ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, JANUARY 24, 2021 16

Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) shoots during the first quarter of the team’s NBA basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Jan 22, in Los Angeles. (AP) –See Page 15 Sports Latest sports scores at — http://sports.arabtimesonline.com ‘We will continue to make every effort to prepare for a safe and secure games’ Amid cancellation talk, Tokyo Olympics ‘focused on hosting’

TOKYO, Jan 23, (AP): IOC President Thomas Bach and local organizers are pushing back against reports that the Embattled Roma postponed Tokyo Olympics will be canceled. gain some relief Now set to open July 23, the Tokyo Games were postponed 10 months ago ROME, Jan 23, (AP): Embattled Roma gained some Southampton eliminate at the outbreak of the coronavirus pan- demic, and now the event appears relief with a 4-3 win over visit- threatened again. ing Spezia in Serie A on The Times of London, citing Saturday. unidentified government sources, Lorenzo Pellegrini scored reported that the games will have to be the winner two minutes into canceled. It quoted an unidentified stoppage time after former senior member of the ruling govern- Roma winger Daniele Verde ment coalition. had equalized in the 90th. FA Cup holders Arsenal “No one wants Borja Mayoral scored twice to be the first to and Rick Karsdorp also found say so but the the target for the Giallorossi, consensus is that who were without captain Edin it’s too difficult,” Džeko due to an apparent feud the person said. with coach Paulo Fonseca. “Personally, I Roma were beaten 3-0 by don’t think it’s Lazio in last week’s league going to happen.” derby and then lost 4-2 to In a statement Spezia in the Italian Cup on Friday, the local Tuesday. On Friday, the Cup organizing com- Suga defeat result was changed to a mittee did not 3-0 loss by the league judge address directly The Times story, but due to an impermissible sixth said the Olympics were going forward substitution that Roma used. and had the support of Prime Minister The recent results have led to Yoshihide Suga. speculation that Fonseca is at “All our delivery partners including risk of losing his job. the national government, the Tokyo Roma players celebrated Metropolitan Government, Tokyo wildly after Pellegrini’s goal, 2020 Organizing Committee, the IOC and the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) are fully focused on host- SOCCER ing the games this summer,” the state- ment said. “We hope that daily life can return which was the product of work to normal as soon as possible, and we from Leonardo Spinazzola and will continue to make every effort to Bruno Peres, whose chest pass prepare for a safe and secure games.” left a clear look for Pellegrini The IOC released a brief statement from close range. saying it is “fully concentrated on and Roma strengthened their committed to the successful delivery third-place position . of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Roberto Piccoli and Diego Tokyo 2020 this year.” Farias also scored for Spezia, The IPC added that it’s goal of hav- which is playing in the top divi- ing the games this year has not sion for the first time. Spezia changed. were left four points above the “There is no doubt the Tokyo 2020 drop zone. Games will be very different to any ❑ ❑ ❑ previous games and that this summer’s Paris Saint-Germain coach event looks a long way off right now. Mauricio Pochettino made a However, we believe that with the surprising return to watch Kylian robust measures and plans we have in Mbappe snap a four-game place, the games can and will go ahead scoreless run with two goals as safely,” the IPC said. the league leaders crushed 10-man Montpellier 4-0 . OLYMPICS PSG moved three points clear of second-place Lille, West Ham’s Mark Noble, (left), duels for the ball with Doncaster’s Brad Halliday during the English FA Cup fourth round soccer match between West which can move level on points Ham United and Doncaster Rovers at the London Stadium in London, Jan 23. (AP) Managu Sakai, the deputy chief by winning at fifth-place cabinet secretary and an ally of the Rennes on Sunday but have a prime minister, also shot down the vastly inferior goal difference. West Ham advance Thuram scores on Gladbach return to deepen gloom at Dortmund story. In an unexpected sight at “There is no such fact and we clear- Parc des Princes stadium, ly deny (the report),” he said. Pochettino returned to coach SOUTHAMPTON, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told PSG just one week after testing England, Jan 23, (AP): her regular news conference on Friday positive for the coronavirus. that she has “never heard such a Last season’s FA Cup win- Bayern’s closest ‘challengers’ thing.” She even suggested action ners Arsenal were elimi- against the British newspaper. “Perhaps we should file a protest,” nated from the competition she said. in the fourth round on Leipzig, Leverkusen both lose The Times of London said Japan Saturday thanks to hoped to land the 2032 Olympics. The Gabriel’s own goal in a 1-0 BERLIN, Jan 23, (AP): Bayern Munich’s closest chal- out the win. IOC has already awarded the 2024 lengers, Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen, both lost in the Luka Jovic scored his third goal in as many substitute Olympics to Paris and the 2028 ver- loss to Southampton. on Saturday to give the eight-time defend- appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt since returning from sion to Los Angeles. In an otherwise close game, ing champions a chance to move seven points clear at Real Madrid to seal a 5-1 win at Arminia Bielefeld. The idea of Tokyo waiting a decade Gabriel’s decision to try to block a the top. Augsburg goalkeeper Rafa Gikiewicz saved a penalty to seems unlikely, given the cost of main- shot from Kyle Walker-Peters Second-place Leipzig lost 3-2 at relegation-threatened taining venues, negotiating new leases, secure a 2-1 win over his former team Union Berlin. and so forth. Tokyo has already spent proved decisive for Arsenal losing Mainz and third-place Leverkusen lost 1-0 at home to Gikiewicz denied Marcus Ingvartsen in the 56th, then pro- about $25 billion to organize these their hold on the cup. Wolfsburg. Olympics, most of which is public Right-back Walker-Peters was Bayern visit last-place Schalke on Sunday. money. allowed plenty of space to overlap the American midfielder Tyler Adams got Leipzig off to a SOCCER Several reports of a cancellation Arsenal defense, but his shot looked to great start with a goal in