American basketball star Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter and three others were killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California on Sunday, his sudden death at age 41 touching off an outpouring of grief for a star whose celebrity transcended basketball.

The chopper went down in Calabasas, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Authorities confirmed that five people died, with no survivors.

Bryant, an all-time basketball great who spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, was among the victims, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

A different person familiar with the case confirmed that Bryant´s 13-year-old daughter Gianna also was killed.

Word of Bryant´s sudden death at age 41 rocketed around the sports and entertainment worlds, with many taking to Twitter to register their shock, disbelief and dismay.

“There’s no words to express the pain Im going through,” tweeted Lakers teammate Shaquille O´Neal, who won three NBA titles with Bryant. “(at)kobebryant I love u and u will be missed. … IM SICK RIGHT NOW.”

“Man I don´t even know where to start,” tweeted Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid. “I started playing ball because of KOBE after watching the 2010 finals. I had never watched ball before that and that finals was the turning point of my life. I WANTED TO BE LIKE KOBE. I´m so FREAKING SAD right now!!!!”

NBA legend

Bryant retired in 2016 as the third-leading scorer in NBA history, finishing two decades with the Lakers as a prolific scorer with a sublime all-around game and a relentless competitive ethic.

He held that spot in the league scoring ranks until Saturday night, when the Lakers´ LeBron James passed him for third place during a game in Philadelphia, Bryant´s hometown.

“Continuing to move the game forward (at)KingJames,” Bryant wrote in his last tweet. “Much respect my brother.”

Bryant had one of the greatest careers in recent NBA history and became one of the game´s most popular players as the face of the 16-time NBA champion Lakers franchise. He was the league MVP in 2008 and a two-time NBA scoring champion, and he earned 12 selections to the NBA´s All-Defensive teams.

He teamed with Shaquille O´Neal in a combustible partnership to lead the Lakers to NBA titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. He later teamed with Pau Gasol to win two more titles in 2009 and 2010.

Bryant retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his final NBA game.

Investigating the accident

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the downed chopper was a Sikorsky S-76.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent a “go team” of investigators to the site. The NTSB typically issues a preliminary report within about 10 days that will give a rough summary of what investigators have learned. A ruling on the cause can take a year or more.

“They will look at man, machine and environment,” said Gary C. Robb, an aviation attorney in Kansas City who wrote a textbook on helicopter-crash litigation.

“They will look at the pilot – was there any indication of fatigue, any indication of a training issue?They´ll scour his or her record,” Robb said. “They will look at this helicopter from stem to stern. They will take the engine to the NTSB metallurgical laboratory outside Washington, D.C., and examine it to see if there was something that malfunctioned in flight.”

Investigators will also consider what role might have been played by weather, terrain, radio towers or bird strikes, he said.

Robb said he has handled many cases involving Sikorsky S-76 crashes and regards the machine as having a good reputation.

“It is generally regarded as a good helicopter with a good safety record,” he said, “but parts fail, parts break. Anything can happen.”

Beyond basketball

Along with his work boosting women´s sports, Bryant opened a production company and entered the entertainment field in retirement. He won an Academy Award in 2018 for his contributions to “Dear Basketball,” an animated short about his relationship to the game. He also produced content for ESPN.

In 2003, Bryant was charged with attacking a 19-year-old employee at a Colorado resort. He had said the two had consensual sex. Prosecutors later dropped the felony sexual assault charge against Bryant at the request of the accuser.

Source: AFP

Portuguese motorbike rider Paulo Goncalves has died after a crash in the Dakar Rally on Sunday, the 40-year-old becoming the gruelling motorsport marathon’s 25th fatality.

Goncalves suffered the fatal accident after 276 kilometres of the seventh stage from Riyadh to Wadi ad-Dawasir.

“The organisers received an alert at 10:08 (0708 GMT) and dispatched a medical helicopter that reached the biker at 10:16 and found him unconscious after going into cardiac arrest,” a statement on the rally’s official website reported.

“Following resuscitation efforts in situ, the competitor was taken by helicopter to Layla Hospital, where he was sadly pronounced dead,” it added.

Dakar director David Castera revealed it was Australian defending bike champion Toby Price who was the first to discover the stricken Goncalves lying on the sand.

Goncalves was competing in his 13th edition of the Dakar. He made his debut in 2006 when it was staged in Africa, and took second to Marc Coma in 2015 in South America.

