North Korea will not compete in an Olympic women's football qualifying tournament scheduled for next February in South Korea, a source told Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday.According to the source, North Korea recently informed the Asian Football Confederation that they will not enter the third round of the Asian qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.That competition will run from Feb. 3-9, 2020, on the South Korean island of Jeju."North Korea didn't give reasons for their withdrawal, and t

LONDON (AFP) -- Tottenham Hotspur have failed with their appeal against Son Heung-min's red card, the Football Association announced Tuesday.The South Korean winger saw red in the second half of Spurs' 2-0 loss at home to Chelsea in a spiteful London derby on Sunday after VAR confirmed he had kicked out at Blues defender Antonio Rudiger after being fouled. Tottenham launched an appeal but the FA upheld his red card, meaning Son will now serve a three-game ban ruling him out of the matches at hom

South Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin is scheduled to depart for Toronto on Christmas Day to finalize his contract with the Blue Jays, his Seoul-based agency said Tuesday.A•Spec Corp. said the 32-year-old left-hander will fly to Toronto on a 10:20 a.m. flight out of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Wednesday. The agency added Ryu will not speak with the press at the airport and will instead have his media availability here after he returns home from Toronto.The agency said Ryu w

LONDON (AFP) -- The latest racism row engulfing English football took a fresh turn Monday amid reports Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min as well as Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger had been abused by spectators during Sunday's fractious London derby.Chelsea's 2-0 Premier League win at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium saw referee Anthony Taylor halt play during the second half when Rudiger complained of hearing monkey noises from spectators.Moments earlier, the Chelsea defender had been involved in a clash

South Korean free agent left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, a US report said.Jeff Passan of ESPN reported on Sunday (US Eastern Time) that Ryu has agreed to a four-year deal worth $80 million, citing multiple sources. Other reports said the deal has a full no-trade clause and no opt outs.The Blue Jays have not yet confirmed the deal. If the deal is finalized, Ryu will be the second South Korean player to play for the Jays, after reliever Oh Seung-hwan, who spent half

South Korean free agent shortstop Oh Ji-hwan will be returning to his original club after all, following criticism of unreasonable demands at the negotiating table.The LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization announced on Friday that Oh has agreed to a four-year deal worth 4 billion won ($3.4 million). The deal includes a signing bonus of 1.6 billion won, and the 29-year-old will be making 600 million won in annual salary.Oh was drafted by the Twins out of high school in 2009 and has spent hi

South Korean men's national football captain Son Heung-min has been named the country's best player of the year for a record fourth time.The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced on Thursday that Son, the attacking stalwart for Tottenham Hotspur, was voted the Male Player of the Year for 2019. Son was also honored in 2013, 2014 and 2017. The fourth award breaks a tie with three-time honoree Ki Sung-yueng, who earned the award in 2011, 2012 and 2016.Son topped the voting by the media and the

South Korean men‘s national football captain Son Heung-min has been named the country’s best player of the year for a record fourth time.The Korea Football Association announced on Thursday that Son, the attacking stalwart for Tottenham Hotspur, was voted the Male Player of the Year for 2019.Son was also honored in 2013, 2014 and 2017. The fourth award breaks a tie with three-time honoree Ki Sung-yueng, who earned the award in 2011, 2012 and 2016. Son topped the voting by the media a

BARCELONA (AFP) -- Barcelona and Real Madrid could not be separated on Wednesday in a Clasico that was overshadowed by violent clashes between Catalan independence protestors and police outside Camp Nou.After being postponed in October, there were renewed fears of unrest around Spain's most famous fixture and while the match was only briefly interrupted by yellow beach balls thrown onto the pitch, outside the stadium, chaos ensued.Masked protesters had set bins on fire and thrown rocks and glass

South Korean left-hander Kim Kwang-hyun has signed with the St. Louis Cardinals, fulfilling his dream of pitching in the majors in his second crack.The Cardinals announced on Tuesday (local time) their signing of the 31-year-old pitcher and introduced him right away at a press conference at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The deal is reportedly worth $8 million for two years.In 2019, his 12th season with the SK Wyverns in the Korea Baseball Organization, Kim went 17-6 with a 2.51 ERA and 180 strikeo

Hosts South Korea finished in second place at a women's East Asian football tournament on Tuesday following a 1-0 loss to Japan.Yuka Momiki converted an 88th-minute penalty, awarded after defender Shim Seo-yeon's handball violation in the box, and the Nadeshiko Japan held on to win the East Asian Football Federation E-1 Football Championship for the third time.The two sides fired blanks at one another for most of the tight, defensive affair at Busan Gudeok Stadium in Busan, 450 kilometers southe

Accolades keep flowing for Son Heung-min.The South Korean football star was named MVP of Tottenham Hotspur for the calendar year 2019 on Monday by the CIES Football Observatory, a research group within the Switzerland-based International Centre for Sports Studies. Founded in 2005, the CIES Football Observatory specializes in the statistical analysis of football. The research group named MVPs for each club in Europe's five major circuits: the Premier League in England, Bundesliga in Germany, La L

The top South Korean baseball league announced its 2020 regular season schedule on Monday.The Korea Baseball Organization said the new season will begin on March 28, making it the third straight regular season to open on a Saturday. The 10 clubs will each play 144 games.Defending champions the Doosan Bears will host the Lotte Giants at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul for a two-game opening series. Other opening weekend matchups are: the Kiwoom Heroes hosting the LG Twins at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seou

South Korean rookie Im Sung-jae defeated the reigning US Open champion Gary Woodland in the singles match at the Presidents Cup on Sunday, though Im's effort wasn't enough to get his International Team over the hump.Powered by a back-nine charge at Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Im beat the American veteran 4 & 3 for his third win in five matches in his first Presidents Cup appearance.The biennial Presidents Cup pits a team of non-European international golfers against Americans in match play. A

MELBOURNE (AP) -- Tiger Woods set the Presidents Cup record for most victories and set the tone for his US team Sunday at Royal Melbourne.Woods seized control around the turn against Abraham Ancer and won, 3 and 2, in the first of 12 singles matches. The Americans need to win singles for the first time in 10 years to overcome a two-point deficit against the International team.Woods went 3-0 for the week as the first playing captain since Hale Irwin at the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994. His si