The entire board of the US gymnastics governing body have resigned in the wake of this week's sentencing of the former national team doctor for molesting female athletes, USA Gymnastics said on Friday, complying with a demand by the US Olympic Committee (USOC).

The doctor, Larry Nassar, was sentenced on Wednesday to between 40 and 175 years in prison by a judge in Lansing, Michigan.

It followed a week of blistering statements in court by his victims including Olympic gold medal-winning gymnasts Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber and other female athletes.

He had pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges.

The USOC had threatened to strip USA Gymnastics of its power to run its sport if all 21 board directors had not resigned by next Wednesday.

At least five members already had said they had resigned as a result of the scandal.

“USA Gymnastics will comply with the USOC requirements,“ Leslie King, a spokeswoman for USA Gymnastics, said in an email.

The senior sports official at Michigan State University, where Nassarpreviously worked, retired on Friday.

The departure of athletic director Mark Hollis came two days after university president Lou Anna Simon stepped down under pressure.

Both said they were unaware of Nassar's abuse until public reports.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, whose office prosecuted Nassar, confirmed on Twitter that the office is investigating the university.

The national outcry over Nassar has prompted the US House of Representatives, Senate, the Department of Education and the USOC to announce further investigations this week.

Those investigations seek to establish if other sports officials turned a blind eye to Nassar's abuses.

The House investigation will also examine allegations of sexual harassment by officials in other sports, including swimming and taekwondo.

Ms Raisman vowed to keep the pressure on sports organisations, to see who knew about Nassar's abuse.

Nassar worked for the federation through four Olympic Games, but the allegations did not become public until 2016 in an investigative report by the Indianapolis Star.

“Everyone stood up for him,” Ms Raisman told the ABC programme The View.

“My work, and the army of survivors, we're not done yet. We still have to hold these organisations accountable.”

“My heart breaks for the survivors of Larry Nassar's disgusting crimes,” said US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose department will investigate the role of Michigan State.

“What happened at Michigan State is abhorrent.”

The USOC's investigation into how Nassar was able to abuse victims for years will include looking at whether any USOC officials themselves looked the other way.

Nassar, 54, was sentenced for sexually assaulting girls under the guise of medical treatment. 

More than 150 accusers recounted their stories in the courtroom.

USOC Chief Executive Officer Scott Blackmun called on Thursday for the full USA Gymnastics board to resign with a new interim board named by the end of February. He outlined six reform steps the gymnastics governing body must take.

Dick Pound, a Canadian member of the International OlympicCommittee, said he may raise the Nassar abuse scandal at next week's IOC session in South Korea, comparing it to revelations of Russia manipulating doping tests to conceal its athletes' use of banned drugs in an elaborate cheating program.

Russia was formally barred from the upcoming Winter Olympics in South Korea though some Russian athletes will be permitted to compete.

Independent

Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach believes IBF, IBO, WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) has packed on too much muscle for his own good.

When Joshua made his pro debut in October of 2013, he weighed 230-pounds and he's been as low as 229.

For his last fight, against Carlos Takam in October of 2017, Joshua was very muscular and weighed a career high 254-pounds. He secured a tenth round stoppage, but looked sluggish in the fight and seemed to tire in the second half as Takam was pushing him to the limit.

Joshua is back on March 31, at Principality in Cardiff, Wales. That night, he will collide with WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) in a unification fight.

If Joshua prevails, he would be in line for a mega-fight with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs).

Wilder has to get past Luis Ortiz on March 3rd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

In order to overcome the challenge of Wilder, Roach believes Joshua would have to shed off some of that muscle mass before their anticipated showdown takes place.

"I think that's a great fight. Joshua is a really great fighter. He asked me if I could train him one time and I hope that comes true one day. I think he's in good hands. The thing about him right now, is that I think he's working too much on the weight lifting and he's got a lot of muscle around [his body] and he looked sluggish. He looked great against Klitschko, but in his next fight he didn't look that great," Roach told BoxingScene.com.

"He needs to loosen up and get rid of some of that weight I think, to beat a guy like Wilder - because Wilder can really punch and he will be there for twelve rounds."

Boxingscene

José Mourinho has signed an extension to his contract at Manchester United in a move that sees him commit his future to the club until at least 2020, with the option of activating a further year.

United won the Europa League in the Portuguese’s maiden season with the club last term, to become the first manager to win a major trophy in his first year in charge. United are second in the Premier League, behind rivals Manchester City.

