Football - Lilian Thuram resigns
from French federation
Former France defender Lilian Thuram has resigned from the French Football Federation, where he held a role as a council member for the last two years. The FFF says Thuram quit after speaking with FFF president Fernand Duchaussoy last week. The federation says Thuram wishes to help in a different role, looking at “football’s role in society” and “the fight against discrimination.” Thuram is the second FFF member to resign in the last three weeks. Jacques Lambert quit as director to take up a new role helping UEFA organise the 2016 European Championship in France. Thuram was critical of France captain Patrice Evra for his role in the World Cup debacle, when France’s squad went on strike at training.
Football - Davies says he is ready to return
Fourteen months after suffering nearly fatal injuries in a car accident, Sochaux forward Charlie Davies is hoping for a return to action in the French league this weekend. The 24-year-old American, who missed this year’s World Cup after failing to recover from his injuries, says he is now at “90 per cent” and ready to play against Bordeaux on Saturday. Davies was a passenger in a car accident 13 October, 2009, in which another passenger died. He was left with two broken bones in his right leg, a broken and dislocated left elbow, a broken nose, forehead and eye socket, a ruptured bladder and bleeding on the brain. Davies played in a friendly in July and has since taken part in several matches with the Sochaux reserve team.
Putin: Russia to be transformed
by World Cup, Olympics
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the 2018 World Cup will ramp up the quality of life in Russia so much that it will help reduce crime and get a nation more healthy. Putin also says that the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi will bring the kind of infrastructure to the southern Black Sea resort that it might never have seen in 100 years. It was Putin’s personal goal to bring both top sporting events to Russia as part of a wider drive to raise its prestige abroad. Russia will need to dramatically upgrade infrastructure in 13 cities to prepare to host World Cup matches. It is also remodeling Sochi from a tacky Soviet-era vacation resort to a Monaco-style destination of glamour and glitz in a project estimated to cost more than $30 billion.
China bars swimmer’s return after ban
China is stopping a former Asian record holder from returning to swimming competition even though the World Anti-Doping Agency intervened to cut short his doping ban. To demonstrate zero-tolerance for doping before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China banned backstroker Ouyang Kunpeng for life for failing a drug test. WADA and swimming’s governing body quietly and successfully pressured China to cut the ban to two years. That ban should have ended this May. But Chinese swimming authorities now say they will not allow Ouyang to compete in any officially sanctioned events in China, effectively prolonging his punishment. WADA’s director general, David Howman, tells The Associated Press there’s not much the agency can do to help the swimmer.
Rugby - Japan to host
Pacific Nations Cup in 2011
The International Rugby Board says Japan will host the 2011 Pacific Nations Cup in Tokyo in July, with all matches to be held at the Prince Chichibu Memorial ground. Japan, which will host the 2019 Rugby World Cup, takes on defending champions Samoa, Fiji and Tonga in the six-match tournament, the IRU said in a statement yesterday. The tournament will feature three doubleheader match days - Tonga vs. Fiji and Japan against Samoa on 2 July; Tonga against Samoa and Japan vs. Fiji on 8 July, and Samoa playing Fiji and Japan taking on Tonga on 13 July.
Football - Tunisia fires
national football coach
Tunisia’s football federation says it has fired coach Bertrand Marchand along with the team’s administrative, medical and technical staff. Federation spokesman Mohamed Hedi Fouchali said that the French coach was let go only six months into his two-year contract. He declined to discuss the reasons. The team lost twice recently to Botswana and had drew against Malawi, leaving its qualification for the 2012 African Cup of Nations in jeopardy.
Athletics - Kebede, Shobukhova
to defend London titles
Tsegaye Kebede and Liliya Shobukhova will defend their London Marathon titles in April. Kedebe became the second Ethiopian to win the men’s title when he crossed in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 19 seconds, just nine seconds behind Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru’s 2009 course record. Wanjiru will be present for the 17 April race alongside Kenyan teammates Patrick Makau and Abel Kirui after missing this year’s race with a knee injury. Two-time winner Irina Mikitenko pulled out at halfway this year but will return to challenge Shobukhova, who also won the Chicago Marathon in October.
Biathlon - Mesotitsch wins
20K World Cup race
Daniel Mesotitsch of Austria ended Norway’s dominance of the men’s events in this season’s biathlon World Cup by winning yesterday’s 20-kilometre individual race. Mesotitsch had one penalty and finished in 52 minutes, 5.6 seconds for his third career victory. Benjamin Weger of Switzerland was second, 58.4 seconds behind after also missing one target. Serguei Sednev of Ukraine was third, missing two targets and finishing 1:21.2 behind. Norwegians had won the six previous men’s races this season, with Emil Hegle Svendsen – who finished 16th yesterday – topping the overall World Cup standings with 282 points.