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UK Athletics fined $471K over ‘wholly avoidable’ death of Paralympian

LONDON (AP) — UK Athletics, the governing body of British track and field, was fined 350,000 pounds ($471,000) on Tuesday after pleading guilty to corporate manslaughter in the case of a Paralympian who died when a practice cage fell on him during training.

Abdullah Hayayei, 36, was preparing to represent the United Arab Emirates when he was hit on the head by a metal pole during the accident at Newham Leisure Centre in east London on July 11, 2017.

Judge Richard Marks said Hayayei’s death was “tragic, untimely and wholly avoidable” as he announced the sentence during a hearing at Central London Criminal Court on Tuesday.

Keith Davies, 79, who was head of sport for the 2017 world para athletics championships in London, was ordered to perform 175 hours of unpaid work after he plead guilty to a health and safety charge.

Davies, a retired physical education teacher, either knew or should have known about the problems with the equipment because of the previous collapse of an identical cage, Marks said.

“This was an accident which sooner or later was waiting to happen,” the judge said.

The 36-year-old Hayayei was training when part of the throwing cage fell on him. He had competed at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, finishing sixth in javelin and seventh in shot put.

The 440-pound (200-kilogram) cage is made out of metal poles and wire that is designed to protect spectators from errant throws by shot putters and other throwers.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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