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IT has been almost a month since Mohd Ziyad Zolkefli blew the chance to retain his men’s F20 (intellectual disability) shot putt Paralympics gold in Tokyo but the controversial issue has yet to die down. I’m surprised that the Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu is now stirring up the hornet’s nest. Faizal revealed in a Dewan Rakyat sitting this week that they were mulling over the possibility of taking Ziyad’s case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if their appeal to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and World Para Athletics (WPA) falls on deaf ears. Now, let me take you through to what happened in Tokyo on Malaysia’s 64th Independence Day. Ziyad won the gold with a world-record haul of 17.94m but minutes later the title and record were revoked. The nation was in a state of shock as it would have been a perfect Merdeka Day gift. The 31-year-old was classified as ‘did not start’ (DNS) following a protest by the Ukrainian team, …

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MILAN (Reuters) - A technical outage occurred at sport global service DAZN in Italy on Thursday, sparking anger among customers unable to access the app and watch part of Serie A soccer games Sampdoria v Napoli and Torino v Lazio. DAZN, which secured the rights to screen all Serie A live soccer matches in Italy for the next three seasons for 2.5 billion euros, is under fire about its service across the country. Customers have complained about interruptions to streams since the start of the Serie A campaign in August, and the national communications authority is monitoring DAZN's pledge to boost its infrastructure. Twitter users complained on Thursday about a blockage of the app, which resumed its service only after several minutes. "We have experienced a technical problem during the games", DAZN said in a statement, apologising to fans and adding that it would offer compensation to all affected subscribers. Owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik, DAZN is a leading contender …

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(Reuters) - Valtteri Bottas led Lewis Hamilton in a predictable Mercedes one-two in first practice for the Russian Formula One Grand Prix on Friday. Mercedes have won all seven races held in Sochi since the 2014 Winter Olympic venue first hosted a grand prix that year and Bottas has a strong record in Russia, winning in 2017 and 2020. The Finn's best lap of one minute 34.427 seconds on a dry track and soft tyres in a largely uneventful session was 0.211 quicker than Hamilton, a four-time winner in the Black Sea resort, also on softs. Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen was third fastest, 0.227 off the pace on soft tyres with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fourth and Sebastian Vettel fifth for Aston Martin. Pierre Gasly was sixth for AlphaTauri. Leclerc will be starting from the back of the grid on Sunday after a power unit change while Verstappen has a three-place grid penalty resulting from his collision with Hamilton at the previous race at Monza. Verstappen leads …

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PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (MWF) will proceed with a plan to disband the national team but without neglecting the athletes’ development. A small group of athletes with the potential of winning medals for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham are expected to be be groomed separately. The move to disband the team comes in the wake of two weightlifters who tested positive for performance-enhancing anabolic steroids. Both are expected to appear in a hearing likely to take place end of this month. MWF president Datuk Ayub Rahmat said they had proposed to disband the team to National Sports Council (NSC). “We have also submitted a list of athletes who are capable of winning medals for several competitions. We hope these athletes will not waste their opportunity,” said Ayub. He said two events – the world and Commonwealth championships respectively in Uzbekistan end of this year will be the build-up tournaments for the Commonwealth Games. It is …

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(Reuters) - Lewis Hamilton has every chance of celebrating a record-extending 100th Formula One victory on Sunday, but the seven-times world champion can still take nothing for granted at Russia's Sochi circuit. Hamilton's Mercedes team have won every race at the Olympic Park circuit since the first in 2014, the Briton triumphant in four of the seven and current team mate Valtteri Bottas in two including last year. Past performance has not been the greatest of indicators this season, however, with Red Bull and championship leader Max Verstappen, 24 next week, pushing harder than ever in an increasingly intense title battle. Verstappen's task is tougher this time due to a three place grid penalty imposed after he and Hamilton collided and retired at the Italian Grand Prix, with stewards ruling the Dutch youngster was mostly to blame. Hamilton has not won since his home British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July but Sochi could bring him that 100th win at the fifth attempt. …

