SPORTS DIGEST:MOTOR SPORT: Renault will face charges of fixing last year's Singapore Grand Prix by staging a crash that helped Spaniard Fernando Alonso win, Formula One's governing body said yesterday.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that Renault representatives had been summoned to an extraordinary meeting of its Council in Paris on September 21st, the Monday before this year's Singapore race.
The charges were that "the team conspired with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, Fernando Alonso".
If found guilty the team could be kicked out of the championship they won in 2005 and 2006. Renault, whose team boss Flavio Briatore co-owns English soccer club Queen's Park Rangers with Bernie Ecclestone, have made no comment.
Aussies play down venue talk
RUGBY: Australia and South Africa have talked down the significance of their last meeting in Brisbane ahead of this morning's clash (11.05, Sky Sports 2)at Suncorp Stadium.
Australia have held all the aces at the Queensland venue, with the Springboks yet to register a win there in five attempts. The two sides last clashed there in 2006, with the hosts registering a thumping 49-0 win – by some margin Australia’s greatest ever triumph over South Africa.
Yet the fortunes of the two teams have taken vastly different paths since, with the Wallabies staring down the barrel of seven consecutive Tri-Nations defeats and the visitors on the cusp of an undefeated run through the tournament. Wallabies captain George Smith believes his team-mates have made a conscious effort to overlook their impressive home record in Brisbane.
“I think the boys have had good success here in the past, apart from the Kiwi game last year – it’s always been a stadium where you enjoy playing. But we haven’t spoken about that game that happened three years ago . . . our focus has been on this week’s game rather than what happened in the past.”
Geraghty through to last 16
BOXING: Ireland's boxers experienced a morning of contrasting fortunes at the World Championships in Milan yesterday after flyweight Declan Geraghty advanced but Irish captain Eric Donovan bowed out.
Geraghty, of the Dublin Docklands club, became the first Irish boxer to book a ticket into the last 16 of the tournament following a thrilling 11-9 win over Mumin Veli of Macedonia. But Donovan exited after he lost 11-6 out to Indian lightweight Jai Bhagwan, despite taking a 4-1 lead in the first round.
Bolt ends League on high note
ATHLETICS: Brussels played host to the last Golden League meeting last night and while Usain Bolt was once again the headline act, practically jogging the 200m in an amazing 19.57 seconds, Ireland's Paul Hession at least got to start in the lane next him, before finishing some ways back in fifth in 20.65 seconds, writes Ian O'Riordan.
David Gillick yet again underlined his status as a world-class 400-metre runner with a fourth place finish in an equally stacked field, victory there going to the American Jeremy Wariner in 44.94 seconds. Gillick looked a little tired after his great season, but still finished strongly in 45.73 seconds, not bad in the cool conditions.
Derval O’Rourke also lined up in a red-hot 100 metres hurdles in the lane next to World champion Brigitte Foster-Hylton, and after a great start, lost some ground to finish fifth in 13.08 seconds, as Foster-Hylton took the win again in a superb 12.48 seconds.
Only three athletes were left in the hunt for a share of the Golden League jackpot of €700,000 – the reward for going unbeaten in all six meetings – and each came out victorious last night; Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele (winning a hard-fought 5,000m in 12:55.33), American Sanya Richards (who took the 400 metres in an excellent 48.83) and Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva (victorious in pole vault).
