■ENGLAND
Adebayor signs for City
Manchester City on Saturday said they had clinched the £25 million (US$41 million) signing of Togolese forward Emmanuel Adebayor from Arsenal on a five-year contract. Adebayor completed his medical at Eastlands to become the latest big-money new face at City, after the recent captures of Gareth Barry, Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz. Hundreds of City fans greeted Adebayor, who said: “It made me feel really welcome and special and I can’t wait to play for City’s fans and show them what I can do. I was born to play football and that is what I want to do. I have come here to make history for this club and those supporters.”
■ENGLAND
Clubs chase Beckham
Under orders from England boss Fabio Capello to stay in tip-top shape if he wants to feature at the World Cup, David Beckham may yet return to the English Premiership with Chelsea or Tottenham Hotspur, the Mail on Sunday reported yesterday. After spending an impressive second half of last season with AC Milan, Beckham returned to US Major League Soccer outfit LA Galaxy in Thursday’s 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls, his first match since the end of the Serie A campaign. The Mail on Sunday report said Chelsea and Spurs were ready to bring him home, although Beckham said in midweek he was relishing an eventual return to Italy.
■MALAYSIA
Owen scores the winner
Michael Owen’s predatory instincts are still intact. That’s the message he sent after scoring the winning goal on his Manchester United debut. The 29-year-old striker came on as a second-half substitute in United’s opening game of their Asia tour and pounced on a loose ball with five minutes left after Ryan Giggs had been tackled in the penalty area. His decisive finish handed the team a 3-2 victory over a tough Malaysian XI after Wayne Rooney and Nani had put them two goals in front. “You train for weeks in preparation for that all-important first game and to score on your debut feels great,” said Owen, who joined the club this month on a two-year deal after his contract at relegated Newcastle United expired. “It’s always nice to get off the mark, not just when you join a new club, but any time,” he told the club’s Web site.
■UNITED STATES
Sturridge scores on debut
Teenager Daniel Sturridge wasted no time in making his presence felt for Chelsea, scoring one goal and helping create another in the Blues’ 2-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders in a friendly match on Saturday. Sturridge, 19, was making his debut after moving from Manchester City to Stamford Bridge and he helped make a winner out of new manager Carlo Ancelotti following his switch from AC Milan. Sturridge’s 12th-minute goal silenced the 65,289 fans — most in Seattle green — who turned out to see the first of two friendlies against overseas clubs.
■RUSSIA
CSKA rally to down Kazan
Three-time champions CSKA Moscow battled back from a goal down to clinch a 2-1 away win over reigning title holders Kazan on Saturday to inch closer to the league leaders. Kazan stay top despite the loss with 27 points after 14 matches, four points ahead of Spartak Moscow and CSKA, who both have a game in hand. “It was a very interesting match and we’re happy to win it,” CSKA’s Brazilian manager Zico said. “I’m glad that my guys continued battling after the hosts scored the opening goal. Today we persevered and won deservedly.”
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