Athletics

A judge at the Old Bailey has fined UK Athletics £350,000 with £44,000 in costs after hearing how a paralympic athlete died when equipment fell on him at a training ground in east London.

Shot-putter Abdullah Hayayei was killed when a metal cage collapsed as he prepared for the World Para-athletics Championships in 2017.

He had previously represented the United Arab Emirates at the Rio Paralympics when he competed in the javelin and shot put.

Judge Richard Marks KC described Mr Hayayei’s death as “tragic, untimely and wholly avoidable.”

He also handed UKA’s former head of sport, 79-year-old Keith Davies, a 175-hour community service order after hearing how he was in charge of the equipment, which had been assembled with vital base plates missing.

The court heard how a strong gust of wind had collapsed the cage and Mr Hayayei had died of head injuries after being hit by a heavy metal bar.

The athlete was a 36-year-old wheelchair user who lived with cerebral palsy.

The court heard from his widow Badriah, who said his death had left her coping alone with five young children.

UK Athletics had pleaded guilty to a charge of corporate manslaughter at an earlier hearing in February. Mr Davies pleaded guilty to a breach of health and safety law at the same hearing.

The investigation and legal process following Mr Hayayei’s death has taken nearly a decade to complete.

Police said their investigation had involved years of meticulous work by detectives which uncovered photos from around a dozen athletics events where the same cage had been used by the UK Athletics officials. They showed the restraints were not being used to secure the equipment.

Sentencing, Judge Marks said Mr Hayayei’s death was an accident which sooner or later was “waiting to happen”.

Earlier in the hearing, Prosecutor John Price KC told the court that in the years following the incident, UKA attempted to blame the athlete’s death on Mr Davies, and even “tried to point the finger” at the Newham venue.

He described a statement later submitted by UKA as “a deeply unworthy document by a national sporting body and one of which it should be ashamed”.

Fining UKA, the judge agreed that it had been “most unattractive” but it was “a stance” that was adopted by their previous team of managers.

It had been disavowed by the current leaders of the organisation who had expressed “sincere regret”.

UKA, he said, is essentially “a club of passionate members” and was aimed at developing elite athletes and sport at a grassroots level.

He noted that the organisation had a turnover of £13.8m in 2025 with a projected loss of £400,000. He granted UKA six years to pay the fine in instalments.

In a statement, UK Athletics said it was “deeply sorry” and that “substantial changes” have been made around safety and governance.

“While nothing can undo what happened, there has been a determined focus on learning from these events and ensuring stronger standards and safeguards are in place throughout athletics,” UK Athletics said.

“We respectfully accept the court’s decision today and remain committed to continuing that work with the seriousness and responsibility this case demands.”

The Angels led for five innings before crumbling late en route to a 10-inning, 3-2 loss to the Athletics on Thursday night at Angel Stadium, all in front of a sparse crowd featuring fiery “sell-the-team” chants from shirtless fans in the upper deck.

With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 10th, the A’s Zack Gelof hit into a fielder’s choice groundout off reliever Ryan Zeferjahn.

Angels second baseman Adam Frazier had trouble getting the ball out of his glove after catching shortstop Zach Neto’s throw. That allowed Nick Kurtz to reach home as the go-ahead run.

Gelof was initially called out, but the A’s won the challenge — and ultimately the game 3-2.

“Yeah, [Frazier] looked like he just couldn’t get the ball out of his glove,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “You know, one of those things where the ball got in, and he was doing everything right to turn it, just couldn’t get out of his glove.”

Bare chested fans wave their shirts in right field during the seventh inning of the Angels’ loss to the Athletics on Thursday at Angel Stadium. The fans chanted for Angels owner Arte Moreno to “sell the team.”

(Luke Hales / Getty Images)

The Angels were unable to tie against A’s reliever Mark Leiter Jr., who earned the save, despite having runners on the corners and zero outs in the bottom half of the frame. Zeferjahn (2-2) took the loss.

Nolan Schanuel gave the Angels a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two-run homer. But the Angels’ offense, which has been outscored 84-32 since a May 9 loss in Toronto, continued to struggle.

