■ENGLAND
Owen overlooked again
Michael Owen was overlooked once again by England manager Fabio Capello when the squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus was announced on Sunday. Capello admitted the Newcastle striker had given him a decision to make by scoring three goals in his last four matches. But the Italian boss overlooked him, opting to stick with Wayne Rooney, Emile Heskey and Jermain Defoe and bring in the latter’s Portsmouth teammate Peter Crouch, who has scored four in his last three games. In other changes to the squad, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, back from a groin injury, returns to the England midfield ranks, while Joe Cole, injured in Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat of Aston Villa on Sunday, misses out. Fellow midfielders Jimmy Bullard of Fulham and Tottenham’s David Bentley are replaced by Crouch and Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips. West Brom goalkeeper Scott Carson replaces calf-injury victim Paul Robinson of Blackburn.
■POLAND
FIFA drops sanction threat
World soccer’s governing body FIFA has dropped its threat of sanctions on Poland after reaching an agreement with the country’s government, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said yesterday. “We have received letters and documents that there has been an agreement between the FA and the Polish government,” Blatter told reporters in Brussels. “If this agreement comes into force tomorrow it is sufficient for us. We will not impose any sanctions once the agreement comes into force.” FIFA last week warned the Polish government that it was facing the possible suspension of its national team after it decided to remove the FA’s leadership and install a government-appointed administrator. European soccer’s governing body UEFA also said that Poland would likely lose its right to host the 2012 European Championship unless an agreement was reached before FIFA’s deadline.
■SAMOA
Oceania suspends Samoa
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) yesterday suspended the Samoan Football Soccer Federation (SFSF) for “seriously and repeatedly violating their obligations.” It followed concern over Samoa’s handling of funds from world body FIFA. In a statement, the OFC said the suspension took effect immediately and would be confirmed at their next Congress by a two-thirds majority of the votes taken. “If it is not confirmed, the suspension is automatically lifted,” it added. OFC general secretary Tai Nicholas said his organization imposed the suspension as “a last resort” after attempts to solve the SFSF’s financial problems.
■NETHERLANDS
Groningen regain top spot
FC Groningen regained the top spot in the Dutch league on Sunday with a 3-0 win over ADO The Hague. Petter Andersson, Evgeniy Levchenko and Marcus Berg scored for Groningen to give them 13 points after five rounds, one point ahead of PSV Eindhoven. PSV held the overnight lead after a 3-0 victory over De Graafschap on Saturday. Also on Sunday, NAC Breda scored twice in the first 19 minutes to beat FC Volendam 4-2 and stay third with 12 points, while Feyenoord dropped to 14th after losing 2-0 to NEC Nijmegen. SC Heerenveen pulled off a 5-2 victory over 10-man Ajax to move up to fourth place. FC Twente lost 3-0 at FC Utrecht to hand former England coach Steve McClaren his first Eredivisie defeat.
BOOT TO FACE: Wilfried Singo said that his actions were not intentional, ‘but I was able to see afterwards that’ the ’keeper had a significant face injury Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday came from behind to extend their unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 season with a 4-2 win away against AS Monaco, but lost goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to a gruesome facial injury. The bloodied Italy international was left requiring 10 staples after sustaining lacerations to the right side of his face when he was caught by the studs of Monaco defender Wilfried Singo. “I don’t know if the referee was badly positioned, but VAR [video assistant referee] needed to intervene, you have to protect the players,” PSG captain Marquinhos said. “To not give a red in a situation like
Cheng Chen Chin-mei on Saturday beamed broadly as she hoisted a 35kg weightlifting bar to her waist, dropped it and waved confidently to the enthusiastic crowd in a competition in Taipei. Cheng Chen, 90, has been pumping iron since last year, encouraged by her granddaughter to take up the sport after she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. She credits the regimen with helping to fix her posture. Three generations of her family were among a couple of hundred people watching Cheng Chen and 44 others aged 70 or older in the weightlifting competition. In the three-round event, Cheng Chen lifted as much as
Zach LaVine on Thursday scored a season-high 36 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 117-108 upset victory against defending NBA champions the Boston Celtics, while LeBron James once again made history. LaVine went 11-of-19 from the floor and made six three-pointers while adding six rebounds and four assists for the Bulls, who improved to 13-15 for the season. “We’re a good team,” LaVine said. “We’re competitive and we’re a resilient group.” Ayo Dosunmu contributed 17 points for the Bulls, while Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 14 rebounds for Chicago. The Bulls outscored Boston 35-22 in the fourth quarter to rally past
Teenage sensation Luke “The Nuke” Littler on Saturday set a tournament record with a 140.91 set average as he secured a second-round win in the PDC World Darts Championship with a 3-1 victory over fellow Englishman Ryan Meikle late. The 17-year-old came close to winning the World Championship in January, but lost in the final to Luke Humphries. Now, he has started the latest edition on a high note. Tournament favorite Littler fired in four maximum 180s, while winning three consecutive legs in 11, 10 and 11 darts, setting a record set average and finishing with an overall average of 100.85. “It was
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