BRAZIL
Ancelotti joins national team
Real Madrid’s Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti is set to become the first foreigner in almost 60 years to coach Brazil’s national team, Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president president Ednaldo Rodriguez said on Tuesday. Ancelotti, 64, has a season remaining on his contract with Real, which he has said he would like to honor, would take over Brazil in time for the Copa America in the US from June next year. The CBF had earlier announced that Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz would take charge of the team for the coming year. “This guy [Diniz] is a coach who has a nice style of play,” Rodriguez told CNN Brazil. “His style is similar to the coach who will assume the role at the Copa America, Ancelotti.”
LA LIGA
Scandal haunts Osasuna
UEFA yesterday removed Spanish club CA Osasuna from the UEFA Europa Conference League, because former club officials were implicated in fixing matches a decade ago. Osasuna said in a statement that it would appeal the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. By finishing seventh in La Liga last season, Osasuna earned a place in the playoff round of the third-tier European club competition. UEFA’s verdict lifts eighth-place Athletic Bilbao into the competition instead. Osasuna officials who are no longer with the club were implicated in fixing matches between 2012 and 2014. However, UEFA’s competition rules state that teams implicated in fixing any game played since April 2007 can be removed from the next competition for which they qualify.
BRAZIL
Neymar fined US$3.3m
Brazilian soccer star Neymar was fined about 16 million reals (US$3.3 million) for contravening local environmental rules during renovations at his mansion in the city of Mangaratiba outside Rio de Janeiro. Mangaratiba City Hall said in a statement on Monday night that it had issued four fines. “Among the dozens of infractions that were noticed at the player’s property are the start of an unauthorized construction which requires environmental control; capture of a river course and detouring it without authorization; moving rock and sand; suppressing vegetation without authorization and non-compliance of an embargo,” the statement said. A city hall document said that the latter charge is related to Neymar’s decision to swim in the artificial lake despite local authorities showing up to forbid him from that area due to environmental consequences.
BRAZILIAN SERIE A
Luan hurt in fan attack
Midfielder Luan was attacked by angry fans in Sao Paulo, Sport Club Corinthians Paulista said on Tuesday. Local media reported that the 30-year-old Luan, an Olympic gold medalist with Brazil in 2016, sustained minor injuries after he was assaulted at a party he threw for about 10 guests in a hotel. “Corinthians received with sadness and indignation the information that our athlete Luan was assaulted by alleged fans in the early hours of this Tuesday morning,” the club said in a statement. “After another repugnant case of violence, Corinthians regrets the current moment of intolerance that dominates Brazilian soccer.” Luan, once regarded as one of the best players in South America, joined Corinthians in 2020, but has not delivered for the club. Many fans want him to leave.
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
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