■ WALES
UEFA skeptical over plan
European soccer's governing body UEFA has expressed skepticism at controversial plans to boost Welsh involvement in the Champions League. Welsh soccer officials confirmed earlier this week that they were considering letting Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham field teams in the Welsh league while also maintaining their current positions in the English leagues. The proposals are aimed at giving Wales' top three sides a chance of reaching the qualifying stages of the Champions League at the expense of their less well-funded rivals in the Welsh league.
■ SPAIN
Mallorca tame Real Madrid
Juan Arango's second-half strike gave Real Mallorca a slender advantage after they beat Primera Liga leaders Real Madrid 2-1 at home in the first leg of their King's Cup last-16 tie on Thursday. Mallorca's Argentine striker Oscar Trejo stabbed home from close range at a corner in the 23rd minute, but two minutes later compatriot Gonzalo Higuain lashed a superb volley high into the net to level the scores. The home side had a good shout for a penalty waved away, but early in the second half Venezuelan forward Arango fired in a long range effort to put the 2003 winners back in front. Atletico Madrid may be left to rue their poor finishing after being held to a 0-0 home draw by Valladolid.
■ ENGLAND
Kitson to appear in court
Dave Kitson, striker with English Premier League side Reading, is to appear in court after he was arrested for an alleged drunk-driving offense. Kitson, 27, has been accused of failing to give a breath sample and failing to cooperate in providing a sample after being stopped by officers near his home in the village of Shinfield, near Reading, southwest of London in the early hours of Wednesday morning. A Reading Football Club spokesman said: "We can confirm that a player has been arrested in connection with a drink-driving allegation and is due to appear in court."
■ ENGLAND
Briatore lauds fair play
Renault Formula One Team boss and Queens Park Rangers co-owner Flavio Briatore has blasted the Italian soccer world and lauded the sport in Britain for its fair play and meritocracy. "Here you are on market and you play in a clean competition, where the rules have no shadowy areas," he told the Italian edition of GQ magazine when asked why he bought into an English Championship (second division) club instead of one in his homeland. "It's a challenge with only one yardstick: merit. That's why there are investors from all over the world here, while in [soccer in] Italy, there is not even one."
■ TRINIDAD
Maturana made manager
Francisco Maturana, who led Colombia to two World Cup appearances, has been selected as the new manager of Trinidad and Tobago's national team. Maturana, who coached Colombia in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, will begin leading the twin-island Caribbean country's side early next month in time for a friendly against Guadeloupe on Feb. 6, said Jack Warner, special adviser to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation. Warner told local reporters that Maturana will replace the suspended Wim Rijsbergen as the Soca Warriors manager. "I know Rijsbergen will not be back here -- since he left he has not contacted anybody. We needed the best available coach and I went for the best," Warner said.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures