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.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
The CTBC Brothers from Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) on Friday announced they reached an agreement with the team’s shortstop Chiang Kun-yu (江坤宇) to extend his contract by 10 years in a deal that could worth up to NT $147.88 million (US$4.5 million). Including a NT$10 million incentive bonus, the 24-year- old’s new contract stipulates that his monthly salary will be NT$660,000 starting this year, increasing to NT$1.2 million from the fifth year of the deal. Chiang’s new agreement also comes with a caveat in the form of a “player option” where he would have the choice to become a free
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