Sports World: World boxing qualifier in June cancelled
World boxing qualifier in June cancelled
TOKYO • The final global boxing qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics is being scrapped, the Japan Boxing Federation said yesterday, with places at this summer’s pandemic-delayed Games likely to be determined by rankings.
The qualifier was due to take place in Paris in June, but coronavirus travel restrictions and the rescheduling of the final European qualifier from April to June have forced organisers to pull the plug.
Boxing qualification events for the Games are being organised by a special task force formed after the International Olympic Committee stripped the International Boxing Association of its right to run the sport at the Olympics.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Miller charged with running drug ring
SYDNEY • A former swimmer who won two Olympic medals for Australia was yesterday arrested and charged with running a drug syndicate trafficking in methamphetamine, police said.
Scott Miller, 45, and an accomplice were arrested in police raids in two Sydney suburbs and charged with the alleged supply of A$2 million (S$2.1 million) worth of “ice”, concealed inside candles.
He won a silver medal in the 100m butterfly at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and a bronze medal as part of Australia’s 4x100m medley relay squad.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Infantino dismisses talk of greeting snub
LAUSANNE • Fifa president Gianni Infantino on Monday shot down reports that he had instructed female referees not to greet a Qatari delegate during the Club World Cup medal ceremony last week and insisted he remained a strong advocate for women’s rights.
After the game in which Bayern Munich beat Mexican side Tigres 1-0, Sheikh Joaan Hamad Al-Thani was seen fist-bumping male officials as they walked up to the podium but he appeared to ignore female referees Edina Alves Batista and Neuza Back.
Reports suggested Infantino had instructed the female officials not to greet the Sheikh, who is also the president of Qatar’s Olympic Committee, but the Swiss-Italian issued a statement hitting back at the “lies”, claiming “those who have been spreading false rumours should be ashamed of their actions”.
REUTERS