Sports World: Ex-Zimbabwe coach banned for graft

LONDON • Former Zimbabwe cricket captain Heath Streak was yesterday banned for eight years on corruption charges, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced.

Streak, the Zimbabwe coach from 2016-18, was found guilty of breaching five rules of the ICC's anti-corruption code related to betting in 2018.

In payment for inside information, he acknowledged receiving two bitcoins subsequently converted into US$35,000 (S$46,800).

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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Man in the dock for online racial abuse

LONDON • British police yesterday charged a 49-year-old man named Simon Silwood with racially abusing West Bromwich Albion footballer Romaine Sawyers on social media in January.

Numerous Premier League players, including Son Heung-min, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, have been subjected to racial abuse online in recent months.

Instagram has announced measures to remove accounts used to send hate, while Twitter has said it will take similar action.

REUTERS

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Serie A chief calls for return of fans

ROME • Serie A president Paolo dal Pino has called for at least 1,000 fans to be allowed into stadiums within the next few weeks after the Italian government guaranteed at least 25 per cent capacity for the Euro 2020 football games being staged in Rome in June and July.

In response to Uefa's demand that host cities will not be allowed to stage closed-door games, Italy's football federation said on Tuesday that fans will be allowed to attend the Euro 2020 opener against Turkey on June 11, two other group games and a quarter-final.

Given that assurance, Dal Pino believes fans should therefore be allowed to attend Serie A games before the end of the season. About 1,000 fans returned to stadiums in late September but that experiment quickly ended due to a spike in Covid-19 cases across the country.

REUTERS