■RUGBY UNION
Suspensions follow rumpus
The Disciplinary Commission of the Romanian Rugby Federation (FRR) on Tuesday said it had handed down suspensions to players involved in a brawl earlier this month between Farul Constanta and Dinamo Bucharest. Three of Constanta’s Georgian players were hurt in the brawl which erupted after just six minutes when a Constanta player clashed with one of his opponents. Several Dinamo players became embroiled in the scuffle and soon fists were flying in all directions with the Georgians at the center of the fray. Constanta players marched off in protest at the violence, prompting the FRR to award league leaders Dinamo the win against their second-placed opponents. The FRR gave six Dinamo players a seven-match ban with another suspended for 10 matches. Dinamo must also forfeit two home matches following the affray which saw nine players requiring hospital treatment. The chairman of Farul Constanta received a 12-match ban while two of the club’s Georgian stars must respectively sit out 10 and seven games.
■SOCCER
South Korea files complaint
South Korea’s soccer association said yesterday it had filed a complaint with the sport’s world governing body against the head of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for “groundless, bitter accusations.” The row stems from remarks AFC chief Mohamed bin Hammam made in a television interview in which he blasted Korea Football Association chief Cho Jung-yeon, saying he was ready to “cut Cho’s head off.” During the interview, with Qatari TV, Bin Hammam accused Cho of supporting the candidacy of Bahrain’s Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa for a seat on Fifa’s executive committee. Shaikh Salman will challenge Bin Hammam for the seat next month when the Qatari’s term expires. Bin Hammam has since described his quote as a “harmless and widely used Arabic metaphor.”
■SOCCER
Coach punches referee
A Brazilian coach pushed a player from the opposing team and then punched the referee on the day his team were relegated. Television pictures showed Comercial coach Pedro Santilli losing his temper during Sunday’s game against Catanduvense in the second division of the Sao Paulo state championship. Santilli, assistant Brazil coach for a brief period in 2000-2001, went on to the field to pick up a spare ball and as he walked back to the touchline barged into a Catanduvense player who collapsed to the ground. He then went over to speak to the referee and suddenly lashed out, landing a right-fisted punch on the official’s chin. Santilli was sent off, while his team lost 1-0.
■SOCCER
Steve Gerrard odd one out
Premier League champions Manchester United provided five of the six nominees for the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) player of the season award when they were announced on Tuesday. The only non United player to be nominated is Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard. The United quintet comprise Nemanja Vidic, Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, Cristiano Ronaldo and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. For Giggs it probably represents his last crack at getting the ultimate nod from his peers while Gerrard can hope that he benefits as David Ginola did in 1999 by winning because the vote for the United players is split. Ronaldo is bidding to become the first player to win it on three successive occasions. The decision will be announced in London on April 26.
■GYMNASTICS
Court extends stalker order
A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday extended by three years a restraining order issued against a man charged with stalking Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Shawn Johnson. Robert O’Ryan, 34, was arrested last month at CBS Studios in Los Angeles, after he was caught trying to scale a fence at the facility where Johnson was recording television show Dancing with the Stars. Police later found a loaded handgun and shotgun in his car as well as duct tape, officials said. Authorities said O’Ryan had driven from Florida to see 17-year-old Johnson. Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Anthony Drewry extended a restraining order against O’Ryan through April 14, 2012, meaning he is forbidden from coming within 100m of the athlete and her family.
■GOLF
Lee turns professional
New Zealand teenager Danny Lee, the youngest winner on the European Tour, turned professional on Tuesday a week after making his debut at the US Masters. The 18-year-old, who burst on to the world stage with victory at last year’s US amateur championship, will make his first appearance in the paid ranks at this month’s New Orleans Classic. Lee caught the attention of the golfing world when he eclipsed Tiger Woods as the youngest US amateur champion, beating American Drew Kittleson 5&4 in the final at Pinehurst, North Carolina.
■YACHTING
‘Blue’ stays ahead in Volvo
Spain’s Telefonica Blue remained ahead on Tuesday in the sixth stage of the Volvo Ocean Race, but its lead was threatened by Sweden’s Ericsson 4, the winner of the first two stages. The Spanish yacht was traveling at about 12 knots and was some 8 nautical miles (14.8km) ahead of Ericsson 4, which leads in the overall classification, followed by Dutch yacht Delta Lloyd. The seven yachts taking part in the world’s most grueling offshore yacht race left Rio de Janeiro for Boston, a distance of 4,900 nautical miles, on Saturday. They are heading to the island of Fernando de Noronha 350km northeast of Brazil, with the first to arrive to collect four points.
■BASEBALL
Harry Kalas passes away
Broadcaster Harry Kalas, whose “Outta here” home run call was a staple of Philadelphia baseball for almost 40 years, died on Monday after collapsing at a game. Kalas, 73, collapsed in the broadcast booth before the World Series champion Phillies’ contest against the Washington Nationals. “We lost our voice today,” Phillies president David Montgomery said. “He has loved our game and made just a tremendous contribution to our sport and certainly to our organization.” Kalas, whose baritone voice had kept long-suffering Phillies fans abreast of their team’s news since 1971, was beloved by the team’s faithful. He usually called only the middle three innings on radio, but when the Phillies won their second World Series title last autumn, Kalas was on the mike for the final out of the clinching game, and then joined the on-field celebrations. His colleague Scott Franzke said that Kalas was always willing to record his trademark “Outta here!” line for fans who wanted it on their answering machines or, more recently, voice mail messages. There was a moment of silence in Kalas’ memory before the Phillies-Nationals game, and at other ballparks around the country on Monday.
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
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
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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