Italy fires coach over missing World Cup
Two days after Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup, national coach Gian Piero Ventura was fired.
Four-time champion Italy lost a playoff to Sweden, 1-0 on aggregate, on Monday.
Ventura left in disgrace Wednesday, widely criticized for his tactical decisions that left Italy out of soccer’s biggest competition for the first time in six decades.
Ventura’s contract was recently extended to 2020 but the deal included a clause that it could be voided in case of a failed qualification.
• Media giants Globo and Televisa teamed with a marketing firm to make a $15 million bribe to a FIFA executive to help them secure lucrative broadcasting rights to the World Cup in 2026 and 2030. The marketing company’s former CEO, Alejandro Burzaco, testified in a New York courtroom during the trial of three former South American soccer officials accused of taking bribes in exchange for their help securing broadcasting and hosting rights for tournaments.
More than 40 other officials and business executives been charged. Many, including Burzaco, have pleaded guilty in hopes of receiving reduced sentences.
One former Argentine government official, Jorge Delhon, killed himself Tuesday just hours after Burzaco testified that he, too, was involved in taking bribes.
•Seattle Sounders forward Clint Dempsey, who has a heart monitor inside his chest due to a irregular heartbeat that derailed his career for more than a year, was named the MLS Comeback Player of the Year.
• Australia moved into next year’s World Cup with a 3-1 intercontinental playoff victory over Honduras.
Peru defeated New Zealand 2-0 for the final spot in 32-team field.
Tennis
DIMITROV INTO SEMIS >> Grigor Dimitrov improved to 2-0 and advanced to the semifinals at the ATP Finals by beating David Goffin 6-0, 6-2.
Dominic Thiem defeated Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 and will face Goffin on Friday for the last spot in the semifinals at the season-ending tournament.
Jack Sock plays Zverev today for a spot in the semifinals. Roger Federer has already qualified for the semis.
Colleges
RAZORBACKS FIRE AD >> Arkansas fired AD Jeff Long, ending a nearly decade-long tenure that included the scandalous ouster of football coach Bobby Petrino and the continued mediocrity of the program under Bret Bielema.
The College Football Playoff selection committee member, formerly the chairman until this season, was under contract through June 2022.
Gymnastics
DOCTOR TO CHANGE PLEAS >> Former Michigan State and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who has been accused of molesting girls at his home and a campus clinic, is expected to change his not-guilty pleas to close criminal cases in two counties.
Online court records show change-of-plea hearings for 54-year-old Nassar are set for Wednesday and Nov. 29, a week before jury selection was to begin in one Michigan county. Nassar previously pleaded guilty in federal court in a separate child pornography case. He’s scheduled to be sentenced in the porn case in December.