BASKETBALL
Noah gets fine for tirade
Chicago Bulls big man Joakim Noah was fined US$15,000 by the NBA on Tuesday after an obscene outburst directed at game officials in Sacramento. The French player lost his cool in the third quarter of Chicago’s 99-70 loss to the Kings on Monday night, unleashing a profanity-laced tirade after he received two technical fouls in the space of three minutes and was ejected from the game. “Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah has been fined US$15,000 for verbally abusing the officials upon his ejection,” NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn said in a statement. By the time Thorn had meted out the punishment, Noah had already apologized.
SOCCER
Carroll’s ban appeal fails
West Ham United striker Andy Carroll will serve a three-game ban after having an appeal against a red card rejected, the Football Association announced on Tuesday. Carroll, 25, was shown a straight red card during his side’s 2-0 win over Swansea City on Saturday after catching Chico Flores in the face with his arm early in the second half of the Premier League game at Upton Park. West Ham manager Sam Allardyce accused Flores of reacting theatrically and confirmed that the club would appeal against the red card, but the FA upheld referee Howard Webb’s decision to send Carroll off. West Ham’s record signing, Carroll has played in only four league games this season due to injury and now stands to miss his side’s forthcoming matches against Aston Villa, Norwich City and Southampton. The England striker appeared to express his anger at the decision on Twitter, writing simply: “DISGRACEFUL!!!”
SOCCER
Jordan qualify for finals
Jordan booked a place in next year’s AFC Asian Cup finals with a 3-1 win over 10-man Singapore in an ill-tempered Group A clash at Jalan Besar Stadium on Tuesday. Needing a victory to qualify from the group alongside Oman, Thaer Bawab and Ahmad Hayel scored either side of halftime for the visitors. Khairul Amri then converted a penalty for Singapore, but substitute Yousef Ahmad netted in stoppage-time to help Jordan go through with a game to spare. Singapore defender Baihakki Khaizan was sent off at the end of the first half, while Jordan captain and goal-scorer Hayel was also shown the red card in the 70th minute. Twelve nations had already qualified for the 16-team finals — hosts Australia, holders Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Uzbekistan. The draw is to be made in Sydney on March 26.
CRICKET
Fan with pig punished
An Australian cricket fan who disguised a pig as a baby for the Ashes Test at the Gabba ground was yesterday ordered to attend mediation with the RSPCA. David Gunn, 33, was charged with animal cruelty after the pet pig, wrapped in a towel with its snout taped shut, was seen in the stadium in Brisbane during the opening day of the first Australia-England Test in November last year. In a statement to the court, the RSPCA said the pig, named Ash, was traumatized by the incident and dehydrated after being in direct sunlight on a hot day. Gunn was ordered to attend mediation with the animal welfare charity. RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty said in his experience this involved sitting the person down and trying to make them understand how their actions affected the pig. Ash has since made a full recovery.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
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