Page 751 - Sports

Arthur punished for dissent after controversial decision

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur was on Friday given an official warning and fined one demerit point for showing dissent at a controversial decision by television umpire Joel Wilson on the third day of the first Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park. The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the sanction in a statement issued after the match, which South Africa won by six wickets. The statement said: "The incident happened in the ninth over of South Africa's second innings when Arthur, after TV umpire Joel Wilson had decided in favour of Dean Elgar, entered the TV umpire's room and showed dissent at Mr Wilson's decision by first questioning him and then storming out of the room. "After the match, the Pakistan coach admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee David Boon. As such, there was no need for a formal hearing." The charge was laid by Wilson. The incident came at a crucial stage of South Africa's successful chase of a target of 149 when ..

Aizawl FC host Gokulam Kerala as both teams renew search for victory (Preview)

Gokulam Kerala FC take on former champions Aizawl FC on Saturday at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium, in a clash between two teams who are desperately searching for a victory.

Inter Milan coach condemns racist chants against Napoli's Koulibaly

Inter Milan head coach Luciano Spalletti on Friday denounced racist chants that have been directed against Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly and insisted it was high time soccer in Italy changed to banish racism.

Aizawl FC host Gokulam Kerala in I-League

Gokulam Kerala FC and former champions Aizawl FC will renew their search for victory when they clash in a I-league fixture at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium here on Saturday. Gokulam have not won in four games and Aizawl have not won in three. Both need a victory on Saturday to boost their confidence and for Gokulam in particular, to get their title hopes back on track. The visitors will be reeling from their previous game defeat to the youngsters from Indian Arrows after promising much early on. They have 10 points from nine games and a win on Saturday will surely resurrect their title chances. For hosts Aizawl, it has been a season to forget under the tutelage of coach Gift Raikhan. They have just one victory and are 10th out of 11 teams currently with six points from nine games. "Tomorrow is a very important match for us as both of us will be playing our tenth match," Gift Raikhan said. "We have a new international player from Uganda named Richard. Alfred Jaryan will be playing in ...

PBL: Sourabh, Gilmour keep Ahmedabad's unbeaten streak going

Sourabh Verma won the first mens singles match to deny the Kidambi Srikanth-led Bengaluru Raptors a win in the latters first outing at the Premier Badminton League in Gachibowli Stadium here on Friday.

Bumrah will become best bowler in the world: Clarke

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke was effusive in his praise of Jasprit Bumrah, saying that the India pacer "will soon become the best bowler in the world" across three formats. Bumrah returned with figures of 6-33 to help India bundle out Australia for 151 in their first innings in the third Test. "He must be a great guy to play with and to captain. He doesn't mind the pressure or the expectations. He wants to learn and is a workhorse not too long before he will become the best bowler in the world," Clarke said on Sony Network. "In the next few months, Bumrah will be the number one bowler in all three formats." Bumrah's efforts on the third day of the Boxing day Test also made him the first bowler from the subcontinent to take a five-for or more in South Africa, England and Australia in the same year. He has so far picked up 45 wickets in nine Tests this year.

PBL4: Sourabh, Kirsty guide Ahmedabad to 4-3 win over Bengaluru

Sourabh Verma and Kristy Gilmour played key roles as Ahmedabad Smash Masters continued their unbeaten run with a thrilling 4-3 win over Bengaluru Raptors in the fourth Premier Badminton League (PBL) here Friday. Ahmedabad's Trump pair of Satwiksairaj and Sikki Reddy started the day on a winning note, notching up a 13-15 15-11 15-14 win over Bengaluru's Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith to put their team 2-0 up. The Indians' impressive fightback in the first game fell short but Sikki's sublime net-game helped them turn around their fortunes and build a lead of 8-4, which they extended to 15-11 to level the match. Satwik and Sikki then showed nerves of steel to save a couple of match points in an enthralling decider to get the vital 2 points for the Season 3 semi-finalists. Russian Open champion Sourabh Verma's athleticism and speed were instrumental in his pocketing the first game 15-11 over the Raptors' Sai Praneeth. Sourabh continued to show a lot of urgency and purpose in his shots to ..

Neroca FC pip Mohun Bagan 2-1, placed 2nd behind Real Kashmir

Manipur's Neroca FC beat Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan 2-1 in an exciting 10th round encounter of the I-League here on Friday, remaining in title hunt. Brazilian defender Eduardo opened the scoring for the home side in the first half before Bagan's Ugandan striker Henry Kisekka brought them back into the game in the second half. But minutes later, Australian midfielder Aryn Williams deflected one into the Bagan net to secure three points for the hosts. The result takes Neroca to 18 points from 10 games, equal with table-toppers Chennai City FC. Bagan will stay in the fifth place with 15 points from 10 games. Coach Sankarlal Chakraborty made two changes to his starting XI from the previous game, giving the nod to Mumbai man Darren Caldiera in midfield for the very first time in place of Sourav Das. Abhishek Ambekar was also replaced with Gurjinder Kumar in defence. For the home team, Spanish coach Manuel Fraile made just the one change to bring in Tondomba Singh in a straight mid-field ...

