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Paul McNamara

If you have come here today for a lowdown on sporting results from around the world, you are in for a rude awakening.
This does not mean, however, that little of note has happened overnight. Quite the opposite, in fact, as Manchester City – separately from the 115 Premier League charges they are facing over accusations the club broke financial-fair-play rules – got one over the league in a case related to associated party sponsorships lined up by the champions.
A baseball game in the US was halted after fans started lashing beer and baseballs at a pantomime-villain visiting player, the former club of the current Hong Kong head coach were in action and the football world lost a genuine legend.
Let us help you catch up with everything you missed while you were sleeping.
City 1 Premier League 0
In a victory for Manchester City, and those in favour of sporting competition, an independent panel has driven a bus through elements of the Premier League’s Associated Party Transactions (APTs) regulations.
The rules are another arm of the league’s financial fair play laws, which have stifled clubs with the chutzpah to want to compete with the already super-rich elite-set of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal et al. APTs, which are designed to stop well-off club owners from using their business links to swell their teams’ coffers, were introduced following the 2021 Saudi takeover of Newcastle United.
Last year, the Premier League knocked back sponsorship deals that Abu Dhabi-owned City had arranged with Etihad and an Abu Dhabi-based bank. An independent three-man panel has declared that strands of the APTs regulations breach the Competition Act. In a 1,248 word statement, the Premier League “welcomed” the verdict, before adding: “The tribunal did, however, identify a small number of discrete elements of the rules which do not, in their current form, comply with competition and public law requirements. These elements can quickly and effectively be remedied by the league and clubs.”
Defending the many, obviously, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur all acted as witnesses for the Premier League. Chelsea, Newcastle United and Everton tethered themselves to the City cause.
Football ‘loses a legend’
A man who played football in more straightforward and uplifting times, the brilliant Netherlands midfielder Johan Neeskens, has died at the age of 73.
Neeskens was at the vanguard of the 1970s Ajax and Netherlands teams credited with gifting Total Football to the world.
A contemporary of Johan Cruyff, and christened Johan Segon – Johan the Second – by Barcelona supporters when he followed his compatriot to the Nou Camp in 1974, Neeskens won three European Cups with Ajax and was twice on the losing side in World Cup finals with his international team.
“With Johan Neeskens, the Dutch and international football world loses a legend,” the KNVB federation said in a statement. “The world not only says goodbye to a gifted sportsman but above all, to a compassionate, driven and wonderful person.”

‘Wild’ scenes in USA
High jinks over in the US, where the MLB Division Series playoff between San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers had to be stalled for 10 minutes after fans threw baseballs and beer at Padres player Jurickson Profar.
The questions of who goes to a sporting event armed with a piece of equipment used in the game and what is it with people throwing beer, which does not come cheap, are currently unanswered.
What we do know is that Profar showboated in front of fans at Dodger Stadium after pouching a Mookie Betts hit. Things had already become heated during the sixth innings, when Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty and Padres baseman Manny Machado had a squabble.
Profar came under fire in the seventh innings of a match the Padres won 10-2 to level the best-of-five series at 1-1. Padres hitter Fernando Tatis, who seems like the sort of person you would want to go for a pint with, said: “Man, it was definitely wild out there, but at the same time it’s a good environment for baseball. People get carried away a little bit with their emotions, but it’s a good back and forth. It’s a show.”
England hit stride
England beat South Africa by seven wickets to strengthen their position at the top of Group B in the women’s T20 World Cup in United Arab Emirates.
Captain Heather Knight’s team won a dour opening encounter against Bangladesh, but were far more dynamic in chasing down the 125 runs they needed to overcome the South Africans, whose total of 124 for six was built around 42 off 39 balls from skipper Laura Wolvaardt.
Marizanne Kapp needed only 17 balls to score 26, too, but her fun was ended by the miserly Sophie Ecclestone, who claimed two for 15 from her four overs.
A run-a-ball 43 from Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Nat Sciver-Brunt’s unbeaten 48 eased England home with four balls to spare. They next face Scotland on Sunday, while later today, Australia and New Zealand, who both won their opening fixtures, meet in a top-of-the-table Group A clash. The top-two finishers in the five-team groups advance to the semi-finals.

