■ ICE HOCKEY
NHL approves rule changes
Four rule changes, three dealing with penalties and another with faceoffs, were approved by the National Hockey League (NHL) board of governors in New York on Wednesday starting with the 2007-2008 season. NHL leaders allowed referees to award any player on a breakaway a penalty shot as long as he was beyond his own team's blueline, rather than beyond the center line under the old rule. NHL referees were given discretion to award major penalties and game misconducts on injuries resulting from interference. Previously, interference calls could only bring minor penalties. Gross
misconduct was stricken from the rules, with any such extraordinary violation of decorum now falling under game misconducts, which when accumulated can lead to suspensions and fines. All faceoffs will now be conducted at one of the nine dots painted upon the rink. There were instances, such as when a puck went into the stands, when a faceoff restarted play on unmarked ice parallel to the nearest dot where the puck left the ice.
■ BASEBALL
Seattle sign Chinese players
The Seattle Mariners signed two Chinese players on Wednesday, two days after the New York Yankees said they were the first major league team to sign players from China with the approval of that country's baseball association.
Infielder-outfielder Yu Bingjia and catcher Wei Wang (王偉), members of the Beijing Tigers in the China Baseball League and of China's national baseball team, signed minor league contracts. They will report to Seattle's summer league team in Australia when not fulfilling national team commitments this summer.
"We are very excited to enter into this new phase of our relationship with Chinese baseball," said Ted Heid, director of Pacific Rim operations for the Mariners, who have signed Japanese League stars Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Johjima in the last six years.
■ BASKETBALL
Portland hire Larry Miller
Larry Miller, whose 10 years as an executive at shoemaker Nike included running the footwear division, was named the team president of the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday. Miller, most recently Nike's basketball division vice president and general manager, takes over the team with the top pick in next week's NBA Draft, expected to be used on US college star Greg Oden. "Larry is a pre-eminent figure in the basketball industry and one of the most widely respected sports professionals in the country," Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen said.
■ RUGBY UNION
Sowerby joins Toulouse
Stade Francais' South African backrow forward Shaun Sowerby has joined rival top French rugby union side Toulouse, the Pyrenean club reported on Wednesday. The 29-year-old, who has not played competitively since breaking his left ankle last October, has joined on a two year deal with an option of a one year extension. "We had the chance to sign him and we didn't let that opportunity go begging," Toulouse director Jean-Michel Rancoule said.
■ RUGBY UNION
Waratahs seek solution
The New South Wales Waratahs have responded to their poor Super 14 rugby season by seeking an attack-oriented coach and an independent selector to work with head coach Ewen McKenzie. The Waratahs endured one of their worst southern hemisphere provincial series, winning three games to finish only above Australian rivals Queensland Reds in this year's tournament. The New South Wales Rugby Board undertook a review of the season and endorsed four recommendations from the inquest. The Waratahs will advertise for an attack coach to work with McKenzie, add an independent member to the selection panel, form a rugby advisory panel and put its "High Performance Unit" under a complete review.
■ SOCCER
Pele's arms stolen
Vandals sawed the arms off a statue of Pele in Salvador, Brazil, and police are scouring scrap metal yards and art workshops looking for them. A bronze replica of the World Cup trophy, which had been held above the statue's head, was also missing, officials said on Wednesday. "The destruction of a landmark like this is a condemnable act," said Raimundo Nonato, the head of the Bahia state sports affairs department. "It is a tragedy and we are indignant." Police discovered the statue's arms were missing on Saturday and believe they were taken on Friday night, the Bahia state public safety department said.
■ BASKETBALL
Panathinaikos clinch title
European champion Panathinaikos beat rival Olympiakos 89-76 on Wednesday to win its fifth straight Greek league basketball title. Lithuania forward Ramunas Siskauskas led Panathinaikos with 16 points. The Athens club, which has won nine titles in the last 10 years, won the best-of-five playoff series 3-2. "This is a great result and it was a great game," Panathinaikos captain Frangiskos Alvertis said. "All credit to Olympiakos. They played very well in all of the five games." Last month, Panathinaikos won its fourth European championship, beating defending champion CSKA Moscow in Athens. Police arrested five fans before Wednesday's match, and detained 71 other supporters who were later released.
■ SOCCER
Bogus bags of air banned
A Chinese firm which once tried to sell land on the moon has been banned from a more down-to-earth venture of selling bags of "World Cup air" to fans hoping to recreate the soccer tournament's atmosphere. Beijing Lunar Village Aeronautics Science and Technology lost a suit against the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce, which refused its application to sell "special air from a special place," Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. A court last year ruled against the company's plan to sell green plastic bags full of air from stadiums that hosted matches in last year's soccer World Cup.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite