UEFA REMOVES MORE RUSSIAN SOCCER TEAMS
Russian soccer teams were kicked out of the Women’s European Championship, the next men’s Champions League and qualifying for the 2023 Women’s World Cup by UEFA on Monday.
The latest round of sporting sanctions during Russia’s war on Ukraine follow FIFA and UEFA suspending Russian national and club teams in February from playing in international competitions, including the men’s World Cup playoffs.
Those previous decisions — made as countries across Europe refused to play games against Russia — are under appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport by the Russian Football Union, and the latest expulsions are also likely to be challenged.
UEFA said Portugal will take Russia’s place in the Women’s Euro 2022 being hosted by England in July. Russia qualified by beating Portugal in the playoffs round.
Russian Premier League winner Zenit St. Petersburg’s place in the next Champions League group stage will go instead to the champion of Scotland, according to UEFA’s updated list of allocated entries.
A Champions League place is worth tens of millions of euros (dollars) in UEFA prize money to Zenit, which is owned by Russian state energy firm Gazprom. UEFA has also terminated sponsor deals with Gazprom and moved this season’s Champions League final from Zenit’s home stadium to Paris.
More soccer
The San Diego Sockers used four fourth-period goals to overcome a one-goal deficit to defeat the Florida Topics in Game 1 of the MASL Ron Newman Cup Finals at Lakeland, Fla.
After the Tropics took a 3-2 lead early in the fourth period on two Zach Reget goals, the Sockers rallied behind goals from Kraig Chiles and Brandon Escoto only 55 seconds apart to take a lead that they would not give up. San Diego will now host Florida on Sunday, 5:05 p.m. at Pechanga Arena for Game 2. If Florida wins, the teams will play a 15minute knockout game for the title.
Local colleges
Three local teams will be playing in this week’s NCAA men’s and women’s tennis regionals. San Diego State’s women (17-6) will play USC (1711) at Pepperdine on Friday and the USD women (16-6) play Arizona State (16-7) on the same day at the regional in Norman, Okla. Also on Friday, the USD men (22-3) will play at USC against UC Irvine (17-6).
SDSU women’s basketball coach Stacie Terry-Hutson announced seniors Mallory Adams, Alex Crain, Sophia Ramos and Mercedes Staples will be returning for the 2022-23 season, utilizing the extra year of eligibility offered by the NCAA due to COVID-19.
The Aztecs softball team moved up two places to 22nd in the latest D1Softball rankings, which were released on D1softball.com. SDSU (33-12, 16-2 MW) swept a series at San Jose State by a combined score of 25-6.
For the third consecutive season, UC San Diego men’s volleyball standout Kyle McCauley earned All-America recognition from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and National Volleyball Association (NVA). A senior outside hitter, McCauley was selected to the second team.
Sports and courts
A lawyer for an NFL coach who sued the league over alleged racist hiring practices told a judge that arbitration is the wrong way to resolve the lawsuit in part because NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would be the arbitrator. Attorney Douglas Wigdor said in Manhattan federal court that the league wanted to force “behind closed doors” the claims of Brian Flores and two other Black coaches. It was the first court hearing for a lawsuit Flores filed in February, when he claimed the league was “rife with racism” even as the NFL publicly condemns it. NFL attorney Loretta Lynch said all claims belong in arbitration. Flores was fired in January as head coach by the Dolphins but has since been hired as assistant for the Steelers.
Tennis
Andy Murray had a good start in his return to clay by defeating Dominic Thiem in straight sets in the first round of the Madrid Open. The former No. 1 is playing as a wild card after changing his mind on participating in the claycourt season. He broke Thiem once in each set and made only 13 unforced errors. Simona Halep continued to impress in Madrid by overpowering American teenager Coco Gauff in a two-set victory that secured her a spot in the quarterfinals.
Also
Figure skating’s global governing body proposed a new rule that would increase the age minimum to 17 for major international competitions, including the Olympics.
Previously skaters needed to have turned 15 before the July 1 that precedes the competition.