■ 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.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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