“Paulo was someone who had been around for a long time, who we all knew, who was a feature of the rally,” Castera said.

“So this is a very difficult time.”

Ignacio Casale, leading the quad standings, said that “from the moment I saw the crash, I was unable to focus.

“I spent the rest of the stage thinking about it. The result doesn’t really matter today.”

The Indian-backed Hero Motosports rider only made it to this year’s first Dakar staged in Saudi Arabia after recovering from a ruptured spleen in a crash in his native Portugal in December.

Following surgery he said before the rally got underway: “It’s a victory for me to be here at the start.”

Goncalves was placed 46th in the overall bike standings after Friday’s sixth stage.

– ‘Knot in your stomach’ –

His death cast a pall over the seventh stage action won by Carlos Sainz in a Mini with Joan Barreda timing fastest in the bike category.

The last Dakar competitor to be killed was Polish rider Michal Hernik in 2015 in Argentina.

“The entire Dakar caravan would like to extend its sincere condolences to his friends and family,” the organisers’ statement said.

With 20 of the 25 Dakar deaths since the inaugural edition in 1979 made up of bike riders Castera dwelt on the risks faced by riders.

“We know that bikes are dangerous.

“You set off in the morning, you have a knot in your stomach sometimes because you don’t have any protection, you have nothing.

“They all know that, these riders,” said Castera, a veteran of five Dakars on a motorbike.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in an official statement said Goncalves had died “attempting to accomplish the dream of winning one of the most dangerous and toughest rallies in the world”.

He described him as “a highly distinguished” sporting ambassador for Portugal while Portuguese MotoGP rider Miguel Oliveira paid tribute to Goncalves’ “courage and bravery”.

Castera said a tribute would be held for the fallen competitor on Sunday evening.

On a sombre day in the desert Sainz tightened his grip on the overall car standings with his third stage win of this year’s edition.

The 57-year-old Spaniard in a Mini completed the longest special between Riyadh and Wadi ad-Dawasir over two minutes clear of Toyota rival Nasser Al-Attiyah with his fellow Mini driver Stephane Peterhansel in third.

Sainz, a two-time former world rally champion, is in a strong position to add to his Dakar wins in 2010 and 2018.

With seven stages completed and five day’s racing to go he enjoys a comfortable 10 minute cushion over last year’s winner Al-Attiyah, with 13-time Dakar champion Peterhansel a further nine minutes adrift.

Joan Barreda came out on top in the bikes category with American Ricky Brabec retaining his overall lead finishing fourth on the day.

Source: AFP

Gianni Infantino was one of three newcomers elected on to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Friday and belatedly succeeded his predecessor as FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

David Haggerty, an American who is President of the International Tennis Federation, and Yasuhiro Yamashita, President of the Japanese Olympic Committee and an Olympic judo champion in 1984 were also elected at the IOC session in Lausanne.

Infantino succeeded fellow Swiss Blatter when he became president of football’s global governing body in February 2016 and was re-elected for a second term last June.

Blatter was an IOC member from 1999 to 2015. He is suspended from football for making a payment to Michel Platini.

Infantino’s candidacy drew some resistance. Of the 79 IOC members entitled to vote, the 49-year-old received 63 votes. Thirteen members voted against and three abstained.

One name absent from the ballot was Englishman Sebastian Coe, head of World Athletics, which, like FIFA, traditionally has its president on the IOC.

IOC president Thomas Bach had already signalled because of “the risk of a conflict of interest,” Coe would not stand.

Coe is executive chairman of a sports marketing company, CSM Sport.

“The door remains open for Sebastian Coe to join the IOC in Tokyo,” Bach said. The IOC will meet again before the Olympics start in Japan in July.

Source: AFP

Atletico Madrid sprung a surprise in the Spanish Super Cup by staging a thrilling comeback to beat Barcelona 3-2 on Thursday and set up a final against Real Madrid.

Barca looked on course for a Sunday showdown against Real when they led Atletico 2-1 with nine minutes left but instead it will be a Madrid derby in Saudi Arabia to decide who lifts the trophy.

All five goals were scored during a wild second half in Jeddah that began with Koke putting Atletico in front, just 21 seconds after coming on as a substitute at the interval.

Goals from Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann turned the game on its head, only for Atletico to hit back with a late double, Alvaro Morata converting a penalty in the 81st minute before Angel Correa found a winner in the 86th.

