National Rugby League side Brisbane Broncos player JAMES ROBERTS has been "rubbed out" of the grand final replay against the Cowboys on Friday night despite his legal counsel "vigorously arguing if the match review committee didn't charge him with kicking then his actions could not be considered contrary to the spirit of the game." Judiciary panel members BOB LINDNER, MAL COCHRANE and SEAN GARLICK took just six minutes to "find Roberts guilty" on Wednesday night over his contact with Titans forward RYAN SIMPKINS, "banning the speedster for the do-or-die showdown in Townsville against the premiers" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 9/14). ... The three doctors who treated PIERMARIO MOROSINI, who died "after suffering a cardiac arrest" while playing for Italian Lega Pro side Livorno in '12, "have been given suspended prison sentences of up to a year after being found guilty of manslaughter." Morosini, who was 25, "collapsed half an hour into a match at Pescara and died in hospital an hour and a half later." The three doctors were "accused of failing to treat Morosini correctly, not using a defibrillator despite there having been two at the stadium and a third in the ambulance that took Morosini to hospital" (ESPN.com, 9/14). ... Fifteen-year-old former Barcelona prodigy TAKEFUSA KUBO "will be cleared to play for FC Tokyo's top-flight team," which could make him the youngest ever to appear in the J.League's first division. Kubo is currently 15 years, three months old. Former Japan forward TAKAYUKI MORIMOTO "made his top-flight debut at a league record of 15 years, 10 months and six days in 2004" (KYODO, 9/13). ... The Int'l Paralympic Committee announced Argentinian judoka JORGE LENCINA has been disqualified from the men's judo -90kg and provisionally suspended for an anti-doping rule violation committed at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Lencina returned an adverse analytical finding for clomiphene in a urine sample provided on Sept. 8 in an out-of-competition test (IPC).
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| Australian country musician Keith Urban |
URBAN HEADLINE: Country musician KEITH URBAN will headline the National Rugby League grand final show "in October ahead of a national tour." Australian country music star Urban "will be joined on the line up by RICHIE SAMBORA, a founder member of Bon Jovi, and Adelaide-born guitarist ORIANTHI." NRL Commercial Chief ANDREW ABDO said, "These are three of the greatest musicians and guitarists currently touring the world and to have them on the same set will be nothing short of spectacular." The Oct. 2 grand final will be played at ANZ Stadium (AAP, 9/15).
