■ Soccer
Chelsea, Disney clinch deal
England's Chelsea signed a four-year deal with The Walt Disney Co to become the official pro soccer club of Disney's Wide World of Sports complex and presenting sponsor of the Disney Soccer Showcase Series. Chelsea will also have a significant presence at other Disney-created soccer events through coaching and player clinics held in conjunction with some of the events. An annual educational exchange program will also be created where at least one Chelsea Soccer Academy team will visit and compete at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. In exchange, Chelsea will bring a winning team from a selected Disney soccer tournament to be their guests at a Chelsea match and train at their soccer academy in England.
■ Cricket
Selectors skip Inzamam
Pakistan's World Cup captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was not included on Monday on the list of 20 players given central contracts for the next six months. "Inzamam's name was not recommended by the selection committee," Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Naseem Ashraf told reporters in Karachi. Inzamam had announced his retirement from one-day internationals -- the day after Pakistan lost to unfancied Ireland and made an early exit from the World Cup in the Caribbean. However, he said he wanted to continue playing Test matches. "The selectors wanted to give central contracts to those players who are playing both forms of the game," Ashraf said.
■ Soccer
Richardson completes move
England midfielder Kieran Richardson on Monday completed his move from Premiership champions Manchester United to top-flight newcomers Sunderland for an undisclosed fee on a four-year deal. The 22-year-old, who could make his debut in Wednesday's friendly with Darlington, becomes manager Roy Keane's fourth summer signing to follow the captures of Greg Halford, Russell Anderson and Michael Chopra. Richardson spent 2004-2005 on loan at West Brom and was instrumental in Albion's last-gasp escape from top-flight relegation. He earned an England call-up in May 2005 and scored a brace on his debut against the USA. He has won eight caps.
■ Athletics
Javelin victim badly hurt
French long jumper Salim Sdiri, who was speared by a javelin at the Rome Golden League meeting on Friday, is more seriously injured than first thought, he told reporters on Monday. "The javelin touched the right kidney and there is a slight tear at the top of the kidney. The liver was also touched, leaving a hole in it. The javelin penetrated over 10cm and not four as we initially thought," said the Frenchman, who underwent new tests on Monday in a hospital in Rome. "The kidney has started to heal over and surgery will not be necessary. We hope that the liver will also heal on its own ruling out an operation," Sdiri added.
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