ICC warns Pakistan coach Arthur for code breach

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur was handed an official warning and one demerit point for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the third days play of the first Test, which South Africa won by six wickets at Centurion on Friday.

Afghan football federation chairman handed travel ban

The president of the Afghan football federation and four other board members have been banned from leaving the country amid an investigation into their alleged involvement in sexual abuse against several players of the women's national team, an official said on Friday.

I-League: Neroca draw level on points with Chennai after win over Mohun Bagan

Manipurs Neroca FC notched up two goals to earn a victory against Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan in an entertaining I-League encounter at the Khuman Lampak stadium here on Friday.

Gremio keeper Grohe leaves for Saudi club Al-Ittihad

Goalkeeper Marcelo Grohe, winner of seven titles with Brazilian club Gremio, has accepted a multimillion-dollar offer to play next year for Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad.

I-League: Real Kashmir move to top after draw vs East Bengal

Real Kashmir FC moved to the top of the table for the first time after being held by East Bengal to a 1-1 draw in an I-League encounter here on Friday.

No Christmas rest in EPL ahead of another big weekend

Whereas other football leagues take a well-earned rest over the Christmas holidays, the matches come thick and fast in the Premier League in a frantic period which puts a strain on players' legs and can well determine the eventual champions.

Philippines announces squad for AFC Asian Cup

The Philippines Football Federation (PFF) announced the 23 members of the men's national football team for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2019 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next month.

Real Kashmir climb top of table after 1-1 draw vs East Bengal

Continuing their unbeaten run, debutants Real Kashmir held giants East Bengal to a 1-1 draw to climb to the summit of India's premier I-league football tournament here Friday. Eyeing a fourth win in a row in the year's last fixture, East Bengal came out all guns blazing only to score an own goal when their fullback Lalram Chullova found his own net right after the break in his comeback match. It was man-of-the-match Jobby Justin who levelled in the 56th minute to salvage one point for the red-and-gold brigade who slipped to fourth in the table with 16 points, with a game in hand. The result meant that the first team from the trouble-torn Kashmir are unbeaten from six matches to climb past Chennai City on goal difference. Three teams including Neroca FC, who defeated Mohun Bagan earlier Friday, are on 18 points. The strong physical presence of the Snow Leopards made a difference early on as East Bengal found it tough to make inroads. East Bengal's leading scorer Justin curled in a ...

Afghanistan slaps travel ban on football chiefs over sex abuse claims

Afghanistan's attorney general slapped a travel ban on five top football officials Friday, hours after graphic details emerged of alleged sexual and physical abuse against members of the women's national team. One player told Britain's Guardian newspaper that Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) president Keramuddin Karim had lured her into a secret bedroom near his office where he allegedly pointed a gun at her after hitting her in the face and raping her. "When I woke up, all my clothes were gone and there was blood everywhere," the player told the newspaper on the condition of anonymity. "The bed was covered in blood, blood was coming from my mouth, nose and vagina." Another player alleged Karim threatened to cut out her tongue after she managed to escape his unwanted sexual advances. AFP's calls to AFF spokesman Shafi Shadab on Friday went unanswered. The attorney general has placed five officials, including Karim, on a "no-flying list and banned them from travelling out ...

Spectators at MCG evicted over racial comments

A lot of spectators, attending the Day Three of the Third Test between India and Australia, were evicted from Melbourne Cricket ground's (MCG) Bay 13 for hurling racial comments.The step was taken after chants of "show your visa" were repeatedly made during the course of first three days of the ongoing Test. Many Indian spectators raised the issue with the authorities following which the Cricket Australia (CA) had issued a warning stating that if the chants did not stop, the entire bay would be evicted from the stadium.Speaking about the matter, a CA spokesperson said there is no tolerance policy regarding such racial vilification adding that they would continue monitoring the crowd for the remaining days of the Test match."Cricket Australia takes a zero-tolerance stance against any form of abuse or racial vilification at any of our matches, whether it be towards fans, players, or staff. Fans are able to report this to stadium staff or security. Victoria Police and MCG stadium ...

Tennis' next generation is ready to challenge the Big Three: Nadal

Spanish tennis ace Raafael Nadal believes that the next generation players of the game are ready to challenge the supremacy of the Big Three of the tennis world that includes Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Nadal himself.For more than a decade, men's tennis has witnessed a dominance of these three players. Many new generation players like Alexander Zverev, Dominic Theim, Denis Shapovalov came to the fore, played brilliantly on the court but did not manage to win a Grand Slam.Nadal said that the youngsters are going strong and soon they will contend for big prizes of the sport."For a long time, we have been very consistent. The previous generation probably, they were not enough good. But now, yes, in my opinion, we have a new generation that is very good. It is just a question of time, that's my feeling," CNN quoted Nadal, as saying."It's just about time that they are going to win grand slams. [Alexander] Zverev, [Dominic] Thiem, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, [Denis] Shapovalov, [Karen] ...

Elizegi new President of historic Athletic Club Bilbao

Aitor Elizegi is the new President of Athletic Club Bilbao after being voted in as the successor to Josu Urrutia by the club's members.