■ Soccer
Carlos signs with Turks
Turkish champions Fenerbahce said yesterday that they had signed veteran Brazilian full-back Roberto Carlos from Spain's Real Madrid. Fenerbahce vice-president Murat Ozaydinli said in a statement on the Istanbul club's Web site that the deal was clinched in a meeting late on Tuesday with Carlos' agent Dino Pasalic. "Our meeting for the transfer took only 15 to 20 minutes. We told them our principles and the deal was sealed," Ozaydinli said. "We signed a player who perfectly fits Fenerbahce's traditions." He added that the 34-year-old Brazilian was expected to come to Turkey soon to sign the contract. The statement did not mention the duration of the contract, but Turkish newspapers said Carlos had signed for two years.
■ Football
Former player ran sex ring
Former NFL player Bob Buczkowski pleaded guilty to helping run a million-dollar prostitution ring with his girlfriend out of his parents' suburban home. The 43-year-old Buczkowski pleaded guilty on Tuesday in court in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, to two counts of promoting prostitution, six counts of possessing and dealing cocaine and other charges. He agreed to turn state's witness against others charged in the case, if their cases go to trial. State prosecutors said Buczkowski and girlfriend Amy Schifano ran the escort service Buckwild Entertainment, which did business as B.A.G. Enterprises. Buczkowski provided the muscle and Schifano allegedly was the madam, prosecutors said.
■ Basketball
Magic, coach to ax contract
The Orlando Magic and Bill Donovan are planning to cancel the contract Donovan signed to coach the NBA team tomorrow, ESPN reported on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel reported that the Magic have offered the job to former Miami Heat coach Stan Van Gundy. Both sides are still working out the details, ESPN.com said. That report, citing multiple sources, said Donovan and the Magic have agreed upon a non-compete clause, requiring Donovan to refrain from coaching in the NBA for five years as one of the terms of his release from the contract. After guiding the University of Florida to its second straight national championship title in April, Donovan was introduced as the Magic's eighth coach on Friday.
■ Football
Player accused of assault
Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman, who is already serving a suspension, has been accused of assaulting two men in the state of Georgia, US media reported on Tuesday. The men reportedly accused Thurman and his cousin of punching them at a weekend party, then later returning with guns drawn. A judge will hold a pre-warrant hearing tomorrow to determine whether an arrest warrant should be issued for Thurman and his cousin.
■ Soccer
Coach fuels `kamikaze' spirit
Japan coach Ivica Osim is trying to instill the daring spirit of the "kamikaze" in his players ahead of their tilt at a third straight Asian Cup next month. In a gamble, the Bosnian tactician employed what he called a "kamikaze" line-up of five midfielders, including Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura, behind Eintracht Frankfurt striker Naohiro Takahara, for their match against Colombia on Tuesday. "It was a dangerous option. Still, the kamikaze option worked in part. We managed to survive," Osim said after Japan held the Latin American side to a scoreless draw.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier