■ RUGBY UNION
Gatland close to Wales job
Former Ireland rugby union coach Warren Gatland is close to being appointed Wales boss, the New Zealander told BBC Wales on Monday. The 44-year-old former hooker -- who was never capped by the All Blacks despite being on the bench many times as understudy to Sean Fitzgerald -- said that there were only minor issues to be resolved after holding talks with the Wales Rugby Union over the weekend. Gatland, who coached Ireland from 1998 to 2001 when he was sacked and replaced by his assistant Eddie O'Sullivan, has enjoyed success with English Premiership side Wasps before going back to New Zealand to be coach of the Waikato National Provincial Championship side. He was one of three candidates interviewed as a replacement for Gareth Jenkins, who was sacked when Wales exited at the first stage of the World Cup.
■ SOCCER
Figo under knife over tibula
Inter Milan's veteran midfielder Luis Figo was to undergo surgery yesterday on a fractured fibula suffered in his club's 1-1 draw with Juventus at the weekend. Figo's injury comes at a bad time for Inter who are already without the services of defender Marco Materazzi and midfielders Patrick Vieira and Dejan Stankovic. The former Portual international suffered the leg injury in a clash with Juventus' Pavel Nedved on Sunday, his 35th birthday. Inter reported in a statement on Monday: "Luis Figo underwent a series of medical tests today to determine the extent of the injury which forced him out of the match against Juventus." The Italian league leaders, who face CSKA Moscow in the Champions League today, added that doctors had detected a multiple fracture of his fibula on his right leg. The statement did not specify how long the 2002 Ballon d'Or would be unavailable.
■ RUGBY
Pelous looks set to retire
France's caps recordholder and former captain Fabien Pelous looks set to announce his international retirement in Paris today after announcing that he was to hold a press conference at the French Rugby Federation's headquarters. The Toulouse lock, who will turn 34 on Dec. 7, won the last of his 118 caps in the World Cup semi-final defeat by England last month but while he has not said what he is announcing -- even his club did not learn of the press conference until Monday, it appears likely that he will bring down the curtain on a stellar international career. Pelous, who has not played for Toulouse this season because of a rib injury suffered in the defeat by England, was a member of the French side that reached the 1999 World Cup final, losing to Australia, and two successive semi-finals, both times losing to the English.
■ HORSE RACING
Emir buys broodmare
The Emir of Dubai paid US$10.5 million to buy Irish-bred Playful Act at Keeneland's Breeding Stock Sale on Monday, a world record auction price for a broodmare. The bidding was another showdown between two titans of the horse breeding industry, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Darley Stud and Coolmore Stud of Ireland. "When those two teams hook up, neither one of them wants to stop," said John Sikura of Hill 'n' Dale Bloodstock, who consigned the horse for Swettenham Stud of Australia. "It's a test of wills, test of ego. They bought a fantastic mare. Obviously we wish them nothing but the best and hope she'll bring a champion." John Ferguson, the buyer for the sheik, said he was determined to get the horse, in part to honor Swettenham's late owner, Robert Sangster, who always talked her up.
■SOCCER
Croatian police probe club
Croatian police were investigating reports on Monday that fans of local soccer club Hajduk Split sold and wore T-shirts bearing Nazi symbols. The Hajduk fans were "walking proudly in Split wearing T-shirts reading `Hajduk Jugend,' a direct allusion to the `Hitler Jugend,'" the Slobodna Dalmacija reported. The T-shirts, sold on the fans' Web site www.torcida.org, depict an eagle carrying the Hajduk coat of arms in its claws, which the daily said replaced the swastika in the Nazi version. "We will check those reports to establish whether the law has been broken," said Marina Kraljevic Gudelj, a police spokeswoman in the southern town of Split. A Croatian soccer association spokesman said the governing body had no knowledge of the case.
■ OLYMPICS
Henin might not defend gold
Justin Henin might not defend her Olympic gold medal in Beijing because the city's air pollution triggers her asthma. Henin withdrew from the China Open in September because of her asthma and is worried she might also be forced to skip the Beijing Games next August. "I've had asthma for a few months now and I felt very bad in New York at the end of the [US Open], so Beijing, I was really concerned about that," Henin said on Monday at the Sony Ericsson Championships. "I was pretty disappointed because I wanted to play the tournament and get used to the conditions." Henin said she had recovered from that bout after visiting a specialist.
■ SOCCER
Beckham plays for charity
David Beckham, Anthony LaPaglia and several actors and retired players joined forces to raise more than US$90,000 for the victims of last month's wildfires in Southern California in a soccer exhibition on Sunday. With England coach Steve McClaren watching, Beckham scored two goals and had three assists in 83 minutes in a 12-4 rout of LaPaglia's Hollywood United. McClaren is trying to determine if Beckham is fit enough to rejoin the national team. The game was also the last for Galaxy coach Frank Yallop, who announced his resignation to the players afterward, Beckham said. The 83 minutes was the most that Beckham played since joining the Galaxy in July. "It's probably the best I've felt in quite a few months now," Beckham said. "It was important for me to get a good workout tonight. I've been working hard trying to get myself fit," he said.
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