BASKETBALL
Damon Jones pleads guilty
Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones on Tuesday pleaded guilty to gambling-related charges, the first conviction in a betting scandal that has engulfed elite basketball. Jones, 49, admitted to two counts of wire fraud conspiracy in two separate cases: one in which he provided insider information to bettors, and another that involved illegal rigged poker games. “As shown by his guilty pleas today, Damon Jones converted his fame and ties to professional basketball into a multifaceted criminal betting operation,” US Attorney Joseph Nocella said. The first case centered on Jones using information on injuries and game absences between December 2022 and March 2024 to profit from illegal betting activity. He is the first of six defendants to plead guilty in that case, which includes Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
Photo: AFP
SOCCER
FIFA issues new rules
World Cup players who cover their mouths during confrontations with opponents would face a red card as part of a new initiative aimed at combating racism, FIFA said in a statement on Tuesday. Following a meeting of the International Football Association Board in Vancouver, FIFA confirmed that the rule was one of two changes that would be introduced at this year’s World Cup. “At the discretion of the competition organizer, any player covering their mouth in a confrontational situation with an opponent may be sanctioned with a red card,” it said. The new rule follows controversy earlier this year when SL Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni was accused of racially abusing Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior during a UEFA Champions League game in February.
GOLF
Golfer eyes return after fall
Italian golfer Andrea Pavan said he hopes to be able to make a full swing within a year as he continues his recovery from serious back and shoulder injuries sustained when he fell three stories down an open elevator shaft in South Africa. The incident happened when Pavan, a two-time winner on Europe’s DP World Tour, called an elevator at his accommodation near the near Stellenbosch Golf Club in February and the door opened without the elevator in the shaft. Apart from broken bones in his back, the 37-year-old sustained a shoulder injury that required surgery. “Around three months we’ll see how well the bone has healed. Around six months it’s about where complete bone healing happens and we’ll see how the joint is moving by then,” Pavan told the BBC.
ATHLETICS
Man sets croc-filled record
Ultramarathon swimmer Andy Donaldson on Tuesday swam 55km across the crocodile-filled Ord River in Australia to finish the Dam to Dam Challenge from Lake Argyle to Kununurra in a record 11 hours, 51 minutes, beating the record of 16 hours, 13 minutes set in 2024 by Simone Blaser, who was the first person to complete the swim. The freshwater crocodile population in the river numbers 5,500 — one for every 10m of Donaldson’s swim. “It was a bit nerve-racking doing a swim in the open water,” the 35-year-old said. “There’s always a risk of wildlife, but in the same breath, people use that river every day recreationally. They say ‘fear is a mile wide and an inch deep’ — the perceived fear is a lot bigger than it actually turns out to be.”
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to “beat” a world record on Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men’s 50m freestyle at the divisive competition where athletes were free to take performance-enhancing substances. His time of 20.81 seconds — which is not considered official — came in the final event of the night in Las Vegas, sparing the blushes of organizers who made claims that multiple world records would be surpassed due to a sophisticated doping regime. Gkolomeev, who was wearing a synthetic “supersuit” long banned at events such as the Olympics, outpaced Australia’s Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88 set in
VICTORY ABROAD: The team took home a fistful of medals and secured spots for the autumn’s Asian Games, scheduled for September in Nagoya Taiwan’s women’s team captured the overall title at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Mongolia on Sunday, finishing with two golds, one silver and one bronze medal. The strong showing, led by gold medalists Wang Chieh-ling and Chang Jui-en secured the full quota of available spots for Taiwan at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, in September. Wang opened Taiwan’s medal run by winning gold in the women’s under-46kg class on Thursday, the first day of competition. Liu Yu-yun later earned a silver in the under-49kg class. On the final day on Sunday, Chang won Taiwan’s second gold medal in the under-62kg event, and
The manager of the Yomiuri Giants, one of Japan’s most popular baseball teams, resigned yesterday after he was arrested for allegedly physically attacking his teenage daughter. Shinnosuke Abe allegedly grabbed the 18-year-old and forced her to the floor at their home in central Tokyo on Monday evening, reported national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, citing unnamed police sources. “Leaving like this really means I’m causing you a lot of trouble, and I feel truly sorry about that,” Abe told a hastily arranged news conference, his eyes red with tears. The former star catcher, who is among baseball-obsessed Japan’s most recognized sports figures,
Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles at the French Open, after she and German partner Mark Wallner defeated Slovenian Andreja Klepac and Briton Lloyd Glasspool in straight sets, despite temperatures exceeding 32°C in Paris, while Taiwan’s top men’s doubles player Ray Ho also reached the second round. Hsieh, who made it to the semi-finals in the mixed doubles at Roland Garros in 2024, and Wallner defeated Klepac and Glasspool 6-3, 7-5 in just more than an hour, converting three of five break points, while holding their opponents to just one conversion
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