Sat, May 30, 2009 page19

• Sports Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■SOCCER

  Ireland stays with City

  Stephen Ireland signed a new five-year contract with Manchester City on Thursday and then promptly declared he never wanted to leave Eastlands. The deal was due reward for the midfielder’s buoyant performance this season, which saw him nominated as the club’s player of the year — and that for a player whose future appeared uncertain after losing his way under former manager Sven-Goran Eriksson. But after forcing his way into new boss Mark Hughes’ side at the start of the season, Ireland has never relinquished his place despite a total overhaul of the City midfield under the club’s billionaire owners. “I never had any doubts about staying,” Ireland told the club’s Web site.

  ■SOCCER

  World Cup tickets sell well

  FIFA says tickets are sold out for the opening and final matches of the 2010 World Cup, as well as for all possible games involving England, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Ireland and the Netherlands. FIFA said in a statement on Thursday that, with just over a year before play begins, the semi-finals and all the matches in Cape Town, Nelspruit and Pretoria were also sold out. Fans can apply for team-specific tickets giving them access to all the games of their favorite national team. If that team fails to qualify for the tournament, the tickets are refunded. Qualifying will end later this year. The first World Cup match is on June 11 next year in Johannesburg.

  ■SOCCER

  Vatican praises Barcelona

  The Vatican newspaper has made a rare foray into sport, praising Barcelona’s triumph over Manchester United in the Champions League final as a victory of creativity over athleticism. “Football, Finally,” was the headline in Thursday’s editions of L’Osservatore Romano, next to a photo of Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola thrown into the air by his players in celebration. “Technique and creativity have had the better of athletic vigor,” the newspaper said. The paper praised the Catalan team for teaching a “lesson in style” to a soccer world often dominated by bitter disputes. L’Osservatore Romano also commended the fans at Stadio Olimpico, saying their behavior during Barcelona’s 2-0 win Wednesday was “exemplary.”

  ■SOCCER

  Palacios remains identified

  Honduran authorities have identified the remains of the brother of Tottenham midfielder Wilson Palacios. Prosecutor’s Office forensic medicine director Juan Molina said DNA tests and dental records helped investigators identify bone remains as those of Edwin Palacios. Palacios’ brother was 16 when armed assailants abducted him in 2007 from his family home in La Ceiba, Honduras. He was not released despite the payment of the demanded US$500,000 ransom. Two imprisoned members of the Mara 18 gang led investigators to a shallow grave where they found the remains on May 9.

  ■RUGBY UNION

  Horwill re-signs with Reds

  Skipper James Horwill has re-signed with the Wallabies and Queensland Reds for a further two years, the Reds said yesterday. The giant lock celebrated his 24th birthday by completing contract negotiations with the Reds before the Wallabies’ squad goes into training camp next week. “I love playing for Queensland and the Wallabies and I was honored to play my 50th game for Queensland as the captain,” Horwill said. He has played 10 internationals for Australia and made his Reds’ debut in the Super 14 in 2006.

  ■BASEBALL

  IBAF to lobby for women

  The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) has formed an 11-member panel to push its case for inclusion of women’s baseball in the Olympics. The women’s baseball committee is headed by Donna Lopiano, the former CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation in the US, and includes members from Canada, China, Japan, Taiwan, Nigeria, India, Cuba, Portugal, Australia and South Korea. The move is a central part of the IBAF’s bid to get baseball reinstated as an Olympic sport for the 2016 Games. Baseball and softball were dropped from the Olympics for the 2012 London Games in a vote by the International Olympic Committee in 2005.

  ■BASEBALL

  MLB suspends Zambrano

  Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano was given a six-game suspension and an undisclosed fine on Thursday for throwing a temper tantrum after being ejected from Wednesday’s game against the visiting Pirates. Zambrano was ejected by umpire Mark Carlson after boisterously arguing a call at the plate in the seventh inning of a 5-2 win over Pittsburgh. He thought he had tagged out Nyjer Morgan at home trying to score from third base on a wild pitch, but the umpire ruled Morgan safe making it 2-2 at the time. After being thrown out of the game, the Cubs pitcher hurled a baseball into left field, flung away his glove and took a bat to a soft-drink machine dispenser in the Cubs’ dugout on his way to the clubhouse.

  ■BASEBALL

  Aussie pitcher may return

  Australian pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith threw five scoreless innings in his second rehabilitation start with the Seattle Mariners’ minor league affiliate on Thursday. Rowland-Smith, who impressed when converted from a reliever to starting pitcher in the second half of a disappointing Mariners season last year, struck out three batters while throwing 81 pitches for Tacoma Rainiers against the Nashville Sounds. He staked the Rainiers to a 5-0 lead before leaving, and Tacoma eventually won 5-3 in the Pacific Coast League. The left-hander has been on the disabled list with tightness and fluid in his pitching elbow since his only start of the season, April 10 at Oakland, California. Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu has said he expects Rowland-Smith to return to the rotation early next month.

  ■GOLF

  Four Aussies banned

  The Asian Tour has rejected appeals from four Australian golfers and banned them for the rest of the season after they played on the rival OneAsia Tour at the Volvo China Open. Jason King, Chris Gaunt, Brad Kennedy and Ashley Hall were also hit with a maximum US$5,000 fine. They were penalized for opting to play the China Open without getting an official release from the Asian Tour, of which they are members. All other Asian Tour players, except those who qualified through the European Tour, boycotted the event amid an ongoing row over OneAsia’s emergence.

  ■FORMULA ONE

  Fuji may give up Grand Prix

  Toyota’s Fuji Speedway circuit is considering giving up next year’s Formula One Japanese Grand Prix to cut costs. A spokesman for Toyota said yesterday that Fuji were weighing up their options as motor racing continued to feel the pinch of the global economic crisis. Honda pulled its team out of Formula One last December, while Subaru and Suzuki quit the world rally championship and bike maker Kawasaki scrapped its MotoGP team.
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