Sports

LONDON: Chinese swimmer Sun Yang has had his eight-year ban for doping violations reduced to four years, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said in a statement on Tuesday (Jun 21). The decision means Sun will miss the Tokyo Olympics later this year, but will be eligible for the Paris Games in 2024. Sun was banned for eight years by CAS in February 2020 after it accepted an appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against a decision by swimming governing body FINA to clear him of wrongdoing for his conduct during a 2018 test. Sun appealed that decision and the Swiss court confirmed in December it had upheld a challenge against the CAS Panel "on the grounds of bias of one of the arbitrators of the CAS". WADA had said it would "present its case robustly again when the matter returns to the CAS Panel, which will be chaired by a different president." "The new panel considered that the circumstances surrounding the sample collection of September 4-5, 2018 merited a ... » Learn More about Swimming: Chinese swimmer Sun’s doping ban reduced to four years, but will miss Tokyo Games

LONDON: More than 60,000 fans will be allowed to attend the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020 at Wembley with attendance increased to 75 percent of capacity, the British government announced on Tuesday (Jun 22). The matches will see the largest crowds assembled at a sporting event in Britain in more than 15 months, with numbers previously strictly limited due to the coronavirus pandemic. All ticket holders will need to follow a number of strict entry requirements, including having a negative COVID-19 test or proof of full vaccination. "We have worked extremely closely with UEFA and the FA (Football Association) to ensure rigorous and tight public health measures are in place whilst allowing more fans to see the action live," said culture and sport secretary Oliver Dowden. "The finals promise to be an unforgettable moment in our national recovery from the pandemic." ... » Learn More about Wembley to host more than 60,000 fans for Euro 2020 semis and final

LAHORE, Pakistan: Former captain Younis Khan has stepped down as Pakistan's batting coach before their coming tours of England and the West Indies, the country's cricket board said on Tuesday. His departure leaves Pakistan without a batting coach for their limited-overs matches in England in July, but the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said it would bring in a replacement for the matches in the West Indies in July and August. Younis was appointed last November on a two-year contract that ran until the T20 World Cup in Australia next year. "It is sad to lose an expert of the stature and experience of Younis Khan," PCB chief executive Wasim Khan said in a statement, without saying why Younis was leaving the post. "Following a series of discussions, we both have reluctantly but mutually and amicably agreed that it was time to move in different directions." He said he was hopeful Younis would be available for similar stints in the future. The team will leave for ... » Learn More about Cricket-Younis Khan steps down as Pakistan batting coach

REUTERS: Sale Sharks centre Manu Tuilagi has withdrawn from the England squad for the summer series against the United States and Canada due to injury, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said on Tuesday. Tuilagi, who was named in coach Eddie Jones's revised 36-man squad on Sunday, picked up the injury in Sale's 40-30 defeat by the Exeter Chiefs in Saturday's Premiership semi-final. The 30-year-old has played three times since returning from an Achilles tendon injury sustained in September. He will be replaced by Fraser Dingwall of Northampton Saints in the squad, RFU said. An England A side will kick off a summer series against their Scotland counterparts on June 27 followed by tests against the U.S. (July 4) and Canada (July 10). (Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) ... » Learn More about Rugby-Tuilagi pulls out of England squad due to injury

REUTERS: Li Tie will continue to lead China's national team after steering his side into the final round of Asia's preliminaries for the 2022 World Cup, the president of the Chinese Football Association confirmed on Tuesday. The former Everton midfielder, who took over as head coach following Marcello Lippi's resignation, led the Chinese to four straight wins this month to secure a berth in the next round of qualifying for Qatar. "We evaluate the coaching staff every year and as long as the team is making progress, the coaching staff will stay as they are," CFA president Chen Xuyuan told state news agency Xinhua. "We won't change the coach for just losing a game or two. "Li is now focusing on the team's preparations for the final round of the World Cup Asian qualifiers." China will join 11 other Asian nations in the draw on July 1 for the final phase of the continent's preliminaries, when four guaranteed places in Qatar will be at stake. A potential fifth berth is ... » Learn More about Soccer-CFA president confirms Li to remain at China’s helm

