Italian refereePierluigi Collina, widely regarded as the best referee in the world, announces his retirement following a dispute with the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). The dispute centred on Collina's decision to accept a sponsorship deal with Opel, who also sponsor Serie A side A.C. Milan. The deal was seen as a major conflict of interests by the FIGC and Collina was demoted to refereeing Serie B matches, in response to this Collina handed in his resignation, ending his career. BBC
IRL: Tony Kanaan wins the Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix, his second victory of the year. Points leader Dan Wheldon was hampered by fuel problems and finished out of the race in 18th.
Champ Car: Oriol Servia wins his first series victory in the Molson Champ Car race in Montreal, Quebec after officials order rookie Timo Glock to let him pass on the final lap for illegally blocking another car.
West Oahu from Ewa Beach, Hawai'i comes from behind with a three-run sixth inning and then wins the first extra-inning game since 1971, defeating Willemstead, Curaçao 7–6 in seven innings. Michael Memea's walk-off home run provided the difference, preventing the defending champions from repeating their attempt to repeat what the Long Beach, California team did in 1992 and 1993. Rancho Buena Vista, California defeated Chiba City, Japan by a 5–4 score to win the consolation game.
England (477 & 129–7) defeat Australia (218 & 387) by three wickets to take a 2–1 series lead with one Test remaining. After following-on Australia set England a target of 129, England survived a bowling onslaught from Shane Warne (4–31) and Brett Lee (3–51) to gain the upper hand in the series. (BBC)
England, who scored a first innings of 477, bowl Australia out for 218 and captain Michael Vaughan enforces the follow-on, the first time Australia has followed on since 1988. The third day ends with Australia at 222–4 and 37 runs away from forcing England to bat again. (BBC)
In the penultimate match of the Tri Nations Series in Dunedin, the All Blacks (New Zealand) use a late try from Keven Mealamu to edge the Springboks (South Africa), the defending Tri Nations champions, 31–27. This maintains the All Blacks' unbeaten record against the Springboks at Carisbrook. Joe Rokocoko adds two tries for the All Blacks, who can secure the Tri Nations crown by defeating the Australia Wallabies next week. (BBC)
The University of Cincinnati gave men's basketball head coach Bob Huggins a Wednesday (8/24) 2 p.m. (US EDT) deadline to either resign or be fired. Huggins chose to resign after 16 scandal-filled years with the Bearcats.
English Premier League: Newcastle United announce that they have agreed a club record fee with Real Madrid for the services of England striker Michael Owen, although they are still to negotiate with the player's advisers. . This comes just a day after Everton, traditional rivals of Owen's former club Liverpool, had a bid for the player turned down by the Spanish club .
Sports: The NCAA will allow Florida State University to keep their "Seminoles" nickname after the school appealed, citing the cooperation of the tribe in their efforts as part of the school's traditions.
Chelsea 1–0 (0–0) Arsenal: Didier Drogba scores in the 73rd minute of the game to secure Chelsea's first win over Arsenal in league play since 1995. [dead link]
2005 Afro-Asia Cup: The third ODI of the series between Africa and Asia at Kingsmead is rained off, and the match declared a no-result. The series is drawn one-all. (Cricinfo)
Two spectators are killed and six seriously injured, when, during a qualifying run at the Mount Vernon Raceway in Mount Vernon, Illinois, the car of Kevin Beattie has its throttle get stuck, leaving it unable to turn. Beattie's car flies into the stands, leaping over the fence, resulting in the tragedies. (USAToday.com)
In a fight of former world Jr. Middleweight champions, Fernando Vargas defeats Javier Castillejo by a ten-round unanimous decision.
WBO world Jr. Flyweight champion Hugo Cazares retains his title with an eighth-round knockout win over Alex Sánchez, after Sánchez complained of an eye injury. Sánchez later announced his retirement. Fightnews.com[dead link]
Uzbekistan 3–2 (1–2) Kuwait. Down 0–2, Uzbekistan rallies to win the game and 3rd place, earning a spot in a playoff next month against Bahrain. Kuwait is eliminated.
Bahrain 2–3 (0–2) North Korea. Before this match, Bahrain had clinched 3rd place in their group, while North Korea had already been eliminated.
Bahrain and Uzbekistan will play a home-and-away series next month, with the winner advancing to a playoff against a CONCACAF team.
Mexico 2–0 (0–0) Costa Rica. Mexico striker Jared Borgetti takes sole possession of the country's all-time goal scoring record in international play.
Mexico and the USA now are both assured of finishing no worse than fourth place in the CONCACAF group, which would put that team in a playoff against the Bahrain-Uzbekistan winner for a World Cup place.
