LONDON, England (AFP) — Former England striker Gary Lineker has criticised Arsenal supporters for verbally abusing the club’s manager Arsene Wenger, describing it as “disgustingly disrespectful and totally inexcusable”.

A video has emerged apparently showing a group of people shouting foul-mouthed abuse at Wenger as he boarded a train after his side’s 3-2 loss at Stoke City on Saturday.

The result left the north London club 13 points below leaders Chelsea in the Premier League table, but Lineker said there was no excuse for the fans lashing out at Wenger, who has been Arsenal manager since 1996.

“Just saw the Wenger abuse video,” the BBC television presenter wrote on Twitter. “Disgustingly disrespectful and totally inexcusable, regardless of any bloody football results.”

The tweet quickly garnered over 5,000 retweets from Lineker’s followers.

Wenger, 65, won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups during his first nine years at Arsenal, but last season’s success in the FA Cup was the club’s first piece of silverware since 2005.

The Frenchman has faced protests from supporters this season, with some fans unveiling a banner calling for him to leave after Arsenal’s recent 1-0 win at West Bromwich Albion.

Sampras laments decline of men’s tennis in US

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — American legend Pete Sampras lamented yesterday the decline of US men’s tennis, saying he didn’t know anyone capable of breaking into the top ranks for his home country.

Fourteen-time Grand Slam winner Sampras blamed the increasingly global and competitive nature of top-level tennis, saying it would “take time” before American men were dominant again.

“We haven’t had anyone at the top for a long time now,” Sampras told reporters at the International Premier Tennis League in New Delhi.

“It takes time to get American tennis back to where it was,” said Sampras, who dominated the game, along with compatriot Andre Agassi, before retiring in 2002.

Sampras, who retired at the age of 32, predicted the three big names of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal would continue to dominate next season.

“Novak Djokovic is the obvious choice. Roger is very motivated to get to number one. Rafa is uncertain with his health, but I feel like once he’s healthy he’ll be in the mix,” he said.

But the 43-year-old said Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, ranked 11 in the world, was one to watch.

US tennis player Pete Sampras of the Indian Aces plays against Australia’s Patrick Rafter of the Singapore Slammers during their International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) past champions match in New Delhi on Sunday. (PHOTO: AFP)

IOC votes to allow Olympics to be hosted by two countries

MONACO (AFP) — The International Olympic Committee yesterday voted to allow Olympic Games to be hosted by two countries and to add new sports as part of sweeping changes to the world’s biggest sporting event.

The measures are part of a campaign by IOC president Thomas Bach to make the Summer and Winter Olympics cheaper to stage and more attractive to the public as it battles increased competition for audiences.

Bach has proposed 40 reforms, known as Agenda 2020, to be voted today at a special session of the 104 member IOC in Monaco.

The first measures were unanimously passed and Bach called them “a major step forward in the organisation of the Olympic Games”.

The votes allowed for future Games to be hosted by two cities, or two countries for “sustainability” and “geography” reasons.

Bidding for the Games should be cheaper as the number of presentations will be cut and the IOC will pay more of the costs.

In a new bid to increase the attraction of the Games, host cities will be allowed to suggest a one-off extra sport, which would have to be approved by the IOC.

But the number of athletes will be capped at 10,500 for the Summer Olympics and 2,900 for the Winter Games, which means that if new sports are added, other sports will have to cut the number of medal events.

Van Gaal urges Falcao to be patient

LONDON, England (AFP) — Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has declared that Radamel Falcao must content himself with a bit-part role as the on-loan Colombian striker works his way back to full fitness.

Falcao has played for only 283 minutes since signing from Monaco on transfer deadline day and has scored just once, in a 2-1 win over Everton in early October.

The 28-year-old is short of sharpness following a month-long absence with a calf problem and Van Gaal told yesterday’s editions of several British newspapers that he will have to bide his time.

Falcao was expected to be named on the bench when United visit Southampton in the Premier League yesterday, and when asked if the striker was happy with that, Van Gaal replied: “I am not interested in that. He has to follow my philosophy. Do you understand that? I am here because of that.

“I have selected him in spite of the fact he can only play for 20 minutes, because the rhythm of the game in the Premier League is the highest.”

