■SOCCER
Spain stays No.1 in world
European champions Spain held their No. 1 status on Wednesday in the latest FIFA world rankings. European nations dominate the rankings, with world champions Italy up one place to second as Euro 2008 runners-up Germany dropped to third. The Netherlands and Croatia remained at four and five in front of the top South Americans: Brazil and Argentina at six and seven. Turkey climbed three places to make the top 10, replacing fellow Euro 2008 semi-finalists Russia — down two to No. 12. Cameroon are the leading African nation, climbing one place to No. 14 in a swap with England. Mexico made the biggest move among the leading nations, rising eight places to No. 24 to take over from the US, which is up three at No. 28. Japan continued to lead the Asian Confederation at No. 35, while New Caledonia — up 21 places to No. 95 — replaced No. 111 New Zealand as the best of the Oceania nations. Other major movers include Gabon, up 12 to No. 62; Algeria rising 14 to No. 76; and Trinidad & Tobago up 12 to No. 80.
■SOCCER
Mafia linked to violence
The hooliganism that marred Napoli’s Serie A opener at AS Roma last weekend may have been orchestrated by the Naples Mafia, the Camorra, Italy’s police chief Antonio Manganelli said on Wednesday. “We have reason to believe that there was the influence of organized crime behind the incidents provoked by the Neapolitan fans,” Manganelli was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency. “It’s no coincidence that this investigation has been entrusted to the DDA [District Anti-Mafia Department].” The ticketless fans fought with police and railway workers before effectively occupying a train in Naples. After they refused to get off, police advised regular passengers to disembark and take other trains. There were also scuffles outside Rome’s Olympic stadium between police and Napoli fans and more incidents on the supporters’ return journey after the match.
■SOCCER
Robinho arrives in chopper
Robinho turned up for training with Brazil in a helicopter on Wednesday following his transfer deadline-beating move to Manchester City. Brazil, away to Chile in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday, began training on Tuesday but Robinho was given permission to join up a day late after sealing a move to the English Premier League club just before the close of the transfer window. “I didn’t want to arrive by helicopter because people will say that I’m getting carried away with success, but there was no other way,” he told reporters at Brazil’s mountain retreat in Teresopolis, some 100km from Rio de Janeiro. “Otherwise, I would have been late for training.”
■CRICKET
Rain ruins Cardiff ODI
England were denied the chance to climb to second in the one-day international rankings when the fifth and final match of the series against South Africa was abandoned after only three overs on Wednesday. Kevin Pietersen’s men were already four up in the series and a 5-0 whitewash would have lifted them from third to second in the world behind Australia. After England won the toss and elected to bowl, South Africa reached 6 for 1 with Herschelle Gibbs falling for 3 to a diving catch by wicketkeeper Matt Prior off Stuart Broad. Intermittent downpours then ruled out any further play.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum on Sunday combined for 27 points as Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team Shaq” cruised to victory in the new-look NBA All-Star game in San Francisco. Curry, playing on his home court at Golden State’s Chase Center, reeled off a string of trademark three-pointers to help his star-studded lineup coast to a 41-25 victory over Charles Barkley’s “Team Chuck.” Boston Celtics star Tatum finished with 15 points after delivering a dominant performance in a starting lineup that also included Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and James Harden. Team Shaq’s preparations for the game had been dealt a blow shortly before tip-off when
RSS