SOCCER
El Bayadh members killed
The Algerian Football Federation on Wednesday said that a bus crash has killed two members of its Ligue 1 side Mouloudia El Bayadh and that it would postpone all games scheduled for this week. The federation said that the crash killed El Bayadh reserve goalkeeper Zakaria Bouziani, 27, and assistant coach Khalid Muftah. Bouziani made two league appearances this season. “It is with immense sadness that the president of the Algerian Football Federation, Walid Sadia ... learned of the tragic road accident which left the club in mourning. MC El-Bayadh, playing in professional Ligue 1 Mobilis, and which led to the death of two members of this club,” the federation said in a statement translated from French. Local media said that the bus carrying the team overturned in the town of Sougueur in northwestern Algeria on the way to Tizi Ouzou to play JSK Kabylie in a league game on Friday last week. The club said on social media that other injured team members were in stable condition. “In the wake of the painful tragedy that befell Algerian football ... the Algerian Football Federation decided to suspend all football activities scheduled for the end of this week across the entire country,” it said in a later statement.
SOCCER
Referee unforgiving
Referee Halil Umut Meler said he will not forgive Turkish club MKE Ankaragucu’s president Faruk Koca for punching him in the face at the end of a Super Lig match last week. The Turkish Football Federation’s disciplinary board imposed a permanent ban on Koca, who entered the field and hit Meler when the final whistle blew after Rizespor scored a 97th-minute equalizer at Ankaragucu’s Eryaman Stadium. Meler was then kicked in the head as he lay on the pitch. Koca was arrested a day after the incident, with Meler telling police that the official had threatened to kill him. “No, I did not forgive [Koca], I will not forgive,” Meler told Turkish daily Hurriyet. “The person who did this punched me, I collapsed and fell to the ground, but the actual kicking while I was on the ground will be something I will never forget for the rest of my life. That’s why, in conscience, I will never forgive. I will not forgive in any way, I will never forgive those who did it or those who provoked it.”
CRICKET
Zimbabwe pair suspended
Zimbabwe Cricket yesterday said that two national players had been suspended for “recreational drug use.” The board said in a statement that the players, Wesley Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta, “both tested positive for a banned recreational drug in an out-of-competition case recorded during a recent in-house doping test.” Madhevere and Mavuta have been suspended “with immediate effect” until a hearing is held on the breach of anti-doping rules, it said. The board did not say what drug was involved nor when they had failed the tests. The suspensions are a new blow after coach Dave Houghton resigned this week over Zimbabwe’s failure to reach next year’s T20 World Cup. “They have been charged under the Zimbabwe Cricket Code of Conduct for players and team officials and will appear for a disciplinary hearing soon,” the board said.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
Olympic bronze medalist Lee Meng-yuan has become the first Taiwanese athlete to top the International Shooting Sport Federation’s (ISSF) men’s skeet world rankings, while top Taiwanese shooters won golds in each of yesterday’s finals in Taoyuan. Lee’s 6,610 points put him ahead of fellow men’s skeet medalists from the Paris Olympics Americans Vincent Hancock and Conner Prince. Lee on Monday said that he was surprised by the result, although he had expected his ranking to rise after the Games, which was also the first time a Taiwanese athlete had competed in men’s skeet. Despite topping the rankings, Lee said he believed Hancock, who