■ARGENTINA
Maradona battles bulge
Argentina coach Diego Maradona is in Italy to receive medical treatment to combat his weight increase and rising stress levels following his team’s two straight losses in World Cup qualifying. ANSA reported on Tuesday that Maradona traveled to the Alpine town of Merano to a beauty farm after Argentina lost 3-1 to Brazil and 1-0 to Paraguay. ANSA quoted unidentified hotel personnel saying that Maradona intends to stay for a couple of weeks for strict dieting.
■BOLIVIA
Players quit national team
Bolivia’s players have resigned from the national team indefinitely and are demanding reforms in the game from their federation (FBF) and the government, their union (Fabol) said on Tuesday. The move could leave Bolivia without a squad to face Brazil at home and Peru away in their remaining World Cup qualifiers next month. “Bolivian soccer is in a deep crisis and as long as our suggestions are not taken into account and implemented ... the country’s professional soccer players resign indefinitely from representing the national team,” Fabol said in a statement. Bolivian President Evo Morales proposed last week that the state take charge of the game because of the national team’s poor results. Bolivia are second-bottom of the 10-team South American group with 10 points from 16 games. The union wants the game to be governed by a single executive body with an equal say for “the real actors in soccer, the players, coaches and referees” and more money injected into the game by the government. Bolivian soccer is run by three separate entities, the FBF, the League and the national associations.
■ENGLAND
FA charges City’s Adebayor
Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor has been charged with violent and improper conduct during Saturday’s 4-2 Premier League win over visitors Arsenal, the English Football Association (FA) said on Tuesday. “Under the fast-track disciplinary process, Adebayor has been charged with violent conduct following an incident with Robin van Persie, which resulted in the Arsenal player receiving facial injuries,” an FA statement read. “Adebayor has also been charged with improper conduct following his actions when turning and running the full length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the Arsenal supporters after scoring.” Greater Manchester Police have written to the FA with their views on the incident at the City of Manchester stadium and a separate date will be arranged for a commission to consider Adebayor’s goal celebration. The forward, who joined City from Arsenal in July, angered fans after what van Persie described as a “mindless and malicious stamp” by Adebayor went unpunished. “Referee Mark Clattenburg has advised the FA that he did not see this incident, but has confirmed that had he done so, he would have sent Adebayor off for violent conduct,” the FA statement said. Adebayor’s goal celebration also sparked crowd trouble among Arsenal fans leading to a steward being injured.
■CONCACAF
Cruz Azul stay unbeaten
Mexican club Cruz Azul remained undefeated in the CONCACAF Champions League, rallying from a two-goal deficit on Tuesday to draw 3-3 with the Puerto Rico Islanders in Group C. In other games on Tuesday, D.C. United defeated San Juan Jabloteh of Trinidad 1-0 in Port-of-Spain on Christian Gomez’s penalty in Group B, and Arabe Unido of Panama defeated Metapan of El Salvador 1-0 in Group A.
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
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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
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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