■OLYMPICS
Brazilian horse fails test
Rufus became the sixth horse to test positive for doping during the Beijing Olympics, equestrian’s governing body said on Monday. The Brazilian horse, ridden by Rodrigo Pessoa, tested positive on Aug. 23 for nonivamide, a substance prohibited for its pain-relieving properties, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) said. Pessoa was fifth in the individual jumping final. The FEI said it suspended him on Friday after an initial hearing, and added that the backup “B” sample was to be tested yesterday in Hong Kong.
■SOCCER
Thousands back Casillas
More than 10,000 people as of Monday signed a petition calling on the European Footballer of the Year award to be awarded to Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas. Esteban Parro, the mayor of Mostoles, the city on the outskirts of Madrid where the 27-year-old player grew up, told reporters that 10,458 people had signed the online petition since he launched it on Aug. 25. The supporters of Casillas have till Oct. 31 to sign. It will then be sent to France Football magazine, which has awarded the Ballon d’Or, one of soccer’s top prizes, each year since 1956. The Spain captain became a national hero after he saved two penalty kicks in the quarter-finals as Spain beat Italy 4-2 in a shootout after a 0-0 draw.
■FOOTBALL
NFL players to wear patch
NFL players will wear a uniform patch this season to honor NFL Players’ Association leader Gene Upshaw, who died on Aug. 20. The league announced on Monday that the patch would have the initials “GU” and the number 63, which he wore while playing for the Oakland Raiders. Upshaw died of pancreatic cancer just three days after he was diagnosed. When the New York Giants and Washington Redskins open the season tomorrow, Upshaw’s wife, Terri, and his three sons will participate in the coin toss.
Upshaw made the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987 as the first player to play guard exclusively. He won two Super Bowls and made seven Pro Bowls in his 307-game NFL career.
■SOCCER
LA Galaxy to return to NZ
David Beckham’s LA Galaxy team will return to New Zealand in December for an exhibition match in Auckland, officials said yesterday. The US Major League Soccer team and its English celebrity skipper played the Wellington Phoenix in an exhibition late last year and will return for a match against an Oceania All Stars team.
■SOCCER
Dead fans can support team
Former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly once famously declared soccer isn’t a matter of life and death — it is far more important than that. And like-minded fans of Bundesliga club Hamburg will soon be able to support their team from beyond the grave. Next Tuesday, Hamburg will become the first soccer team in Europe whose fans can be buried in the club’s official section of a cemetery within a goal-kick of the stadium in the city’s western suburbs. When the area is officially opened, Hamburg fans can be buried close to their beloved team’s home stadium in a coffin bearing the club’s logo and in the traditional blue-and-white colors. They can also choose to have their ashes buried in an official club urn. But devotion comes at a price — an official Hamburg coffin costs 2,350 euros (US$3,500), while a blue-and-white urn decorated in silver will cost 390 euros.
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