“José has already achieved a great deal as Manchester United manager and I am delighted that he has agreed to extend his commitment until at least 2020,” said executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward. “His work rate and professionalism are exceptional and he has embraced the club’s desire to promote top quality young players to the first team. He has brought an energy and a sense of purpose to everything that he does and I am sure that will continue to bring results for the fans and the club.”

Mourinho has confirmed Alexis Sánchez will go straight into the Manchester United squad for Friday’s FA Cup tie at Yeovil and believes “one of the best attacking players in the world” can only complement an already impressive front line.

“I have known Alexis for many years. I was in Italy when he was at Udinese, I was in Spain when he was at Barcelona and in England when he was at Arsenal. He can play on the left and on the right, as a striker and behind the striker. So he can play in four different positions, and as we have all seen, Alex has been successful in every role, in every country, for every manager. We want the best players possible and he is one of the best attacking players in the world.”

So is Cristiano Ronaldo, though Mourinho was unwilling to add to speculation that a possible return to United might be on the cards. “I think with the moment Real Madrid are having now I should be the last one to add fuel to the fire,” the United manager said. “I care about the club, I worked there for three years, so to put water on the fire instead I would say Cristiano is the kind of player every manager and club wants but only Zidane and Real Madrid can have him.”

The Guardian

The home-based Super Eagles on Tuesday whipped Equatorial Guinea 3-1 after coming from behind in Agadir, to advance into the quarter-finals of the 5th African Nations Championship (CHAN) holding in Morocco.

The Nigerian side dominated the game with many goal scoring chances being wasted as they had earlier done in each of their first two matches against Rwanda and Libya.

They had only Sunday Faleye’s 79th minute goal in the 1-0 win against Libya to point to before Tuesday’s match, and they soon looked like having to regret their wastefulness.

From a corner kick, Equatorial Guinea took the lead with five minutes to half time when Nsi Eyama’s powerful header flew past goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa into the net.

Faleye had a great opportunity to level up three minutes later as Anthony Okpotu chested down a pullout for him, but he fluffed it with only the goalkeeper to beat.

But, after bungling two further opportunities to level up within seven minutes of the second half, Okpotu sneaked in to head home Osas Okoro’s in-swinger in the 59th minute.

Ten minutes later, substitute Rabiu Ali found Dayo Ojo whose shot from about 25 metres out gave Nigeria their second goal and the lead.

Ali then scored from the penalty kick spot seven minutes from time to put the game beyond their foes, after Okpotu was upended in the box.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the result meant Nigeria finished as Group C winners, and will return to the Grand Stade in Tangier for the quarter-finals.

They will meet the runners-up from Group D on Sunday.

Already, the other quarter-final fixtures have hosts Morocco taking on Namibia in Casablanca on Saturday afternoon, while Zambia play Sudan in Marrakech on Saturday evening.

(NAN)

Joseph Parker says he will respond with a defiant smile if Anthony Joshua's punches cannot put a dent in his renowned chin during their world title unification clash.

The New Zealander holds a proud reputation of never being floored in his unbeaten career ahead of his heavyweight fight with Joshua at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on March 31, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

WBA 'super' and IBF champion Joshua has found a way to stop all 20 of his opponents, but WBO king Parker has suggested he could "crush" the home favourite's confidence by standing up to his best shots.

"If he hits me in the chin and doesn't hurt me then obviously I'll smile and try my best to hit him back," Parker exclusively told Sky Sports.

"I think some fighters when they throw a punch and throw everything they have and it doesn't affect the other person, it might crush them a bit.

"In boxing, some fighters have good chins. You just have to be persistent and continue following the plan and trying to catch them nicely, and obviously hope to be knocking him out.

"I know that if I got him into the trouble (Wladimir) Klitschko got him into, I wouldn't have let him off the pedal. I would put the pedal down and have chased him around."

Parker says there were no harsh words from Joshua as they posed for the customary face-off at the end of a prickly press conference last week.

But the Kiwi believes his promoter David Higgins succeeded in unsettling Joshua, who declared it would take "more than a human" to defeat himafter responding to claims from Parker's camp about his own chin.

"I don't know how to take that," said Parker. "I might have to be 'Superman' or 'Batman' or something. I don't know? Have to be more than human? I don't know what more you can be?

"He was rattled with what David was saying. For him to defend himself, shows that he didn't like what was coming his way. I don't think he really takes criticism that well."

