■UKRAINE
Salenko to sell award
The 1994 World Cup’s joint top goalscorer Oleg Salenko is prepared to sell his Golden Boot award for US$500,000 to pay off his debts, local media reported on Thursday. “I received a good offer from the United Arab Emirates,” Kiev-based Salenko was quoted as saying by Blik newspaper. “I had a small business but after the [global] crisis everything is down and I need to pay off some debts,” added the former Russia striker, who played for various clubs including Zenit, Dynamo Kiev, Valencia and Rangers before retiring in 2001. “I’m not totally broke or anything like that so I have to sell everything, but the offer was hard to resist. I was told wealthy Arab sheikhs would take good care of the award by putting it in a local museum.”
■UNITED KINGDOM
Man United plan tour
There will be little time to rest for Manchester United’s players in the off-season, with the English Premier League club revealing plans to tour North America immediately after the World Cup. Manchester United announced on Thursday they would play one match in Canada and another three in the US, kicking off just five days after the World Cup final, although any players involved in the latter stages of the tournament in South Africa are unlikely to be included. They will begin their tour against Scottish Premier League runners-up Celtic in Toronto (July 16), before playing Philadelphia Union (July 21) and Kansas City Wizards (July 25) then the Major League Soccer All-Stars in Houston (July 28).
■ARGENTINA
Riot police protect refs
Police were needed to protect the match officials when Alianza Lima protested vehemently against a late Universidad de Chile equalizer that knocked the Peruvians out of the Libertadores Cup on Thursday. Alianza were minutes away from qualification on the away goals rule. However, a shot by Felipe Seymour two minutes into stoppage time was deflected off a defender past Alianza goalkeeper George Forsyth and into the net to give the U a 2-2 draw and send them through instead, 3-2 on aggregate. Alianza were incensed because the linesman signaled for offside at first, but after consultation with the referee Carlos Verase the goal was allowed to stand. The Peruvians argued that Chilean players in offside positions blocked Forsyth’s vision, a view backed up by video replays. Riot police formed a protective wall around the match officials in the middle of the pitch as Alianza players tried to argue with them. Play was held up for more than a quarter of an hour before the referee resumed the match, playing out the remaining two minutes of stoppage time in a climate of hostility.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Mancini to stay at Man City
Roberto Mancini will remain as Manchester City manager for many years, club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said on Thursday. “Roberto’s going to do a wonderful job for us for many years,” Mubarak said in a video interview on the City Web site. “Roberto is our manager. He’s done an excellent job coming in mid-season, organizing the team. I’m very happy, and [owner] Sheikh Mansour is delighted with the way he’s organized the team.” City’s chance of fourth place in the Premier League and a berth in the Champions League disappeared with Wednesday’s 1-0 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur. That led to media speculation that Italian Mancini could be fired.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
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