Sport news in brief
West Ham fan banned for racially abusing Salah
A West Ham United fan has been banned from football for three years after pleading guilty to racially abusing Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah during a Premier League match in January. Bradley Thumwood, 48, from Pickford Road in Bexleyheath, was handed a three-year football banning order after appearing at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday following an incident at the London Stadium towards the start of the year. In a video that was captured during the Premier League encounter, a male voice can be heard shouting: “Salah, you f****** Muslim. F****** Muslim c***. F*** off.”
Thumwood pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated Section 5 public order, and he was also fined £400 on top of the football stadium ban. He was also told to pay a victim surcharge and costs of £215. West Ham have welcomed the ban and promised to take a “zero-tolerance approach” to any future incidents of a similar nature, but also stressed that they will look to educate Thumwood to reform his views.
Freeman a ‘gamekeeper’ not a ‘poacher’
Dr Freeman is accused of ordering testosterone “knowing or believing” it was to be given to a rider to enhance performance during his time working for the national governing body and Team Sky in 2011. Dr Freeman, who is subject of a fitness-to-practise hearing at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester, has denied this charge. While continuing to give evidence yesterday, Dr Freeman was asked by General Medical Council QC Simon Jackson if a medic with awareness of doping could use that knowledge to become “gamekeeper turned poacher”. Dr Freeman admitted he knew little of cycling or doping when he first came into the sport but made it his duty to learn. Once armed with the information, he would use it to protect riders, he said.
He said: “I’d like to think I’m more the gamekeeper of Team Sky. There was due diligence when I joined to find out as much as possible. I expanded my knowledge in lots of ways. Yes, I’d want to know more about testing and EPO. It was a sharp, steep learning curve at Team Sky. That was as a gamekeeper. I can’t comment as a poacher because I never considered myself a poacher.”
Springboks given 48 hours to confirm place in championship
World champions South Africa were yesterday handed a 48-hour timeframe to resolve internal issues and confirm their participation in the Rugby Championship. The southern hemisphere championship, which also includes Australia, New Zealand and Argentina, will be held entirely in Australia this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Rugby South Africa said last weekend that “several hurdles” needed to be cleared before they could confirm the Springboks’ participation and that they hoped to make a decision early this week. With the tournament set to begin in Sydney on 31 October and South Africa scheduled to play their first match against Argentina on 7 November, however, time is running out to get the players into Australia and through quarantine.
Murray admits to losing sight of his natural game
Andy Murray has conceded he needs to return to playing his own game after he lost in straight sets in the first round of the bett1HULKS Indoors ATP event in Cologne. The former world No1 fell to veteran Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in Germany, which followed him tumbling out of the French Open with a straight-sets first-round loss as he battles back from hip surgery. “I need to get back to playing my game on the court, I’ve kind of gone away from that a little bit,” he said. “I’m maybe making a few more mistakes than usual because of that.” The 33-year-old was handed a wildcard in Cologne, where he showed plenty of his competitive determination with a number of crucial breaks against Verdasco. The former world No7, however, proved too strong and eventually progressed 6-4 6-4 after one hour and 40 minutes.