Sky Sports

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice but had to leave the pitch with his face covered in blood as Real Madrid eased their domestic crisis by hammering Liga strugglers Deportivo La Coruna 7-1 at home on Sunday (Jan 21) to reclaim fourth place in the standings.

Real had lost two of their last three league games and got off on the wrong foot against relegation-threatened Deportivo when former Atletico Madrid forward Adrian Lopez put the visiting side ahead against the run of play in the 23rd minute.

The stumbling La Liga champions responded in emphatic fashion, however, and went on to record their biggest win of the season in all competitions with two goals apiece from Gareth Bale, Nacho Fernandez and Ronaldo as well as a long-range strike from Luka Modric.

Real climbed back above Villarreal into fourth place on 35 points but are still far behind runaway leaders Barcelona, who top the standings with 51 points and can move 11 clear of nearest challengers Atletico Madrid if they beat Real Betis later on Sunday.

"The players needed a game like this," Real coach Zinedine Zidane told reporters.

In-form defender Nacho lashed Madrid level after playing a one-two with Marcelo and then Bale produced a brilliant curled finish off the post to put Real in front as halftime approached.

Bale stretched his side's advantage after the interval by leaping to head in Toni Kroos's corner, scoring a sixth goal in seven league starts which proved his persistent muscle injuries have not harmed his striking prowess.

Ronaldo had had little luck in front of goal at that point but quickly stole the headlines with two strikes in six minutes and departed the pitch using a mobile phone to examine his blood-drenched face.

Reuters

Real Madrid are gradually restoring their confidence in the LaLiga with a 7-1 demolishing of Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.

Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nacho Fernandez each scored twice as Real Madrid came from behind to thrash Deportivo 7-1 at the Bernabeu.

Deportivo took the lead in the 23 minutes with Adrian Lopez’s strike but they held the advantage for just nine minutes.

The equaliser came when Nacho Fernandez turned home Marcelo’s cut-back, and the Brazilian full-back claimed another assist for Bale’s first goal.

Bale scored his second just before the hour, heading home a Toni Kroos corner.

Luka Modric scored Madrid’s fourth when he met Cristiano Ronaldo flick and drove home a powerful shot.

The fifth goal came 12 minutes from time, this time Casemiro perfectly picking out Ronaldo at the far post to tap home his first La Liga goal in 2018.

And Ronaldo had time to grab a second as he headed home Lucas Vazquez’s cross — but he took a boot in the face from Fabian Schaer and was left covered in blood.

Madrid had already made their three substitutions so had to carry on with 10 men and Nacho netted his second from close range in the 89th minute.

DailyPost 

Arsenal have reportedly had a first offer of €50 million for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rejected by his German club Borussia Dortmund, according to Kicker magazine on Saturday.

Aubameyang, last season's top scorer in the German league with 31 goals, has been dropped by Dortmund for the last two games amid speculation he is chasing a move to the Premier League club.

Arsenal are reportedly on the verge of selling Chile striker Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United.

Dortmund will not accept less than €60 million for Gabon hot-shot Aubameyang, who is under contract with Borussia until 2021, reports say.

Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke confirmed to SID, an AFP subsidiary, that there has now been contact with Arsenal, but said reports of a possible fee are "speculation" and "the first contact has not been about money".

Aubameyang was dropped for Dortmund's draws with Wolfsburg last Sunday and at Hertha Berlin on Friday after failing to attend a team meeting, and the club say he has lacked "focus" in training.

His father, also his agent, was said to be in London this week to try to push through a transfer to Arsenal.

Aubameyang trained hard alongside Dortmund's reserves for an hour on Saturday.

His tempo was noticeably higher than it had been having been dropped by Stoeger for Friday's draw after the head coach thought the striker had been distracted in the final session before the Bundesliga match in Berlin.

On Friday, while his club was drawing in Berlin, Aubameyang played a kick-about game indoors with his friends in Dortmund.

German daily Bild report that he wore a Dortmund shirt bearing the name of Ousmane Dembele, who transferred to Barcelona in August after going on strike to force the German club to sell him for €105 million.

Before the draw in Berlin, Dortmund's director of sport Michael Zorc said Aubameyang was still in the club's future plans, providing he changed his behaviour.

"There's a way back into the team for him, but professionalism is part of that, which includes saying you've made a mistake in one situation or another," added Zorc.

AFP