“They believe,” Suzuki said of the Angels’ spirit, specifically on offense. “Every inning, you got all the guys — they’re all up there, rooting guys on and believing that we’re going to put up runs, and really, we’re just not. And it’s not for a lack of effort; it’s not for a lack of anything like that. We just need to find ways to score runs, that’s all.”

The Athletics took advantage of the small deficit, as Darell Hernáiz and Nick Kurtz hit RBI singles in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, to tie the game and force extras.

Angels starter José Soriano surrendered two runs and six hits over 6 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts. A’s starter Luis Severino surrendered two runs on three hits over seven frames with 10 strikeouts.

“I’ll take away the positive things,” Soriano said. “[I] got into the seventh, but couldn’t complete the inning, but I feel good (about) the way I pitched today. I helped the team the most I can … I control what I could control … I battled; I feel good about that.”

After failing to split the four-game series with the AL West-leading A’s, the Angels have dropped four consecutive series and hold an MLB-worst 17-34 record.

That has prompted a growing group of fans to gather shirtless in the upper deck at Angel Stadium and chant that owner Arte Moreno should “sell the team.” The chants could be heard on the Angels’ TV broadcast.

The players, meanwhile, are trying to string together enough good plays to score more wins.

“Really just trying to get the rhythm going of just piling on good at-bat after good at-bat after good at-bat,” Angels right fielder Jo Adell said. “We just haven’t really had that rhythm. It’s like a good at-bat here, and we struggle to kind of pile up after one another and get that rhythm going. We’re hoping to, at some point, find what that is; we’ve had it, we know what it is. But it’s just one of those things, baseball can kind of just slip away from you.”

The road ahead doesn’t get any easier for the Angels. The Angels host the Rangers (24-25), who are a close second in the AL West and riding a two-game winning streak.

Jeff McNeil hit a tying homer in the ninth inning and Tyler Soderstrom had an RBI single in the 10th to rally the Athletics past the Angels 6-5 on Wednesday night.

The Angels loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 10th but left-hander Hogan Harris got Jorge Soler to ground out, sending the Angels to their 23rd loss in 29 games.

A’s reliever Scott Barlow (1-0) threw a scoreless ninth for the win. Angels right-hander Chase Silseth (1-1) took the loss after giving up an unearned run in the 10th.

The teams combined for eight runs in the first two innings, with the Angels taking a 5-3 lead on Soler’s two-run homer in the first and Jo Adell’s solo shot and Josh Lowe’s two-run drive off A’s starter Aaron Civale in the second.

Soderstrom hit a two-run single in the first, and Henry Bolte scored when Lowe misplayed Carlos Cortes’ single to left field in the second.

Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz walked four and hit a batter with a pitch in the first two innings, but the right-hander retired 12 straight batters — six by strikeout — from the third through the sixth before handing the ball to the bullpen.

Mike Trout rounds second during the first inning Wednesday.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

Angels reliever Ryan Zeferjahn plunked two batters in the seventh, and Sam Bachman gave up an RBI single to Nick Kurtz, trimming the Angels’ lead to 5-4.

Bachman retired the side in order in the eighth, but Kirby Yates couldn’t convert his first save opportunity for the Angels, as McNeil led off the ninth by curling his second homer inside the right-field foul pole, tying the score at 5.

Cortes walked with two outs and Shea Langeliers was hit by a pitch, but Angels left-hander Tayler Saucedo, called up from triple-A earlier Wednesday, got Kurtz to tap back to the mound to end the inning.

Nick Kurtz had three hits and five RBIs, Brent Rooker and Zack Gelof homered and drove in three runs apiece as the Athletics beat the Angels 14-6 on Tuesday night.

The Athletics scored 12 of their runs with two out.

Kurtz, the reigning American League rookie of the year, sparked a six-run third inning with an RBI single, keyed a two-run sixth with a two-run single and added a two-run double in a four-run eighth.

Reliever Justin Sterner (2-3) escaped a first-and-third, two-out jam in the fourth and earned the win for the AL West-leading A’s, who snapped a three-game skid.

Mike Trout hit his 12th homer of the season, a solo shot, and finished with two RBIs for the last-place Angels, who have lost 22 of 28 games since an 11-10 start.

Angels starter Reid Detmers (1-5) was tagged for eight runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. The left-hander retired seven straight batters to open the game, five by strikeout, before Jeff McNeil and Darell Hernaiz singled in the third.