the 15th minute, but Moussa began to surface this month when the be heading narrowly wide of the far post Niakhaté scored twice for Mainz, either side of Marcel Japanese government put Tokyo and before Gabriel’s failed attempt deflected Halstenberg’s 30th-minute strike for the visitors. duced a fine save to also thwart Taiwo Awoniyi. other prefectures under a state of PSG’s Kylian Mbappe in the ball off the post and in. It was the New signing Danny da Costa set up Leandro Barreiro for Florian Niederlechner, who conceded the spot kick, had emergency order to counter a surge of action during the French first goal Arsenal had conceded since Mainz’s winner in the 50th. already scored twice for the home side. rising COVID-19 cases. League One soccer match Dec. 26 after five consecutive shutouts. Midfielder Ridle Baku’s 35th-minute header was enough Freiburg beat Stuttgart 2-1. “We have at this moment, no reason between Paris Saint- “I’m very disappointed because we for Wolfsburg. Marcus Thuram scored on his Bundesliga comeback from whatsoever to believe that the Olympic Germain and Montpellier at wanted to continue in the competition, Leverkusen made a good start but Nadiem Amiri and suspension to seal a 4-2 win for Borussia Mönchengladbach Games in Tokyo will not open on the the Parc des Princes stadi- we had a dream to do it again like last Lucas Alario missed early chances, with Alario striking the over Borussia Dortmund. um in Paris, France, Jan 22. year and the dream today is over,” 23rd of July in the Olympic stadium in (AP) post before Wolfsburg gradually settled. Thuram, who missed four games after spitting at an oppo- Tokyo,” Bach told the Japanese news Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. Leverkusen maintained their pressure but the defense nent in December, scored with a header from Florian agency Kyodo on Thursday. “I am as well disappointed with the took a break and left Baku to head in ’s cross Neuhaus’ corner in the 79th minute after coming on as a He also said there is “no Plan B.” way we conceded the goal in an area against the run of play. substitute. Senior International Olympic Japan has reported fewer than 5,000 where we know we shouldn’t be doing Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz reacted at the break by Dortmund’s winless streak stretched to three games, Committee member Richard Pound deaths from the coronavirus and has that,” he added. “At the same time, I bringing on former Manchester United defender Timothy increasing the pressure on coach Edin Terzić, who took over said earlier in the week that the handled the virus better than most cannot fault the effort of the players, Fosu-Mensah for his Bundesliga debut, but Wolfsburg saw from the fired Lucien Favre on Dec. 13. Olympics may be held largely without countries. But the surge is not tapering how they tried and how they went to fans, making it a mostly television off in Tokyo, a sprawling metropolitan get a goal in the second half.” event. area of 35 million. until Jan. 9 but has now won three of The Switzerland-based IOC gets Public opinion in Japan has also its last four following Saturday’s 2-1 73% of its income from selling broad- turned against the games with 80% in SOCCER win over Plymouth. cast rights and has seen its main reve- several polls saying they should be Separated from Chorley by 109 nue source stalled by the Olympic postponed again or canceled. places in the English football pyramid, postponement. A largely TV-only Bach said organizers were in a bet- Arsenal have won the FA Cup a Wolverhampton didn’t only manage a event would suit the IOC better than a ter position to hold the Olympics now record 14 times and Arteta before kick- single goal in their 1-0 win. The cancellation. than they were 10 months ago when off called it “our favorite competition.” Premier League millionaires also only Unlike other sports businesses that the games were postponed. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored managed a single shot - the goal - offer hundreds of games, the IOC has “First of all, let me be clear that you both of the team’s goals in the 2-1 win against the part-timers from the sixth only two main events to sell - the cannot compare March 2021 with over Chelsea in last year’s final, but he tier. Summer and Winter Olympics. March 2020 because there is such wasn’t available Saturday due to what Vitinha’s 35-yard, swerving strike Bach hinted that radical changes great progress in science, medicine, Arteta called “a personal matter.” Arteta in the 12th-minute moved Nuno may be needed to pull off the Tokyo vaccination and (virus) tests,” Bach said he couldn’t yet predict when Espírito Santo’s side into the round of Olympics, which involve 11,000 ath- told Kyodo. “All this was not available Aubameyang might return. 16 in the FA Cup . It was spectacular letes and tens of thousands of coaches, in March last year. Nobody knew yet Southampton move on to a fifth- but actually a rare moment of quality officials, judges, VIPS, media and how really to deal with the pandemic, round game away at Wolverhampton, from the visitors to this tiny stadium in broadcasters. and now we know much more.” which beat sixth-tier Chorley . a former mill town in northern About 4,400 athletes will attend the Japan is experiencing a slow roll out Premier League clubs Brighton, England. Paralympics, which are set to open of vaccines. However, the IOC has West Ham and Sheffield United all Contrast that with the attacking Aug. 24. said its measures against the virus will won their fourth-round games against threat from the minnows. Incredibly, “You may not like it but sacrifices focus on testing, quarantines, social lower-league teams. Brighton edged John Ruddy from Wolves was the bus- will be needed, “ Bach said. “This is distancing and keeping athletes largely out third-tier Blackpool 2-1, while ier of the two goalkeepers - facing five Leverkusen’s Leon Bailey, (left), and Wolfsburg’s Paulo Otavio, (right), why I’m saying, safety first, and no isolated. West Ham cruised to a 4-0 win over shots on target, including tipping over challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match taboo in the discussion to ensure safe- The IOC has encouraged athletes to Doncaster. Sheffield didn’t win a a header from Andy Halls, who is a between Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg in Leverkusen, Germany, ty.” be vaccinated but will not require it. game in any competition this season personal trainer in his day job. Jan 23. (AP)

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