Denmark 4–1 (0–0) England. Denmark sends England crashing to their worst defeat in 25 years. England surrender three goals in seven minutes of the second half.(BBC)
France 3–0 (1–0) Côte d'Ivoire. In his return from international retirement, Zinedine Zidane scores a goal to help lead France to a confidence-boosting win ahead of September's World Cup qualifiers.(UEFA.com)[dead link]
Golf: US PGA Championship: Play was suspended until Monday morning (15 August) at 10 a.m. US EDT due to lightning. When play was halted at 6:25p.m. US EDT, Phil Mickelson held a one stroke lead at four-under par over Thomas Björn and Steve Elkington. Tiger Woods is tied with Davis Love III and Vijay Singh two strokes back, with Woods finishing early. (Official PGA Championship Web Site)
Rafael Palmeiro returned to the Baltimore Orioles lineup after being suspended for ten games after testing positive for steroids. He was greeted with a mixture of cheers and boos. Palmeiro went 0-for-4 with a walk. (ESPN)
Ricardo Mayorga wins the vacant WBC world Jr. Middleweight title with a twelve-round decision over former world champion Michele Piccirillo of Italy; former WBC world Heavyweight champion Oliver McCall returns with a fourth-round knockout win over Poland's Przemyslaw Saleta, and Puerto Rico's Luis Collazo retains his WBA world Welterweight title, with an eighth-round knockout over former world Lightweight champion Miguel Ángel González of Mexico. All fights are part of a boxing show in Chicago. AOL
Golf: US PGA Championship: Davis Love III and second-round leader Phil Mickelson are tied for the lead after three rounds at six-under par. Thomas Björn is one shot behind, with Pat Pérez, defending champion Vijay Singh, Stuart Appleby and Steve Elkington two shots behind. Tiger Woods is at even par. (Official PGA Championship Website)
In the third match of the Tri Nations Series from Telstra Stadium in Sydney, the All Blacks (New Zealand) roar back from a 13–0 first-half deficit to defeat the Australia Wallabies 30–13. The away win, the first in the Tri Nations since 2003, assures New Zealand will retain the Bledisloe Cup. The one dark spot for the All Blacks is the stretchering off of star fly-half Dan Carter late in the second half. (BBC)Update: Carter suffered a broken leg and may be out as long as three months. (BBC)
Golf: US PGA Championship: Phil Mickelson shot a five-under par 65 to take the lead after two rounds of the 2005 PGA Championship, the final major on the golf calendar. Play was delayed on the fourth hole when a branch of a tree fell following the group with Tiger Woods teeing off, injuring three people, including two CBS Sports employees, one of them with a broken leg. Woods will make the cut (set at four-over par) continuing his streak of not missing a cut at any of the four majors. (Official PGA Championship Website)
Ice hockey: A report in The Philadelphia Inquirer states that Comcast and the National Hockey League have agreed to a two-year contract worth almost $100 million (US) for a two-year deal for cable television rights with games to be carried on Comcast's OLN channel. The deal is subject to the approval of the league's Board of Governors (owners) and ESPN, who previously held the rights.
The game between American League rivals the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox, is delayed four minutes in the eighth inning after 18-year-old Scott Harper falls from the upper deck behind home plate at Yankee Stadium, landing on netting between the barrier in front of the upper deck, and the backstop behind home plate. Harper eventually walks back on the netting and security helps him back up onto the deck, and then out of the stadium. A YES Network camera filming a defensive play shook as Harper landed on the netting. The White Sox win the game 2–1 to improve their AL-best record to 73–39. (ESPN.com) Photos of Harper after the fall are at
An arbitrator orders Texas RangerspitcherKenny Rogers reinstated. Rogers had served 12 games of a 20-game suspension for shoving two cameraman in June (AP)
Football: Italian club Genoa FC lost their appeal for match fixing after winning the 2004–05 Serie B championship and were demoted from Serie A to Serie C1/A, and penalized three points to begin the season. The team also faces discipline from their Italian Cup match being abandoned due to unruly fan behavior, who also caused rioting against local law enforcement.
New Zealand (452 for 9 dec.) beat Zimbabwe (59 & 99) by an innings and 294 runs in the first Test match of their tour of the country. The game is one of only twelve Test matches in history not to go to a third day. (BBC)
Indian Oil Cup: Sri Lanka (221 for 6) beat India (220 for 8) by 4 wickets. During the match Indian batsman Sourav Ganguly becomes the third player to pass 10,000 runs in One Day Internationals. (BBC)
Minnesota Twins outfielder Torii Hunter is declared out for the rest of the 2005 season after suffering an injury at Fenway Park on 31 July tearing tendons and breaking his ankle.
Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants says he will miss the rest of the 2005 season due to the injuries he suffered in spring training in an interview posted on MLB.com.
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