Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.
Soccer-Dybala says he was not in Juve’s future plans after departure
AS Roma forward Paulo Dybala said on Tuesday his contract with former club Juventus had not been renewed because he was not part of the Serie A club’s future plans while thousands of AS Roma fans welcomed him in the Italian capital. The 28-year-old, who has represented Argentina 34 times, joined the Europa Conference League champions on a free transfer last week following his departure from Juventus.
ATP roundup: Nick Kyrgios (knee) withdraws from Atlanta Open
Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the Atlanta Open before his scheduled first-round singles match on Tuesday. Kyrgios, who won an opening-round doubles match with fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis on Monday, sustained a knee injury that caused him to exit the singles draw.
Soccer-Luis Suarez in pre-contract agreement to join Nacional
Luis Suarez has entered a pre-contract agreement to join Uruguayan club Nacional as a free agent, the former Liverpool and Barcelona striker said on Tuesday. The 35-year-old striker started his professional career at Nacional before moving to Dutch side FC Groningen in 2006.
Horse racing-Judge halts implementation of safety law in Louisiana and West Virginia
A federal judge on Tuesday granted Louisiana and West Virginia’s request to halt the implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) in those states until a wider lawsuit challenging its constitutionality is decided. U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty granted a preliminary injunction, saying that the threatened harm to the states and their racing commission outweighed that of the defendants, which included the HISA Authority.
U.S. basketball star Griner treated injuries with medical cannabis, defence argues
The defence team of U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, detained in Russia on drug charges, argued in court on Tuesday that she had used medical cannabis to assuage pain from injuries, like many other elite international athletes. Griner, a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star who has played in Russia during the league’s offseason, was detained at a Moscow airport on Feb. 17 with vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. Medical marijuana is illegal in Russia.
Victims’ rights advocate wants top Hockey Canada officials to resign
Former NHL player and victims’ rights advocate Sheldon Kennedy on Tuesday called for the resignation of Hockey Canada’s leadership team in the wake of sexual assault allegations involving two national junior teams. Kennedy, a co-founder of Respect Group which is aimed at preventing bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination, issued a statement a day after Hockey Canada unveiled its plan to eliminate “toxic behaviour” in the sport.
Tokyo prosecutors search entity that took over Tokyo 2020 organising committee -NTV
Tokyo prosecutors have searched the entity that took over the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee after its dissolution last month, broadcaster NTV reported on Wednesday. Prosecutors have also raided the home of former Tokyo 2020 Olympic board member Haruyuki Takahashi and the office of advertising giant Dentsu Group Inc in connection with suspected inappropriate payments by suit retailer Aoki Holdings Inc.
Soccer-Clinical England thrash Sweden 4-0 to reach Women’s Euro final
Hosts England waltzed past Sweden into the Women’s Euro 2022 final with Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze, Alessia Russo and Fran Kirby all on target in a sensational 4-0 win in front of a frenzied sell-out crowd at Bramall Lane on Tuesday. The Lionesses made a nervy start but once Mead produced a moment of brilliance to fire them ahead in the 34th minute it was one-way traffic for Sarina Wiegman’s side who became the first England women’s team to reach a major final since 2009.
Olympics-Britain should launch bid with Liverpool and Manchester says, campaigner
Britain should put together a bid for a ‘North-West Olympics’ centred around Manchester and Liverpool because it would have a much bigger impact than the London 2012 Games, veteran major event campaigner Bob Scott has said. Scott, who led Manchester’s unsuccessful bids for the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and helped bring the 2002 Commonwealth Games to the city, believes the London Games were a major success but thinks the UK “missed a trick” by not using the Olympics to level up and forge ahead with a northern bid.
Report: NBA will not have a vaccination mandate in 2022-23
After some high-profile vaccine-related absences from games last season, the NBA will not have a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for players in 2022-23, Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday, citing a memo from the league office it had obtained. The league will “strongly suggest” team personnel stay up-to-date with vaccinations, per the report. Discussions between the league and the NBA Players Association remain ongoing about whether unvaccinated players will be subject to periodic COVID-19 testing during the upcoming season. Last season, the NBA did not require that all players be vaccinated against COVID-19, but unvaccinated players or players who did not receive a booster dose were subject to certain protocols, such as game-day testing. Players were also held accountable for mandates from states with their own vaccination requirements. While the NBA said 95 per cent of its players were vaccinated heading into last season, one of the players who was not made frequent news. The Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving refused to be vaccinated and missed the first three months of the season. Even when Irving did return on Jan. 5, he could only play in road games because of local mandates in New York. He finally played his first home game on March 27, but the Nets were eventually bounced from the first round of the playoffs by a Boston Celtics sweep. Another player who was not vaccinated was the Philadelphia 76ers’ Matisse Thybulle, who had to miss three games of his team’s first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors. While a majority of the most stringent COVID-19 rules and mandates have been lifted throughout the United States, Canada still requires all persons entering the country to have been vaccinated against COVID-19. –Field Level Media
(With inputs from agencies.)