Shea Langeliers flied out before Kurtz punched an RBI single to center to extend his on-base streak 42 games, the sixth-longest in franchise history. Colby Thomas followed with a two-run double, Rooker added an RBI single, Henry Bolte hit a ground-rule double, and Gelof had a two-run single for a 6-0 lead.

Trout led off the bottom of the third with his 43rd career homer against the A’s. That tied him with Rafael Palmeiro and Alex Rodriguez for the most since the A’s moved to California in 1968. Trout also scored his 600th Angel Stadium run on the play, the most in franchise history.

The Angels pulled within 6-4 in the fourth on Trout’s bases-loaded walk and Vaughn Grissom’s two-run single, which knocked A’s starter Jacob Lopez out of the game. But Sterner got Jorge Soler to fly out, ending the inning.

The A’s, who pounded out 15 hits, pulled away with eight runs over the final four innings, with Kurtz driving in four, Gelof hitting a solo homer in the seventh and Rooker a two-run shot in the eighth.

Adam Frazier singled, leading off the ninth inning for the first hit against Athletics starter J.T. Ginn, and Zach Neto followed with a two-run homer that gave the Angels a 2-1 victory Monday night.

Neto drove a 2-0 sinker 413 feet to center field, stunning Ginn and the A’s while ending a six-game losing streak for the Angels. It was their third walk-off win this season.

Ginn (2-2) struck out 10 and issued one walk on 105 pitches. He also hit Neto with a pitch in the sixth.

The right-hander was perfect through 4 1/3 innings and came within three outs of the first major league no-hitter since Shota Imanaga combined with two Chicago Cubs relievers for a 12-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 4, 2024.

Lawrence Butler had a pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the ninth that drove in Zack Gelof for the first run of the game, but the Angels rallied to win despite getting outhit 7-2.

Walbert Ureña tossed six scoreless innings for the Angels, giving up four hits and striking out four. Ryan Zeferjahn gave up the first run of the game and walked the bases loaded, but Chase Silseth (1-0) worked out of the jam by getting slugger Nick Kurtz to ground into a game-ending double play.

Kurtz’s fifth-inning double extended his on-base streak to 41 games, tying Eddie Joost (1949) for the sixth-longest in A’s history. Kurtz is also tied with Kyle Schwarber last year for the longest in the big leagues across the last four seasons.

I walked around a street fair in Irvine over the weekend, checking out the crowd while waiting for my daughter’s dance team to perform. We were a few short miles from Angel Stadium, but you wouldn’t have known it: lots of people wearing Dodgers caps, someone wearing a Shohei Ohtani cap, someone else wearing an Ohtani jersey, someone else wearing a Clayton Kershaw jersey, a dog wearing a Dodgers bandana, and people repping the Padres, Giants, Athletics and Yankees.

After 25 minutes, someone walked by in an Angels cap.

If the passion wanes, apathy can set in. I wondered if that is where the Angels might find themselves now, with a slice of their fan base finding a more enjoyable way to spend its summers than watching one losing season after another, and with the shadow of baseball’s best team extending ever more securely into Orange County.

Something else happened over the weekend that made me wonder. On the heels of a winless road trip, and on the day before the Angels would claim the worst record in the major leagues, Angels general manager Perry Minasian said this to reporters: “Our best baseball is in front of us. There’s no doubt about that.”

No doubt?

Angels general manager Perry Minasian declined to predict in the team would make the playoffs this season.

(Elsa Garrison / Getty Images)

On the Angels’ broadcast the previous night, reporter Erica Weston presented play-by-play announcer Wayne Randazzo with a birthday gift: a figurine of Grogu, a character in the Star Wars family. Randazzo said he would keep Grogu in the broadcast booth, as a good luck charm for the Angels.

“We certainly could use one,” Randazzo said.

Minasian, the sixth-year general manager, has yet to deliver a team that finished better than 17 games out of first place. On Wednesday, I asked him to explain why he was so confident in saying he had “no doubt” the team’s best days were ahead.

“We’ve been very competitive,” Minasian said. “Our wins and losses aren’t where we want them to be, but we have lost a lot of one-run games, a lot of tough games.”

The Angels have lost six one-run games. So have the Yankees, the team with the best record in the American League.

The Angels’ run differential is minus-14. They are four games behind in the AL West, where the first-place Athletics have a .500 record and a minus-21 run differential. You never know.

So far, however, the Angels’ offense is all about the three true outcomes: They strike out the most of any major league team and rank among the top six in walks and home runs, but they do not rank among the top 10 in runs. Only five teams have given up more runs.

“Going to the bullpen has been a harbinger of danger for the Angels,” Randazzo told viewers. The Angels’ bullpen entered Wednesday with a 5.35 earned-run average, the highest in the AL.

Owner Arte Moreno cut payroll this year, amid the implosion of the FanDuel regional sports networks. Edwin Díaz was not walking through the bullpen door.

Angels owner Arte Moreno.

(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)

But the Dodgers find solid bullpen arms in ways beyond buying them: Evan Phillips was cast off by the Baltimore Orioles during a 110-loss season; Alex Vesia was acquired from the Miami Marlins after putting up an 18.69 ERA in his first five major league games.

“We’ve had guys like that,” Minasian said.

He cited Brock Burke, a waiver claim who gave the Angels two solid seasons in middle relief. Minasian traded him last winter for outfielder Josh Lowe, and any general manager would trade a middle reliever for a middle-of-the-order bat. To this point, Lowe has a .198 on-base percentage and a .287 slugging percentage.

Lowe is but a data point in illustrating this primary point: Minasian’s margin for error is smaller than it otherwise would have been if Moreno had not withdrawn from the market for top-tier free agents or had approved trading Ohtani for elite prospects that would have accelerated rebuilding. Smaller, but other teams do more with less.

“We’ve got to be able to develop our own players,” Minasian said.

On the day Minasian said he had “no doubt” better days were ahead for his team, the Angels, their triple-A affiliate and their double-A affiliate all were in last place.

Analysts perennially rank the Angels’ farm system among baseball’s worst. Minasian said he’ll put his faith in four homegrown starters: José Soriano, Reid Detmers, Jack Kochanowicz and Walbert Ureña. Their combined ERA so far: 2.99.

“When you look at good teams and sustainable winners, they build rotations, whether that’s through trades or free agency or your own,” Minasian said. “We’re doing it with our own. You can’t microwave that overnight.”

You can’t make fans wait forever for October either. Angels fans have heard enough about building a competitive team and needing patience.

They have not seen their team in a playoff game in 12 years. When are they going to see that?

Angels pitcher Walbert Ureña delivers against the New York Mets at Angel Stadium on May 1.

(Luke Hales / Getty Images)

“I’m not in the prediction business,” said Minasian, whose contract expires after this season. “They’re going to see a team that plays hard every day. They’re going to see young, talented players day in and day out.”

That’s fine, but when are they going to see a winning team?

“The proof will be in the pudding,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what I say. I could say all these things. At the end of the day, we’re going to go play 162 games. We’ll see where we end up and who’s done what, and we’ll go from there.”

On Wednesday, the Angels won a series for the first time since April 12. They’re 3-2 with Grogu in the broadcast booth.

The schedule gets more challenging: a trip to Toronto and Cleveland, then back to the Big A to play the Dodgers. The same distant Angel Stadium seat available on the resale market for Wednesday’s game for $5 (fees included) is available for $103 for the opener of the Dodgers series.

Orange County loves a winner. There was a long line at that Irvine street fair to collect souvenirs from one booth — the one for the Anaheim Ducks.

Additionally, it said the applications, “through a wholly-owned and financed government club”, were part of an “aim of facilitating transfers of allegiance and enabling those athletes to represent Turkey at future international competitions, including the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games”.

It added: “Given the common features across the applications, the panel assessed them together and determined that such an approach is inconsistent with the core principles of the regulations.

“As a result of the decisions, the athletes are not eligible to represent Turkey in national representative competitions or other relevant international events.”

The other athletes were Catherine Relin Amanang’ole, Brian Kibor, Ronald Kwemoi and Nelvin Jepkemboi from Kenya, Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell, Jaydon Hibbert and Wayne Pinnock plus Nigeria’s Favour Ofili and Russian Sophia Yakushina.