Mourinho’s 4-match ban, Sinner award nomination withdrawn, Hamilton enjoying Ferrari life

Thursday nights with no European football present little in the sense of live sporting action with the main bits saved for the weekend. And, while there was one English Premier League match, the main highlights were elsewhere. So let’s dive right in and take a look at the main news headlines while you were sleeping. Special ban Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho was handed a four-match ban and fined by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) following his comments about Turkish referees after a match at Galatasaray. The TFF fined the 62-year-old Portuguese 1,617,000 Turkish lira (US$44,000) after he criticised the match officials in a press conference following the 0-0 Super Lig draw on Monday. The penalties were due to “derogatory and offensive statements towards the Turkish referee” and accusations of chaos and disorder in Turkish football, the TFF said. The TFF said Mourinho’s remarks violated sports ethics, promoted violence and disorder and could incite fan incidents. Monday’s game was refereed by Slovenian Slavko Vincic after both clubs requested a foreign official take charge. Fenerbahce issued a statement on Tuesday defending Mourinho, saying his comments were taken out of context and deliberately distorted. Former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur manager Mourinho has previously been fined and suspended for his comments about Turkish match officials. Ruud takes Hammering It’s not looking good for Ruud van Nistelrooy at Leicester City. Since taking charge for the reverse of last night’s fixture in December and opening with a 3-1 win, it has been pretty dire ever since. A shock – or maybe not too surprising – 2-1 victory away to Tottenham was all Foxes fans have had to smile about in that time. And Friday saw no upturn in form as they were beaten 2-0 by a West Ham side who built on their impressive 1-0 victory at Arsenal last weekend. Tomas Soucek opened the scoring before Jannik Vestergaard deflected in Jarred Bowen’s shot to kill the game before half-time. Victory takes West Ham above Everton and up to 15th while, for Leicester, that’s an 11th defeat in their last 12 matches as their dismal run shows no signs of stopping. Van Nistelrooy may no longer be manager when you read this as pressure mounts, but the club sit 19th – five points from safety – so, Dutchman or not, it will take a minor miracle for them to avoid relegation from here given their form. Sinner pulled from award The nomination of Jannik Sinner for the Laureus sportsman of the year award was withdrawn because of the top-ranked tennis player’s three-month ban for his two positive doping tests nearly a year ago. Laureus World Sports Academy chairman Sean Fitzpatrick said in a statement that the Italian player’s ban resulting from a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency prompted the decision. “Following discussions by the Laureus Academy it has been decided that Jannik Sinner’s nomination for this year’s Laureus world sportsman of the year award is to be withdrawn,” Fitzpatrick said. “We have followed this case, the decisions of the relevant global bodies and – whilst we note the extenuating circumstances involved – feel that the three-month ban renders the nomination ineligible. Jannik and his team have been informed.” Sinner and Wada announced the settlement on February 15. Top of the world Lewis Hamilton said he was “really enjoying” driving his Ferrari after ending the second morning of Formula One’s pre-season testing in Bahrain with his name on top of the time sheets. The seven-times world champion was second overall for the day but only 0.031 seconds slower than Carlos Sainz, the Spaniard whose place he took at Ferrari and who will be racing for Williams when the season starts in Australia on March 16. “I am really enjoying the car. We’re slowly bonding, I think,” Hamilton told television reporters at Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit. “Yesterday was a so-so day, it was just OK. But yesterday we got through all our run-plan. “Today was a bit more of getting to explore a bit my interaction with my engineer. But so far I really enjoy driving this car,” added the 40-year-old, who won six of his titles with Mercedes and one with McLaren. LA’s traffic measures A California lawmaker wants those attending the 2026 Fifa World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles to take the city’s mass transit in an effort to curb road traffic. California Assemblymember Tina McKinnor introduced a bill that would impose a US$5 fee on official ticket purchases for these games. The fee – equal to the cost of an LA Metro day pass – would be transferred to the transit agency, and ticket purchasers would be able to use their event admission to access the system’s buses and rail lines. The city is counting on the major expansion of its public transit system to alleviate traffic on its notoriously congested roads and be complete before the Olympic torch relay kicks off. “When the games begin, increased domestic and global visitors will further congest LA County’s already stressed road based transportation infrastructure, complicating game related logistics and impacting public safety response times,” the bill’s text said. It adds that “decades of investments” have prepared the city’s transit system to accommodate fans during these events.

Mourinho’s 4-match ban, Sinner award nomination withdrawn, Hamilton enjoying Ferrari life

Ex-Chelsea and Manchester United boss suspended following tense 0-0 draw between his Fenerbahce and arch-rivals Galatasaray

Special ban