Bradford reassert superiority
A few facts about Bradford City’s 1999-2000 campaign … bear with us. The West Yorkshire club survived in the Premier League by beating Liverpool 1-0 on the final day of the season, a result that denied their beaten opponents a place in the following season’s Uefa Champions League.
On a parochial note, the current Hong Kong head coach, Ashley Westwood, was on the bench against Liverpool and appeared in five league games during the season. More broadly, while a Bradford team featuring luminaries such as Dean Saunders, Lee Sharpe and Jorge Cadete were booking a second Premier League term, Newport County were busy finishing seventh, one place ahead of Clevedon Town, in the Southern Football League.
Where is this all leading us, you might wonder. Well, it’s a very convoluted way of telling you that last night the two teams met as equals in a League Two clash at Valley Parade.
Bradford won the match 3-1 to leap above their Welsh opponents into ninth spot.
More football
Because there is always more football, even when Bradford and Newport are topping the bill.
Morgan Gibbs-White, Ezri Konsa and Kobbie Mainoo have all withdrawn from the England squad for forthcoming Nations League matches against Greece and Finland. Lee Carsley, the interim Three Lions boss, has indicated he is unlikely to summon any replacements.
John O’Shea, the Republic of Ireland assistant head coach, has lashed out at pundits, media and fans who are “too derogatory” towards the national team. Ireland have lost eight of their past 10 matches and, like England, are poised for games with Finland and Greece over the next week.


Manchester City triumph, wild scenes in US, what happened overnight in the world of sport

Pogba ban cut, India’s T20 rout, clash of Premier League wannabes: what happened overnight

Man United shred Ten Hag’s nerves, Caitlin Clark crowned: what happened in sport overnight

Saints stumble, Biden’s bold statement, what happened overnight in the world of sport

While you were sleeping

Manager Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have been validated in a case against the Premier League. Photo: AFP

The great Johan Neeskens during his time with Ajax, where he won three European Cups. Photo: EPA

England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight celebrate after beating South Africa. Photo: Reuters

Hong Kong sailor Nicholas Halliday eyes Los Angeles, but fears for sport’s Olympic future

Nicholas Halliday (front) wants another shot at the Olympics after making his debut in Paris. Photo: Nicholas Halliday

Halliday acknowledges his laser discipline is fighting for its Olympic Games life. Photo: Edmond So

Ben Ainslie’s British team beat Italy to qualify for this month’s America’s Cup against New Zealand. Photo: AFP

Hong Kong climber, 9, wins national competition in Beijing, mum ‘overwhelmed’ with joy

Veronica Chik won the boulder-and-lead combined competition for her age category. Photo: Chinese Mountaineering Association

Veronica Chik on the victory podium at the championships in Beijing. Photo: Chinese Mountaineering Association

Chik could figure at the Brisbane Olympics in 2032. Photo: Chinese Mountaineering Association

Will Hong Kong’s Cheung Ka-long go for third Olympic gold in Los Angeles? He gives update

Cheung Ka-long celebrates after winning the men’s individual foil final against Italy’s Filippo Macchi in Paris in July. Photo: AP 

Cheung is unsure whether to chase a third successive Olympic crown but is targeting world honours. Photo: AP 

Cheung and his French coach, Greg Koenig, have formed a productive relationship. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong’s tennis players told to get fitter and compete in more tournaments

Cody Wong, one of Hong Kong’s top players, has played only 51 singles matches this year, compared with 80-100 played by the best players. Photo: HKCTA

Local tennis chief Michael Cheng says Hong Kong has to find ways to make the sport more “accessible” to players.

China’s Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen developed her game at WTA 125 events, Michael Cheng said. Photo: Xinhua

Sport

Football

Manchester City win ruling against Premier League, baseball player pelted with beer and England claim World Cup victory


Manchester City win ruling against Premier League, baseball player pelted with beer and England claim World Cup victory.
