■ ENGLAND
Cardiff cause FA rule review
Cardiff cannot presently qualify for Europe if they win the FA Cup but that could all change after the Football Association announced they would look again at their rulebook. As things stand Cardiff, who face fellow Championship side Barnsley in a Wembley semi-final next month, would not qualify for the UEFA Cup if they won the FA Cup because Welsh clubs are only eligible to qualify through their own competitions. UEFA president Michel Platini has promised to intervene to help Cardiff should they continue a season of Cup shocks by lifting the trophy and the FA are now reviewing their own rule. "In light of Cardiff City's success in reaching the FA Cup semi-finals, the Football Association is considering its position on European qualification for the winners of the FA Cup," an FA spokesman said on Thursday.
■ PERU
Players robbed by gang
The players of leading Peruvian side Cienciano were held up and robbed by armed men as they were collecting their wages, a police official said on Thursday. The victims, who were forced to lie on the floor during the raid, included Peru internationals Juan Carlos Bazalar and forward William Chiroque. The robbers were reported to have made off with US$85,000 in cash as well as the players' wallets and mobile phones. The incident occurred at the club's headquarters in the Andean city of Cusco on Wednesday, the day after Cienciano had beaten fellow Peruvians Coronel Bolognesi 1-0 in a South American Libertadores Cup match. "At the moment that the players were receiving their wages, four men entered and surrounded the cashier," said Cusco police official Juan Auccahuaqui.
■ ENGLAND
Fans in train riot sent to jail
Soccer fans who charged through train carriages and attacked rivals in a pre-planned riot have been jailed and banned from games for up to 10 years. The violence happened before a game between neighbors Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic in September and police arrested fans whose ages ranged from 16 to 44. Prosecutors told Judge Stephen Robbins on Thursday that some 30 Palace followers trapped Charlton supporters on the train, punching, kicking and head-butting them. A father and his two grown-up sons were repeatedly punched, one of the sons left with blood pouring down his face and was later taken to hospital with a suspected fractured nose. "This was sickening behavior, thuggery, organized violence on a train on members of the public," Robbins said at Southwark Crown Court. He jailed two fans, Dominic Goodridge and Harvey Neenan, each for three years and four months. Three more were sentenced to two-and-a-half years and two to two years.
■ BRAZIL
Lightning strikes midfielder
A soccer match in Brazil was suspended after lightning struck one of the players. The lightning struck midfielder Gilvan near midfield in the 63rd minute of the match between Novo Horizonte and Atletico Goianiense in the Goias state championship on Wednesday. Gilvan immediately collapsed and was taken unconscious to hospital, where he was treated and released. "I woke up in the hospital," the Novo Horizonte player said. "The pain was too strong. I'm relieved to have survived this." The injury prompted the referee to suspend the match, which was finished on Thursday and won by Atletico 4-2. The game was even at 2-2 when it was interrupted.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
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