BOXING
Two Portland Boxing Club fighters won their respective divisions at the Northern New England Golden Gloves Championships held Jan. 15 and Jan. 22 in Somersworth, New Hampshire.
Ilyas Bashir, a 139-pound novice division light welterweight from Auburn, defeated Michel DiDino of Manchester, New Hampshire, by unanimous decision. Bashir, who was awarded outstanding boxer of the tournament, defeated Tristan Harvie of Essex Junction, Vermont, by unanimous decision in the semifinals.
Zordan Holman, a 203-plus-pound novice division super heavyweight from Westbrook, defeated Abdul Sumah of Bangor by technical knockout after the referee stopped the contest 1:20 into the first round. Holman advanced in his semifinal match against Tom Curtis of Spruce Head with a referee stoppage after just 49 seconds.
Bashir and Holman advance to the New England Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions beginning Feb. 17 in Lowell, Massachusetts. The PBC’s Kate Zehr, a 125-pound elite featherweight from South Portland, and Wade Faria, a 165-pound elite middleweight from Portland, will also compete after advancing by walkover.
GOLF
PGA: Top-ranked Jon Rahm closed with an eagle on the tougher South Course at Torrey Pines for a 6-under 66 , trailing leader Billy Horschel by three strokes after the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open at San Diego.
Horschel shot a bogey-free 9-under 63 on the North Course and led Michael Thompson by one stroke. Of the 30 players who shot 67 or better, 26 played the North. Rahm’s was the best score on the South by one over Luke List, Peter Malnati and Cameron Tringale. The players switch courses Thursday and play the final two rounds on the South.
The Farmers Insurance Open is being played Wednesday through Saturday to avoid a television conflict with the NFL’s two conference championship games on Sunday.
SOCCER
GERMANY: Two German soccer coaches have been suspended from working in the sport after it was ruled Wednesday they used fake coronavirus vaccination records.
A disciplinary panel at the German soccer federation ruled former Werder Bremen head coach Markus Anfang and his assistant Florian Junge had obtained fake passes last year identifying them as being fully vaccinated. The federation said Anfang and Junge used the passes to be exempt from virus testing at the club and presented them to local health authorities to avoid going into isolation after contact with an infected player.
“Markus Anfang and Florian Junge have significantly infringed against the role-model function of a coach,” Hans E. Lorenz, chair of the federation’s sports court, said in a statement.
Anfang initially denied using a fake pass when doubts over his documents were first raised in November and said he had been vaccinated. He and Junge both stepped down from their posts at the second-division club soon afterward.
Anfang was banned for a year and fined 20,000 euros ($22,500) and Junge for 10 months and fined 3,000 euros ($3,380), with both bans backdated to start from November. Lorenz said Anfang and Junge had both admitted wrongdoing and would have part of their bans converted into a probation period from June onward so they would have the chance to find new employment for the 2022-23 season.
Proof of vaccination or a recent recovery from a virus infection is needed in Germany for entry to restaurants or other public places.
PREMIER LEAGUE: Teams will need to have a minimum of four positive coronavirus cases within their playing squad before requesting a postponement, according to new guidelines announced on Wednesday and taking effect next month.
Previously, teams had to show they did not have 13 senior players plus a goalkeeper available before asking for a game to be postponed. That also took into account factors such as injuries and players being on international duty.
There have been 22 postponements since the start of December, with some of them provoking fury as clubs appeared to be exploiting the rules to get games called off. The league said it was continuing to adapt its guidance “in response to the wider public health situation.”
The guidance will come into effect after the game between Burnley and Watford on Feb. 5. Burnley has been the club most affected by postponements and played only 18 games so far – at least two fewer than any other team in the league. First-place Manchester City, for example, has played 24 games.
AFRICAN CUP: Mohamed Salah buried the decisive penalty as Egypt beat Ivory Coast 5-4 in a shootout to reach the quarterfinals at Douala, Cameroon.
• Organizers announced they were changing the venues for two quarterfinal games and one of the semifinals.
One of the quarterfinals scheduled for Sunday was moved from the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde across town to the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium after eight people were killed in a crush outside the Olembe during the Round-of-16 game between host Cameroon and Comoros on Monday. A total of 38 others were injured and seven of them were in serious condition in the hospital.
CAF also said it was moving another quarterfinal and a semifinal from the Japoma Stadium in Douala to Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium.
It gave no reason for moving those two games but there have been complaints from teams over the state of the field in Douala.
MLS: U.S. national team winger Paul Arriola was acquired by FC Dallas from D.C. United for $2 million in general allocation money.
D.C. will receive $1.5 million this year and $500,000 in 2023, plus up to $300,000 in conditional future GAM based on performance. D.C. would receive 30% of any transfer fee if Arriola moves outside of Major League Soccer.
NWSL: Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle are back with OL Reign.
The National Women’s Soccer League club re-signed Rapinoe to a one-year deal and Lavelle’s new deal is for two. Terms were not released.
Rapinoe and Lavelle were on the U.S. team that won the World Cup in 2019. Both spent time away from the Reign last season because of the Tokyo Olympics.
Rapinoe has been with the Reign since the team’s first season in 2013. She holds the club record for career goals with 40. Last season she appeared in 12 matches, with six goals and three assists.
Lavelle, a midfielder, played in 12 matches for the Reign last season after signing with the team in May. She had a goal and an assist.
AUTO RACING
FORMULA ONE: Preseason testing will begin in Spain next month followed by a session in Bahrain in early March.
The oft-used Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the outskirts Barcelona will host the first test from Feb. 22-25.
The second test will be held in Bahrain from March 10-12 – ahead of the season-opening race there on March 20 at the Bahrain International Circuit.
OLYMPICS
BOBSLED: U.S. Olympic bobsledder Josh Williamson has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not fly with his teammates to China on Thursday, though he remains hopeful of getting there in time for the Beijing Games.
Williamson – expected to be part of the USA-1 four-man team in Beijing – tested positive Sunday and revealed his status Wednesday. He has spent the last few days at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, a U.S. Olympic & Paralympic training site in Southern California, along with many other members of the Beijing-bound bobsled and skeleton teams.
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