In between, Barcelona also had two goals ruled out after VAR spotted tight offsides while Atleti were denied what looked a clear penalty at 2-2, after the ball clipped the hand of Gerard Pique.

A pulsating contest will have delighted the Spanish Football Federation, who have faced heavy criticism for taking the competition away from Spain to a different continent, and a country that has a long-condemned record on human rights.

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said on Wednesday he preferred the old format but his strong team selection, that included Messi, Griezmann and Luis Suarez, suggested this was a tournament he was eager to win.

It remains to be seen how this defeat might affect the La Liga title race, with Real Madrid and Atletico now enjoying the opportunity not only to win a trophy but score a psychological boost too.

Barca dominated the first half and Griezmann had the best chance, only for his lifted finish from the angle to be saved by the excellent Jan Oblak.

Atletico survived and frustration spilled over at the break as Jordi Alba poked a finger in the face of Joao Felix, who then went head-to-head with Messi. Suarez also had to be pulled away by Stefan Savic.

A spikey end to the first period was trumped by an explosive start to the second as Koke, on for less than a minute, gave Atletico the lead. Felix started the move and Correa slipped a pass behind the scrambling Sergi Roberto for Koke to stab into the bottom corner.

Simeone chose not to celebrate and if he was worried about the amount of time left, he was right, as Barcelona scored twice in 11 minutes.

First, Messi equalised after muscling his way through both Koke and Savic on the edge of the area and then he fired in again after steering a high ball around Koke. This time, however, VAR showed his elbow had served as a cushion.

Disappointment was brief though as Alba crossed for Suarez and while his header was brilliant pawed away by Oblak, Griezmann nodded in the rebound.

Pique thought he had a third after Arturo Vidal half-volleyed Messi’s free-kick across the box but again VAR intervened.

Atletico were revived. Correa should have pulled them level but appeared keener to find Felix than shoot himself and when the rebound did fall to the Felix, Sergi Roberto made a last-ditch block.

But the floodgates had opened in the Barca defence. Vitolo was next to go clear and this time he was brought down by Neto. Morata converted the penalty.

Then, Morata skipped free down the right and his cross seemed to strike the dangling hand of Pique but after consulting VAR, the referee strangely decided against another penalty.

Yet moments later, Atletico were in again. Correa this time sprinted in behind and while Neto made a block, the ball had enough power to cross the line. Now, Simeone could celebrate.

Source: AFP

British heavyweight boxer of Nigerian descent Anthony Joshua will at a point consider staging a fight on the continent, his manager has confirmed to Sky Sports.

The venue of choice will not be in Nigeria’s bustling Lagos or administrative city of Abuja. It could well be in southern Africa, specifically in Democratic Republic of Congo.

“[Promoter Eddie Hearn] is exploring an option in [Congo]. There has been an approach,” Sky Sports quoted Joshua’s manager Freddie Cunningham as saying.

“For the next fight, Africa is not the right time. But at some point he 100 per cent wants it,” Cunningham added.

If confirmed anytime in the future, Joshua will be following in the footsteps of former world boxing icon, Mohammed Ali, whose “Rumble In The Jungle” win over George Foreman in 1974 in the then Zaire, present day DRC, is labeled an all time-classic.

Back in 2016, Joshua openly spoke about his desire to stage a fight in West Africa – between Ghana and Nigeria. “Yeah, definitely. It’s been done before. It made massive news and was history. I think that would be massive. I would not turn that opportunity down,” he said at the time.

Adding that “I’d like it to be in Nigeria or Ghana. Either one is good for me, anywhere. There’s no way I wouldn’t fight there. It would be class, the whole history of it. It would work.”

Full name is Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, he is popularly referred to in boxing circles by the alias, ‘AJ.’ He has undertaken trips to Nigeria in the recent years walking the streets of Lagos and meeting with political actors.

Joshua has traditionally fought in the United Kingdom. His first bout outside was his shock loss to Andy Ruiz early this year. He reclaimed all his titles in a rematch dubbed “Clash on the Dunes” staged in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

His team confirmed that among his most likely opponents are Kubrat Pulev or Oleksandr Usyk in that order. The venue of choice is Tottenham’s new stadium in London, they further disclosed.

Anthony Joshua was born in Watford to a Nigerian mother and a British father of Nigerian and Irish descent. He has lived some parts of his life in Nigeria until his boxing debut in 2013.

