■GREECE
Greens make double swoop
Panathinaikos made a double swoop for Olympique Marseille striker Djibril Cisse and Benfica midfielder Kostas Katsouranis on Friday. “Panathinaikos has reached agreement with Djibril Cisse on a four-year contract,” the Greek club said on their Web site. No financial details were released, but media reports said Marseille would receive around 8 million euros (US$11 million) for the player, who will earn about 2.5 million euros a year. Midfielder Katsouranis, a Euro 2004 winner with Greece, has also signed a four-year deal with coach Henk ten Cate’s side. “It’s good that quality players are coming to Greece and the standard of the championship is improving,” the former AEK player told reporters. “That’s what we all want to see. Better entertainment.” Cisse, 27, was given a rapturous reception by more than 2,000 Panathinaikos fans when he arrived at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport on Thursday.
■BRAZIL
Barca swoop for Keirrison
European champions Barcelona have made a big-money offer for Palmeiras striker Keirrison. Brazilian media reported that Barcelona have bid 15 million euros (US$21 million) for the 20-year-old. “The player won’t be considered for Sunday’s [today’s] match against Santos ... and will remain out of the team until the situation is resolved,” the Sao Paulo-based club said on their official Web site on Friday. Keirrison, who was playing for Coritiba when he finished as top scorer in last year’s Brazilian championship, joined former Real Madrid coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo’s Palmeiras in January.
■ENGLAND
Johnson joins Liverpool
Portsmouth have confirmed the transfer of England fullback Glen Johnson to Liverpool for an undisclosed fee, the Premier League club said on Friday. “Glen’s a fantastic guy and it’s a great opportunity for him to join an outstanding club who can offer him Champions League football,” Portsmouth executive chairman Peter Storrie told the club’s Web site. “We wish him all the best for next season — apart from the two games when we play Liverpool.” The 24-year-old, who has signed a four-year contract, has become an England regular under coach Fabio Capello and has 15 caps for his country. Former Chelsea player Johnson, who began his career with West Ham United, struggled to impress at Stamford Bridge and was loaned to Portsmouth in 2006. The deal was made permanent a year later.
■FRANCE
PSG, Marseille censured
Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille will play one of their next matches in an empty stadium, the French Football Federation (FFF) said on Friday. The measure, previously imposed on a suspended basis, is being enforced to penalize the two French first division teams for the repeated use of flares and smoke bombs by fans, FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes said. “The offense has been committed again, so the suspension is liable to be set aside,” he said, while conceding that other legal procedures still need to be heard.
■SPAIN
Saviola sold to Benfica
Real Madrid have agreed to sell out-of-favor striker Javier Saviola to Benfica for 5 million euros (US$7 million), the two clubs said on Friday. Argentine Saviola, 27, who has barely featured for Real in the past two seasons since joining from Barcelona, has signed a three-year deal with an option for a further season, the Portuguese club said on their Web site.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite