SPORTS BRIEFS – Taipei Times

• Staff writer, with agencies

SOCCER

Indonesia to raze stadium

Indonesia is to demolish and rebuild a soccer stadium where a stampede killed more than 130 people on Oct. 1, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said yesterday, as he vowed to “thoroughly transform” the sport in the soccer-mad nation. The president was speaking to reporters at the state palace after meeting FIFA president Gianni Infantino. “Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang … we will demolish it and rebuild according to FIFA standards,” he said. A fact-finding team formed by the government released a report last week blaming the stampede after a league match on police firing tear gas in the stadium, a crowd control measure banned by FIFA. The team also said that more than three hours of closed-circuit television footage had been deleted about an hour after the match.

ARCHERY

Taiwanese wins bronze

Taiwan’s Peng Chia-mao on Sunday clinched the women’s recurve bronze at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final after defeating home favorite Alejandra Valencia in Tlaxcala, Mexico. The 26-year-old Peng, ranked world No. 11 in women’s recurve, went 2-0 ahead in the first set and never relinquished her lead throughout the five-set encounter, shooting 28 in the final set to win 7-3 against the Mexican archer. Valencia tied with Peng in sets two to four to gain three points. Peng’s route to the bronze-medal match saw her sweep world No. 44 Utano Agu of Japan 6-0 in the quarter-finals, but lose 6-4 to world No. 1 An San of South Korea in the semis.

FOOTBALL

Broncos rack up penalties

On the first play of Damarri Mathis’ first NFL start on Monday, the Denver Broncos cornerback committed a 30-yard pass interference penalty. When the Broncos’ 19-16 overtime loss was finished, he had been flagged for pass interference four times for 87 penalty yards — the fifth-most by a single player in any single game since the 2000 NFL season. Mathis faced up to questions in the SoFi Stadium visitors’ locker room after the game, and the fourth-round pick from the University of Pittsburgh did not cry foul over all those flags. “Just need to clean up my technique,” Mathis said. “I was in good position. I don’t even want to [say the calls were] questionable.” The rest of the Broncos (2-4) also largely did not complain after they were hit with 10 penalties for 151 yards in their third consecutive loss. That is the second-most penalty yards in franchise history, the most since 1976 and the most by any NFL team this season.

CURLING

Fire US curling head: group

A majority of USA Curling’s diversity task force has called for the removal of Jeff Plush as the national governing body’s CEO, accusing him of failing to act when confronted with allegations of sexual abuse and other misconduct while serving as the commissioner of the US National Women’s Soccer League. “He cannot be trusted to prioritize the safety and well-being of athletes in this organization,” the group said in a statement. “We are concerned about the immediate safety of US curlers.” An investigation by former US attorney general Sally Yates showed that Plush was aware of abuse allegations against Portland Thorns coach Paul Riley, but did not do anything to prevent him from coaching in the league.