■ Soccer
Le Guen leaves Rangers
Rangers parted ways with manager Paul Le Guen on Thursday. "We are all clearly disappointed with our current circumstances and will now focus on securing a suitable replacement," Rangers chairman David Murray said. Le Guen replaced Alex McLeish as Rangers manager on March 11 after having led Lyon to three straight French league titles. But the ex-France and Paris St. Germain midfielder had a poor 16-8-7 record with the Scottish Premier League club. Rangers, who have won a record 51 Scottish league titles, are second in the standings with 37 points, 16 behind leaders Celtic. Reserve coach Ian Durrant will lead Rangers in tomorrow's Scottish Cup match against Dunfermline.
■ Soccer
Blades skipper found guilty
Sheffield United captain Chris Morgan was banned for three games by the Football Association (FA) on Thursday after being found guilty of a charge of violent conduct following a clash with Arsenal's Robin van Persie. Morgan appeared to hit the Arsenal striker during United's 1-0 Premiership win at Bramall Lane on Sunday. The Blades center-back denied the charge but a disciplinary commission decided to suspend the defender. "Referee Lee Mason confirmed to the FA that he did not see the incident but would have shown Morgan a red card for violent conduct if he had seen it," an FA statement said.
■ Rugby
England pair banned
Bath and England pair Danny Grewcock and Lee Mears were banned for one week by a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel on Thursday night. Second-row Grewcock was suspended for stamping on Sale flanker Nathan Bonner-Evans during his side's 18-16 Premiership win over Sale on Dec. 22. Hooker Mears was banned for stamping on Joe El Abd during the 16-6 loss to Bristol at Ashton Gate on Dec. 27. Both Grewcock and Mears pleaded guilty to the charges and will now miss today's trip to Harlequins. They will be free to play again on Thursday.
■ Skiing
Schild wins again
Austria's Marlies Schild won the women's World Cup Alpine Skiing night slalom race in Zagreb on Thursday ahead of Croatia's Ana Jelusic and Sarka Zahrobska of the Czech Republic. It was the fourth win out of five slaloms this season for the 25-year-old Schild, who consolidates her overall World Cup lead. Schild led the first run and built on her lead in the second to finish 1.66sec ahead of Jelusic, 20, and Zahrobska, 21, who achieved their first podium finishes. Sweden's Anja Paerson, had been second after the first run, and was on course for a podium finish before crashing out a few gates from the finish.
■ Tennis
Top seed makes final
Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic will face last year's beaten Russian finalist Vera Zvonareva in the final of the Auckland Classic after an easy passage through her semi-final yesterday. Jankovic, the world No.12, is likely to be the fresher of the two in today's final after her French opponent Camille Pin retired hurt with a thigh injury, with the score at 3-0 to the Serb in the first set. Fifth seed Zvonareva faced a tougher battle against unseeded American Jill Craybas, coming out on top 6-3, 7-5. The Russian, who has a career high ranking of No.9, has a big-hitting game like Jankovic, setting the scene for an exciting final.
■ Football
Cowher leaves Steelers
Bill Cowher is returning to the Pittsburgh Steelers -- to say goodbye. The Steelers were to begin a coaching search yesterday to replace the departing Cowher, a person familiar with Cowher's status said on Thursday night. Cowher called owner Dan Rooney on Thursday to tell him of his decision. The 49-year-old Cowher, one of the National Football League's most recognizable faces and most successful coaches for 15 seasons, has weighed resigning since shortly after the Steelers finally won the Super Bowl in February following many near misses.
■ Football
Tomlinson named MVP
Record-setting LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers ran away with The Associated Press' NFL Most Valuable Player award on Thursday the way he eluded defenders in leading his team to the AFC's best record (14-2) and a favorite's role for the Super Bowl. "When you're MVP of the league, it's a great accomplishment," Tomlinson said. Tomlinson, who broke Shaun Alexander's league record for touchdowns by scoring 31 (28 rushing) and also threw for two scores, had one of the greatest seasons in NFL history.
■ Football
Williams case car scoured
Investigators scoured a spray-painted 1998 Chevrolet Tahoe impounded early on Thursday for clues that might lead them to Darrent Williams' killer. Police said they believe the SUV might have been used in a New Year's Day drive-by shooting that killed the Denver Broncos cornerback and wounded two other people. Passers-by spotted the vehicle parked south of Denver International Airport and called police anonymously, police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. Detectives were canvassing the remote neighborhood of snow-covered empty lots and industrial buildings under construction, Jackson said.
■ Hockey
All-Star coaches chosen
Lindy Ruff will coach the Eastern Conference and Randy Carlyle the Western Conference in the All-Star Game on Jan. 24, the National Hockey League announced on Thursday. The former NHL defensemen earned the honors as a result of leading their teams to the top points percentage in their conferences through games as of yesterday. Ruff had the Buffalo Sabres atop the East with a .763 percentage (61 points in 40 games) as of Thursday. Carlyle's Anaheim Ducks are first in the West at .738 percent (62 in 42). Both teams are assured of leading their conferences following the conclusion of yesterday's contests.
■ Soccer
Chiapas wins in Interliga
Walter Fretes scored in the 69th minute to give the Jaguares of Chiapas a 2-1 victory over the Morelia Monarcas on Thursday in first-round play in the InterLiga Soccer Tournament on Thursday. Fretes scored from about 10 meters for Jaguares after taking a short pass from Heriberto Morales. The Jaguares, the first team from the state of Chiapas to play in the Mexican First Division, opened the scoring when forward Juan Hernandez scored from about 11m. Morelia answered in the 43rd minute when Fernando Arce hit a free kick from about 18m. Later, Hugo Droguett opened the scoring for Teco in the 25th minute. In Thursday's other Group B match, Club America and UAG Tecos played out a 1-1 draw.
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