UEFA CUP
UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, canceled the first leg of a soccer match today between Georgian club WIT and Austria Vienna because of fears for the players’ safety.
The UEFA Cup qualifying match, which was supposed to be contested over two legs, will now be decided in a single game in Vienna on Aug. 28. The winner qualifies for the competition’s first round.
“[WIT is] not in a position to organize a safe and secure venue in Georgia, nor to play at an alternative venue,” UEFA said in a statement on Tuesday.
The decision ends two days of international soccer diplomacy to find a way for WIT to fulfill its obligations amid hostilities between Georgia and Russia. The club, based in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, had hoped to maintain one match close by so that it wouldn’t completely forfeit its home advantage.
But it failed to find agreement with soccer authorities to stage the match in Armenia or Azerbaijan, its preferred options.
The club opted early on Tuesday to play in Turkey, in the Black Sea port city of Rize — 97km from the Georgia border.
But that plan fell through within hours, UEFA said, adding it accepted the request but was “subsequently informed by the Georgian Football Federation — also speaking on behalf of WIT — that the squad could not travel due to security concerns.”
WIT’s Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in the capital city was on Monday judged as too dangerous.
UEFA did not say how it would deal with a draw, which is normally decided by the away-goal tiebreaker.
“UEFA will contact the clubs and national associations concerned in due time to communicate the rules applicable to this single match,” it 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