■FOOTBALL
Association files grievance
The NFL Players Association filed a grievance on Tuesday challenging the suspension and fine given to Plaxico Burress by the New York Giants after the star receiver accidentally shot himself 10 days ago. The union said that the team violated the collective bargaining agreement last week when it placed Burress on the reserve-non football injury list, suspended him for the final four games of the regular season and fined him an additional week’s salary for conduct detrimental to the team. Placing Burress on the non-football injury list also will keep him out of the playoffs. The Giants won the NFC East division title on Sunday. Union spokesman Carl Francis said the grievance will be heard by an arbitrator after the season ends.
■FOOTBALL
Jones suspended for drugs
Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Matt Jones will serve a three-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy after his appeal was denied on Tuesday. The league handed down the suspension in October, but it was delayed while Jones appealed. His appeal was heard last week. He will miss the last three games of the regular season. Jones, the team’s leading receiver, was charged with cocaine possession in July when a police officer in Fayetteville, Arkansas saw him inside a parked car allegedly cutting up cocaine with a credit card.
■BASEBALL
FBI reviews Clemens files
Federal investigators subpoenaed medical records from Roger Clemens’ former teams to see if the pitcher perjured himself when testifying before Congress about doping, ESPN reported Tuesday. Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young winner, told Congress in February that he had never used steroids or human growth hormone, as his former trainer Brian McNamee has alleged. According to the report posted on ESPN.com, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents met with club officials and attorneys from the New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays.
■GOLF
Norman highest earner
Golfer Greg Norman headed the list of Australia’s highest-earning sports stars for the 12th straight year even after making the cut just once in four PGA Tour events. Norman, 53, kept his top ranking with estimated sports-related income of A$20.9 million (US$13.9 million), according to the annual list by Business Review Weekly magazine to be published tomorrow. Soccer player Harry Kewell was next with A$10.5 million, Norman, a two-time major winner, is chief executive officer of Great White Shark Enterprises Inc, a closely held company that counts golf course design, apparel, golf equipment, wine and residential development among its activities.
■BASEBALL
Bats to be upgraded by MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) hopes scary scenes of broken maple bats sailing into the stands or dugouts soon could be a thing of the past. All bats used in big league games soon will have their own serial numbers and ink markings for tracking, part of the first step in the league’s efforts to decrease the number of broken bats and ensure a safer environment for players and fans. By the start of next season, the plan of MLB’s safety and health advisory committee is that all bats will have been certified by MLB and that the 32 manufacturers making them will be held to a new list of standards surrounding their production.
■SOCCER
Ronaldo in Corinthians deal
Brazilian striker Ronaldo has expressed his pride after winning a nine-month battle against injury and agreeing to terms with Sao Paulo-based Corinthians. Ronaldo, 32, will join one of Brazil’s biggest clubs, who have just won promotion back to the top flight after one season in Serie B, for the 2009 season as he attempts to re-ignite his career. “I’m proud of myself,” he said in an interview with Brazilian television. “This was never an easy fight at any moment and I’m winning. Corinthians believed in me, they have a fantastic project for 2009 and I’m very confident it will be a great year, although I know I will have a lot of difficulties at the start.” Ronaldo had been widely expected to sign for Flamengo, where he had been training for the last four months, and his move to Corinthians upset supporters of the Rio de Janeiro-based club, who burned photos of him after hearing the news.
■SOCCER
Real fire coach Schuster
Struggling Spanish champions Real Madrid fired coach Bernd Schuster on Tuesday and immediately replaced him with former Tottenham and Sevilla coach Juande Ramos. Real sports director Pedja Mijatovic said he had held a meeting earlier in the day with Schuster, who had “accepted” the decision but “was sad to do so.” “We analyzed everything that has happened in recent months. We saw the difficulties and reached this decision by mutual agreement,” Mijatovic told a news conference. Schuster, one of a rare breed of soccer players who have played for both Real Madrid and Barcelona, was under contract with Real till 2010. Ramos, 54, has been given an initial six-month deal which will keep him at the Spanish giants until the end of the season. Schuster’s head was placed firmly on the block on Sunday when Real slipped to a humiliating 4-3 home defeat to Sevilla, a result that left them languishing in fifth place in the league, nine points behind leaders Barcelona.
■RUGBY UNION
Union urges Wembley probe
An Australian players’ union has called for an investigation into the safety of the playing surface at Wembley Stadium after two Australians were injured in last week’s match against the Barbarians in London. Wallaby prop Matt Dunning ruptured his Achilles tendon and fellow front rower Sekope Kepu tore a pectoral muscle when a scrum collapsed during the match. The Rugby Union Players’ Association (RUPA) wants to know whether there is a link between the injuries and the state of the pitch. “From discussions I have had it was very, very unstable under foot,” RUPA boss Tony Dempsey told the Daily Telegraph yesterday.
■SOCCER
Australia throws cash at bid
Australia’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup received a major boost yesterday when the government agreed to spend A$45.6 million (US$30 million) to back the campaign. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Sports Minister Kate Ellis and Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said in a statement the cash injection “sends a clear message to the football world that Australia is serious about hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup.” “There is no better place in the world than right here in Australia,” Ellis told reporters. The Football Federation Australia (FFA) will formally lodge its bid by the end of 2010 with a decision on who will host the tournament expected in 2011. FFA chairman Frank Lowy told reporters the money would be spent wisely on securing the best “professional services” to ensure Australia has a genuine chance of hosting the soccer showpiece.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
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