GROS ISLET, St Lucia: West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite called on Tuesday on himself and his fellow batsmen to show more fight in their next test series after his team were comfortably beaten by South Africa in Saint Lucia. South Africa won the second test by 148 runs on Monday to complete a 2-0 sweep after victory by an innings and 63 runs in the first. Both matches were played at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, where West Indies failed to score more than 165 runs in any of their four innings. "Our plan was to bat better and build partnerships, have consistent partnership in between but we didn't have any. We didn't do our job as batsmen and we let the team down," Brathwaite said on Tuesday. "You cannot win them all but you still want to show fight and determination as batters, which we didn't." Roston Chase, with 62 in the first test, and Kieran Powell, with 51 in the second, were the only Windies players to score half centuries. West Indies host Pakistan in ... » Learn More about Cricket-Windies captain wants more fight from batsmen after series defeat

MADRID: Spain have pledged to store former Netherlands player Rafael van der Vaart's scathing assessment about their shaky start in Euro 2020 in their memory banks should they come up against the Dutch later in the tournament. Van der Vaart, a pundit for broadcaster NOS during the tournament, said Spain's performances so far have been "horrible" and they "only know how to pass the ball from one side to the other" after the 2008 and 2012 champions only managed to draw their first two games against Poland and Sweden. The former Real Madrid and Real Betis midfielder, who failed to stop Andres Iniesta scoring the only goal in the 2010 World Cup final, has caused a stir in the Spanish media and his comments also irked the players, who returned fire. "Van der Vaart wanted his moment of glory and he is having it," said Spain midfielder Koke on Spanish radio station Cadena COPE. "I saw him in the World Cup final, and here at our training base we have a picture of Iniesta's goal ... » Learn More about Soccer-Spain hit back after Van der Vaart’s “horrible” taunt

LONDON: Warren Gatland has included four Scottish players in the British and Irish Lions team to play Japan at Murrayfield on Saturday, the first preparation match for this year's tour of South Africa. Winger Duhan van der Merwe, props Rory Sutherland and Zander Fagerson and flanker Hamish Watson all start, while Scotland scrumhalf Ali Price is on the bench for the game that will be watched by 16,500 fans - likely to be the only sizeable crowd the Lions will see for the whole tour. The Edinburgh fans will be delighted to have so many Scots to cheer on after they have been something of a sideshow for the Lions for a long time. The last Scot to start a Lions test was prop Tom Smith in Australia 20 years ago. Tour captain Alun Wyn Jones of Wales captains the team on Saturday. The Lions have been preparing in a training camp in Jersey, though they are still without four Exeter players who will play against Harlequins in the Premiership final on Saturday. "I’m pleased with ... » Learn More about Rugby-Four Scots in team for Lions opener against Japan

MOSCOW: Russian hurdler Sergey Shubenkov has been cleared in what the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Tuesday was a "genuinely exceptional" doping case involving a diuretic prescribed to a family member. The AIU, which oversees integrity issues in global athletics, said that a low concentration of acetazolamide had been found in Shubenkov's out-of-competition sample collected in December 2020. The substance is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) list of prohibited diuretics and masking agents and is banned both in and out-of-competition. Shubenkov, the 2015 world champion and silver medallist at the 2019 worlds in the 110 metres hurdles, told the unit that the finding was linked to the residue of a medication taken by a family member. "After a thorough investigation of the athlete's explanation during results management process, the AIU accepted that the positive finding resulted from his unintentional ingestion of residue from medication being used to treat a ... » Learn More about Athletics-Russia’s Shubenkov cleared in ‘genuinely exceptional’ doping case – AIU

HERZOGENAURACH, Germany: Germany's Mats Hummels and Ilkay Gundogan returned to training on Tuesday, a day before their final Euro 2020 Group F match against Hungary, while team mate Thomas Mueller's participation remained doubtful after he only did some light running alone. They had all suffered injuries in Germany's 4-2 win over Portugal last week. While defender Hummels and midfielder Gundogan trained with the team, attacking midfielder Mueller cycled to training with his knee lightly bandaged and jogged for some time with team mate Lukas Klostermann, who is recovering from an injury of his own. The three-time European champions have three points, the same as Portugal and one behind Group F leaders France. They will advance with a victory over Hungary but could also qualify with a draw if France do not lose their game against the Portuguese. The Hungarians, in last place with one point, need to win to have any chance of progressing. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; ... » Learn More about Soccer-Germany’s Hummels, Gundogan back in training, Mueller jogs alone