Despite Rooney missing the 2-1 win over Stoke due to a knee injury, Van Gaal was expected to select 19-year-old James Wilson to partner Robin van Persie in attack, rather than Falcao.

Falcao has scored goals at a prolific rate for Porto, Atletico Madrid and Monaco, but he has not played regularly since damaging his anterior cruciate ligament in January.

Clarke fit to lead Aussies in emotional opening Test

ADELAIDE, Australia (AFP) —Michael Clarke was yesterday passed fit to lead Australia in the emotional opening Test against India in Adelaide, with the late Phillip Hughes symbolically named 13th man.

Clarke had been in doubt for the series opener starting today with recurring hamstring problems and in the wake of the heart-wrenching death of his close friend Hughes, which plunged the cricket world into mourning.

He was not at the traditional captain’s pre-match media conference at the Adelaide Oval, but fast bowler Mitchell Johnson confirmed the skipper would lead Australia in what will be an emotional day.

Hughes never regained consciousness after being struck by a bouncer during a domestic game in Sydney, and died in hospital surrounded by family and friends last month.

“It’s a huge boost to have Clarkey back in and playing for us,” Johnson told reporters of the Test, which was originally scheduled for Brisbane but was delayed and switched to Adelaide after the Hughes tragedy.

“I think with his captaincy he’s shown how strong he’s been over the last couple of weeks with the tragedy that we’ve had. We need him out there in this tough series.”

Sean Abbott could return to action today

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Sean Abbott, who delivered the ball that killed Australian batsman Phillip Hughes, is set to return to action after being named yesterday in the New South Wales squad.

There were fears that the young fast bowler may have been too traumatised to play again after Hughes died from being hit by one of his bouncers at the Sydney Cricket Ground last month.

But he was included in a 12-man squad to play Queensland in a Sheffield Shield fixture in Sydney starting today.

Abbott attended Hughes’s funeral last week and many people around the cricket world have expressed solidarity with the 22-year-old following the freak accident.

“Brilliant news… the whole cricket family are right behind you Sean,” said former England captain Michael Vaughan on Twitter in reaction to Abbott being selected.

NSW captain Moises Henriques said the bowler was holding up well.

“He’s coping pretty well,” Henriques told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Donovan’s storied career gets fairy tale ending

LOS ANGELES, USA (AFP) — The Los Angeles Galaxy gave Landon Donovan a fairytale ending to a storied career Sunday, beating the New England Revolution 2-1 after extra time in the MLS Cup final.

Ireland international Robbie Keane scored the winning goal in the 111th minute as the Galaxy claimed a record fifth Major League Soccer title.

Donovan, the all-time leading scorer for both the United States and in Major League Soccer, announced he would retire at the end of the season in August — after he was left off Jurgen Klinsmann’s World Cup squad.

Keane, the newly named Most Valuable Player of the MLS regular season, endured a difficult afternoon at the StubHub Centre in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, but came through when it mattered the most. He slipped in behind the defence — thanks to superb ball from Marcelo Sarvas — to slide a shot into the bottom right corner.

“It was a tough game,” Keane said. “I think there was a lot of nerves there, I think by both teams.

“I think we didn’t play as well as we know we can at home, but it doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day, we won, and we’re the champions again.”

NFL, NBA players support ‘I can’t breathe’ protests

WASHINGTON, USA (AFP) — Several NFL players joined other stars Sunday to support the “I can’t breathe” protests sweeping the United States demanding justice for black men who have died at the hands of white policemen.

On Saturday, Chicago Bulls NBA star Derrick Rose wore a T-shirt bearing the words, which has become the slogan of the demonstrations in major US cities because they were the last phrase uttered by a black father of six in New York when police placed him in a chokehold.

Eric Garner died but a grand jury on Wednesday decided not to charge the white police officer, triggering days of protests in several US cities.

Detroit Lions running back Reggie Bush wore a top with “I can’t breathe” written on it ahead of an NFL game on Sunday, as did Cleveland Browns ace Johnson Bademosi.

Davin Joseph, a St Louis Rams guard, wrote the same words on his cleats and tweeted it, along with the caption: “RIP Eric Garner.”

Five Rams players incurred the wrath of a St Louis police organisation a week ago when they entered the field with the same “hands up, don’t shoot” gesture adopted by protesters in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson after a white policeman there shot dead an unarmed black teenager.