VOLLEYBALL
Serbian player banned
A Serbian player has been hit with a two-match ban after making a racist gesture during a match against Thailand, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) said on Wednesday. Sanja Djurdjevic was photographed pulling at the corners of her eyes with her fingers, a derogatory gesture toward Asians during her side’s 3-0 victory over the Thai team at the Volleyball Nations League in Rimini, Italy, on Tuesday last week. The FIVB said its disciplinary committee found that she “violated the FIVB Disciplinary Regulations following a gesture made during the” match. The Volleyball Federation of Serbia was also fined 20,000 Swiss francs (US$22,337).
ATHLETICS
NZ backs trans inclusion
Inclusion should be the starting point for any discussion about the participation of transgender people in the sex class of their choice, New Zealand Minister for Sport and Recreation Grant Robertson said yesterday. Robertson was responding to an open letter from 43 former Olympic champions and athletes calling on the government to widen consultation on Sport New Zealand’s guidance on the participation of transgender players. “If we can all agree that we want all New Zealanders to have the opportunity to be part of sport ... I think that’s a good starting point, and then we can work from there,” he told Radio New Zealand. “Of course we’ve got to consider overall everybody’s safety and everybody’s comfort, but an approach based on inclusion is the one I want.”
BASKETBALL
NBA fines Heat’s Riley
The NBA on Wednesday fined Miami Heat president Pat Riley US$25,000 for contravening anti-tampering rules over comments made on Friday last week about Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. In a radio interview, Riley thought a question about Dwyane Wade, a former Heat star guard, was instead about James. Riley, according to the Miami Herald and Sun-Sentinel, joked about leaving LeBron a key if he should ever wish to return to the Heat. “I would leave the key under the doormat if he would call me and let me know that he’s coming,” Riley said. Riley, 76, even predicted his fate after his remarks about 36-year-old James, who is under contract with the Lakers for the next two seasons. “This will just get me fined for tampering,” he said in the radio interview.
SOCCER
Super League six fined
The six rebel English clubs that signed up to the European Super League have reached a financial settlement with the Premier League worth a combined ￡22 million pounds (US$31 million), the league said on Wednesday. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur announced themselves as founder members of the competition in April, but the project quickly collapsed after widespread opposition. “The six clubs involved in proposals to form a European Super League have today acknowledged once again that their actions were a mistake, and have reconfirmed their commitment to the Premier League and the future of the English game,” the Premier League said in a statement.
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
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