Joshua expressed interest in representing Nigeria at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, but wasn’t selected. He has since climbed the ladder to be the unified World Heavyweight Boxing Champion under the British flag.

Source: Africa News

Roberto Firmino clinched Liverpool’s first Club World Cup title on Saturday, scoring in extra time to seal a 1-0 victory in the final over Flamengo to assert Europe’s footballing dominance over South America.

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson’s defense-splitting pass picked out Sadio Mane who squared for Firmino to net in the 99th minute and become Liverpool’s savior again in the Qatari capital for the second time in three days.

The Brazilian forward also struck in the semifinal victory over Monterrey, giving him two goals in as many games in the 2022 World Cup test-event tournament, having only netted once in the previous 16 games for Liverpool in all competitions.

Unlike on Wednesday, when Firmino scored in stoppage time, Liverpool was denied a chance for a 90th-minute winner against Flamengo when a decision to award a penalty was overturned in a moment of confusion.

Qatari Abdulrahman Al Jassim pointed to the spot when Rafinha clipped Mane’s heel before going over to reassess the incident on the touchline monitor. Flamengo fans who dominated the 45,000-crowd at Khalifa Stadium were delirious when the internationally inexperienced referee determined the incident had happened outside the penalty area.

Brief reprieve

The reprieve was only brief as Fabinho allowed Liverpool to avenge the loss to Flamengo in the 1981 single-game version of this competition.

Liverpool added the world title to its sixth European Cup collected in June to qualify for the Club World Cup. At the same time, a continent away back in England, Liverpool’s pursuit of the Premier League was aided by Leicester losing to Manchester City.

An English title drought stretching back to 1990 for the 18-time English champions is well-placed to end with Liverpool holding a 10-point lead over Leicester ahead of Thursday’s game at the second-place rival.

While Liverpool’s year is ending on a high, a 2019 of tragedy and triumph ends on a low on the field for Flamengo.

A first Copa Libertadores title since 1981 followed a domestic title triumph for Brazil’s most successful club. But it came against the backdrop of grief and agony following the deaths of 10 academy players – all between 14 and 16 years old—in a fire in a dormitory.

(AP)

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has been deleted from Chinese versions of the popular Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) mobile game, the title’s China distributor has said, as the fallout continued over his criticism of the country’s treatment of its Uighur minority.

US-listed Chinese internet company NetEase said it removed Ozil from the game due to his “extreme comment about China.”

Ozil, a German national of Turkish origin, condemned China’s crackdown on Muslim minorities in the western region of Xinjiang in a tweet last Friday and criticised Muslim countries for failing to speak up about the alleged abuses.

Arsenal has distanced itself from his comments, while China said his tweets were “untruthful” and that he was “deceived by fake news”.

China has faced growing international condemnation for setting up a vast network of camps in Xinjiang, where critics say Uighurs are pressured to renounce Islam, support the ruling Communist Party, and integrate with China’s majority Han culture.

Rights groups and experts say more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been incarcerated, part of a long-term government response to tame years of persistent violent unrest against Beijing’s control of Xinjiang.

Ozil had tweeted in Turkish: “Korans are being burnt… Mosques are being shut down… Muslim schools are being banned… Religious scholars are being killed one by one… Brothers are forcefully being sent to camps.”

“The Muslims are silent. Their voice is not heard,” he wrote against a blue backdrop with a white crescent moon — the flag of ‘East Turkestan’, the term many Uighur separatists use for Xinjiang.

Shortly afterward, NetEase announced on its verified Chinese social media accounts that Ozil’s comments had “hurt the feelings of Chinese fans and violated the sport’s spirit of love and peace”.

“We do not understand, accept or forgive this comment.”

China at first denied that the camps existed but, under growing pressure, later acknowledged them, saying they were vocational training centres.

Following his comments, Chinese state television dropped plans to broadcast the English Premier League club’s match last Sunday, and discussion of the topic is now heavily censored in China.

In a similar episode, China moved in October to punish the NBA’s Houston Rockets after its general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.

Ozil has been praised on Twitter for speaking out, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also weighing this week.

“China’s Communist Party propaganda outlets can censor @MesutOzil1088 and @Arsenal’s games all season long, but the truth will prevail,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter, chastising China for its “gross” rights violations against Uighurs.

Turkey, which shares linguistic and ethnic ties with the Uighurs, has been outspoken on the issue but most Muslim-majority countries have been muted in the face of China’s commercial and diplomatic power.

Source: AFP

Anthony Joshua has offered to be Tyson Fury’s sparring partner if it helps his fellow British fighter beat WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.

Joshua has been left frustrated in his attempts to lure America’s Wilder into the ring as he bids to unify the division following his victory over Andy Ruiz Jr last weekend.

The 30-year-old, who regained the WBA, IBF and WBO belts, feels he has a better chance of landing a blockbuster unification showdown with Fury than with Wilder.

Fury faces a re-match with the American on February 22, having drawn their first encounter, and Joshua told Sky Sports News: “I think honestly he might beat Wilder next time.

“I think Fury would fight me quicker than Wilder would, so, if that’s the case, I want him to win. Imagine that fight on British soil.

“If Tyson needs me, I’ll go out and spar with him to get him ready for Wilder.”

Joshua remains desperate for a showdown with Wilder that would see both men attempt to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.

“It still puzzles me as to why it’s so difficult to pin this man down,” Joshua said. “This is the man I need to pin down to get the last ring and conquer this division.”

“You’ve got the two lords of the rings here,” he added. “The last one to unify, undisputed, the division. I’ve got four (including the IBO belt), he’s got one. I just need one more.”

Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev is the IBF’s next mandatory challenger for Joshua, while the WBO has ordered the Londoner to fight Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk.

And speaking about a potential third meeting with Ruiz Jr, the Mexican-American who stunned the boxing world by beating Joshua in June, the British boxer said: “One trillion per cent.

“I always said I’d fight him in Tijuana, with his uncle as referee. Me and Andy will soon see each other in the ring again.”

Source: AFP

Chinese state media warned Monday that Mesut Ozil’s criticism of the country’s treatment of its Uighurs will have “serious implications” for Arsenal, stirring a backlash that saw the English football club’s weekend match pulled from Chinese TV.

A Global Times editorial slammed what it called a “clownish performance” from Ozil, describing him as “confused” and “reckless” and saying he had abused his position as a public figure.

Ozil, a German national of Turkish origin, condemned China’s crackdown on Muslim minorities in the western region of Xinjiang in a tweet on Friday and criticised Muslim countries for failing to speak up about the alleged abuses. Arsenal has distanced itself from his comments.

The row, which has potential repercussions for Arsenal and the Premier League in the lucrative Chinese market, follows the opprobrium heaped on basketball’s NBA in October after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.

The response to Ozil’s criticism has been swift in China. On Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV pulled the live Premier League game between Arsenal and Manchester City from its programming.

Leading streaming service PPTV also appeared to have cancelled its screening of the match, which Arsenal lost 3-0.

In its editorial, the Global Times — one of the ruling Communist Party’s mouthpieces — accused the 31-year-old Ozil of being “a person who is confused, reckless in abusing (his) influence, easily incited and willing to incite others”.

“Ozil’s move has ruined his image among Chinese fans and will have serious implications for Arsenal,” warned the newspaper.

“Chinese people should see clearly that what Ozil did this time was a ‘clownish performance’.”

– ‘Hurt Chinese feelings’ –

The English-language edition of the Global Times carried a statement from the Chinese Football Association saying that “Ozil’s comments not only hurt his Chinese fans but also hurt the feelings of the Chinese people”.

China has faced growing international condemnation for setting up a vast network of camps in Xinjiang aimed at homogenising the Uighur population to reflect China’s majority Han culture.

Rights groups and experts say more than one million Uighurs and people of other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities have been sent to the camps in the tightly controlled region.

“Korans are being burnt… Mosques are being shut down… Muslim schools are being banned… Religious scholars are being killed one by one… Brothers are forcefully being sent to camps,” Ozil tweeted in Turkish.

“The Muslims are silent. Their voice is not heard,” he wrote on a background of a blue field with a white crescent moon — the flag of ‘East Turkestan’, the term many Uighur separatists use for Xinjiang.

Arsenal posted on Weibo, China’s leading social media platform, that the comments were “Ozil’s personal opinion”, adding that the club had a policy of “not involving itself in politics”.

But some Weibo users expressed delight at the team’s heavy home defeat to City, which left the London club ninth in the Premier League.

Ozil played for only an hour before being substituted to boos over his performance in the match.

“I’m an Arsenal fan and today I cheered for City’s victory,” posted one user.

“Manchester City is a good friend of the Chinese people,” added another.

Source: AFP