■ SOCCER
Teams fined for fan violence
UEFA has fined five clubs for fan violence during the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Belgian side Anderlecht was fined 20,000 Swiss francs (US$16,800) by Europe's governing body and Istanbul team Fenerbahce was ordered to pay 8,000 francs. Supporters hurled objects at each other toward the end of the Aug. 29 match, which the Turkish team won 2-0. Serie A club Lazio, which beat Dinamo Bucharest 3-1, was fined 12,000 francs, while the Romanians received a penalty of 9,000 francs -- both for "improper conduct of supporters," UEFA said.
■ SOCCER
Vanuatu beat Solomons
Vanuatu progressed to the next stage of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers with a 2-0 win over the Solomon Islands on Friday in the bronze medal playoff of the Oceania Confederation World Cup qualifying tournament. Vanuatu and Fiji have qualified for a second tournament, a four-country event that includes New Zealand. Seule Soromon scored three minutes into injury time at the end of the first half when he was left unmarked by loose defending in the penalty area. Five minutes into the second half, Francois Sakama gave Vanuatu a 2-0 lead with a volley into the top right corner from the edge of the area.
■ FOOTBALL
Player suspended for murder
Henri Hendricks, a quarterback for the University of New Hampshire college team, was suspended from the team after being charged in connection with the murder of a pro surfer. The 21-year-old Hendricks was also charged with assault and battery in the beating death of San Diego-based surfer Emery Kauanui, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Hendrick, who is to appear in a California court tomorrow, was suspended from the team on Friday. Police said Kauanui was beaten to death at his home in San Diego on May 24. Kauanui died a few days later. Hendricks was not arrested immediately after the beating, but gave a statement to police a few days later.
■ CRICKET
England call up Anderson
England called pace bowler James Anderson into its squad for this month's Twenty20 World Cup as a replacement for allrounder Ravi Bopara. Bopara broke his thumb while blocking a shot as he bowled in last week's one-day international against India. Anderson has played well in the one-day series, which is tied 3-3 with one match to play, but holds the record for the most expensive bowling figures in a Twenty20 international. His four overs against Australia in January went for 64 runs. Allrounder Dimitri Mascarenhas, who hit sixes off each of the last five balls in Wednesday's sixth one-day match, could have replaced Bopara but he may end up coming in for Andrew Flintoff, who is struggling with a left ankle problem.
■ SOCCER
Taipei soccer called off
Today's scheduled matches in the Tavern Premier League at the Yingfeng Sports Park have been canceled because of a waterlogged pitch. The games between Celts FC and Taipei Black Stars FC, Carnegies Taipei and JFC, Shane FC against Taipei Animals and Da'an Cartel FC versus Taipei Football Club will now be played next Sunday, weather permitting.
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