■ Soccer
Becks and Posh go to court
David and Victoria Beckham are due to appear in court in December to deny that they "cynically and hypocritically" presented a false image of a happy marriage in order to protect their commercial interests. The England soccer captain and his pop star wife are suing British tabloid News of the World for an article in September last year, called "Posh & Becks on Rocks" that was based on allegations by their children's nanny, and will have to show the court their marriage is as strong as they say it is. What promises to be a high-profile celebrity trial at London's High Court is expected to begin on Dec. 5 and last for about two weeks.
■ Soccer
World Cup 2010 on track
South Africa's preparations for the 2010 World Cup finals were ahead of schedule and well on track, FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi said on Monday. Linsi, on a one-day visit to the country to attend meetings of the local organizing committee, said he was pleased with the pace of the early stages of organizing the 2010 event, which will be the first to be hosted on the African continent. He said he expected several legal contracts and budget agreements to be signed between FIFA and the South African local organizing committee in the coming weeks which would add to the impetus of the preparations. Linsi's trip coincided with the start of a second five-day inspection of the proposed venues for the 2010 World Cup by a team of FIFA experts. The same team visited eight proposed venues in July.
■ Ice Hockey
Havlat suspended again
Czech Republic star Martin Havlat was suspended on Monday for five games by the National Hockey League's disciplinary committee for kicking Boston's Hal Gill with his skates on. The incident occurred at 3:53 of the second period when Ottawa Senators forward Havlat kicked Gill, who had pinned him on the Bruins' net. Ottawa, the only undefeated team in the Eastern Conference, will not have Havlat for the next five games as a result of the incident in Saturday's 5-1 win over the Bruins. Havlat, who will forfeit US$66,326 in league penalties, begins serving the suspension on Friday, when Ottawa visits the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. In January last year, Havlat was suspended for two games after kicking New York Islanders defenseman Eric Cairns in front of the New York goal. He also was suspended for two games for a high-sticking incident in March last year.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB