a sports journalist and is therefore interested in the business of sport. This concerns the world of sport very directly.”
Photo: AFP / SO Press-RSF / Courtesy of the Gleizes family
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Trump touts UFC plans
The Octagon likely is coming to the White House next year after US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he plans to have the UFC hold a fight card at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as part of the US’ 250th birthday celebrations. The president, who is close with UFC president Dana White, made the announcement at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. “Does anybody watch UFC? The great Dana White? We’re going to have a UFC fight. We’re going to have a UFC fight — think of this — on the grounds of the White House,” Trump said. “We have a lot of land there. We’re going to build a little — we’re not, Dana is going to do it. Dana is great, one of a kind — going to be UFC fight, championship fight, full fight, like 20,000 to 25,000 people, and we’re going to do that as part of ‘250’ also.”
BOXING
Chavez Jr faces deportation
US immigration officials have arrested Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr — days after his loss in a fight against Jake Paul — for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application, officials said on Thursday. Chavez was detained in front of his home on Wednesday and faced deportation to Mexico, where he faces organized crime charges, authorities said. The 39-year-old boxer is a former middleweight champion. His father, Julio Cesar Chavez, is one of the most beloved athletes in Mexican history and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. However, his son has battled drug addiction for much of his lengthy boxing career, failing drug tests, serving suspensions and egregiously missing weight while being widely criticized for his intermittent dedication to the sport. The younger Chavez still rose to the heights, winning the WBC middleweight title in 2011 and defending it three times.
‘SU-PENKO’: Hsieh and Ostapenko face a rematch against their Australian Open final opponents, the same duo Hsieh played in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday survived a near upset to the unseeded duo of Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, setting up a semi-final showdown against last year’s winners. Despite losing a hard-fought opening set 7-6 (7/4) on a tiebreak, the fourth seeds turned up the heat, losing just five games in the final two sets to handily put down Cirstea and Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-2. Nicknamed “Su-Penko,” the pair are next to face top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in a reversal of last
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and her Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko finished runners-up in the Wimbledon women's doubles final yesterday, losing 6-3, 2-6, 4-6. The three-set match against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium lasted two hours and 23 minutes. The loss denied 39-year-old Hsieh a chance to claim her 10th Grand Slam title. Although the Taiwanese-Latvian duo trailed 1-3 in the opening set, they rallied with two service breaks to take it 6-3. In the second set, Mertens and Kudermetova raced to a 5-1 lead and wrapped it up 6-2 to even the match. In the final set, Hsieh and
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei and her Latvian partner, Jelena Ostapenko, advanced to the Wimbledon women’s doubles final on Friday, defeating top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in straight sets. The fourth-seeded duo bounced back quickly after losing their opening service game, capitalizing on frequent unforced errors by their opponents to take the first set 7-5. Maintaining their momentum in the second set, Hsieh and Ostapenko broke serve early and held their lead to close out the match 6-4. They are set to face the eighth-seeded pair of Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens
Outside Anfield, the red sea of tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, has continued to grow this week, along with questions over whether Liverpool could play at Preston today, their first game since the brothers’ tragic loss. Inside Anfield, and specifically a grieving Liverpool dressing room, there was no major debate over the pre-season friendly. The English Premier League champions intend to honor their teammate in the best way they know how. It would be only 10 days since the deaths of Jota and Silva when Liverpool appear at Deepdale Stadium for what is certain to be a hugely
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