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(Reuters) -McLaren's Lando Norris seized his first Formula One pole position at the Russian Grand Prix on Saturday after seven- times world champion Lewis Hamilton hit the wall in a damp and dramatic qualifying session. Ferrari's Spaniard Carlos Sainz joined the young Briton on the front row in Sochi with Williams' George Russell, Hamilton's Mercedes team mate from next season, completing a sensational top three against all odds. Hamilton, who had been on provisional pole before everyone switched to slicks on a drying track, qualified fourth -- making it three Britons in the top four -- after a brush with the pit lane wall. The team hurriedly swapped the front wing and got him back out on slicks in time for one more flying lap to the chequered flag but the tyres had lost temperature and Hamilton spun, with his fastest time remaining that set on the intermediates. Hamilton can still expect to retake the overall lead from Red Bull rival Max Verstappen on Sunday with the …

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(Reuters) - Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri brushed off criticism for his side's poor start to the Serie A season on Saturday and called for calm ahead of Sunday’s clash with Sampdoria. The Turin club failed to win any of their opening four games of the league season for the first time since 1961, but ended that run with a 3-2 victory at Spezia on Wednesday. "I prefer not to be pitied. I want to be criticised a lot, but as a winner," Allegri told a news conference. "You have compassion for someone who someone who is unwell, not someone who is well. It is a rule of life, like it or not." Allegri faces a big week ahead, as Samp’s visit is followed by a Champions League game against European champions Chelsea on Wednesday and the Turin derby against Torino on Saturday. Juventus, record 36-times Italian champions, go into the weekend in 12th place and are 10 points behind league leaders Napoli after five rounds. "The results are missing, because that is how you build …

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ROME (Reuters) -Napoli reclaimed top spot in Serie A as in-form striker Victor Osimhen struck twice in an impressive 4-0 win at Sampdoria on Thursday, their fifth consecutive league victory. Luciano Spalletti’s side are two points clear of Inter Milan and AC Milan with a perfect 15 points, scoring 14 goals and conceding two in their five games. "For me it is important to start well, this gives me the confidence to score more goals," Osimhen told DAZN. "Spalletti has helped me with the faith he has given me, and I hope to repay that. I am honoured to have a coach like him." Osimhen's cushioned volley put the visitors ahead after 10 minutes at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris before two good saves from David Ospina denied Samp an equaliser. Napoli pulled clear through an arrowed Fabian Ruiz strike before the break, and explosive strikes from Osimhen and Piotr Zielinski completed the rout. Osimhen, who had enough opportunities to score a hat-trick, took his tally to five goals in …

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ROME (Reuters) - Jose Mourinho described the opportunity to coach AS Roma in one of European football’s fiercest derby matches as a privilege on Saturday, the day before his side face rivals Lazio in Serie A. Sunday's Rome derby, one of the most hotly anticipated fixtures in the Italian football calendar, will mark the first experience of the clash for Mourinho and his Lazio counterpart Maurizio Sarri. "I like rivalries, it is a privilege to face a new derby and I will be richer for this experience," Mourinho told a news conference. "Beyond this significance, I want the team to have more ambition than winning a derby, it is not our only objective this season." Mourinho suffered his first defeat as Roma coach last weekend against Hellas Verona, but his team responded with a 1-0 win against Udinese on Thursday. They head into Sunday’s derby four points clear of Lazio, who are without a win in four matches in all competitions. "It is a great match to play and prepare for. …

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(Reuters) - Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen is set to start the Russian Grand Prix from the back of the grid after his Red Bull team elected to fit a new power unit to the Dutchman's car. The 23-year-old, who leads Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton by five points in the overall standings, was already carrying a three-place grid penalty after a collision with the Briton in the Italian Grand Prix that put both drivers out of the race. Drivers are allowed no more than three power units per season and exceeding that allocation triggers grid penalties. Verstappen, who has won seven races this year to Hamilton's four, can still mitigate any damage to his title lead in Sunday's race with the Sochi circuit relatively easier to overtake on. He took similar penalties in the 2018 Russian race but scythed through the field from 19th on the grid to finish fifth. The engine penalty, however, does smooth Hamilton's path to a landmark 100th win. His Mercedes team have been …

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