■SOCCER
Robbers lock Frau in trunk
Robbers posing as police locked up Lille striker Pierre-Alain Frau in the boot of his Mercedes in the early hours of Monday before releasing him in another part of town and stealing the car. Police said that as Frau was getting into his car, he was approached by hooded men in a car with flashing lights who presented themselves as police. He was on his way home from a dinner after Lille’s 2-1 defeat by Lorient on Sunday. The attackers released Frau on the street in a residential area before making off with his vehicle, credit card, mobile phone and hundreds of euros. It is the second time in 10 months that Frau has been targeted by carjackers after a vehicle was stolen from him in October.
■SOCCER
Cavanagh suspended
Accrington Stanley defender Peter Cavanagh has been fined £3,500 (US$5,800) and suspended from soccer for eight months for betting on a match involving his team, the English FA said on Monday. Cavanagh was charged with betting on Accrington’s final League Two (fourth division) match of the 2007-2008 season. “These were repeated deliberate breaches of The FA’s betting rules which are vital to maintain confidence in the integrity of the game,” the FA’s Regulatory Commission said in a statement on its Web site.
■SOCCER
Nehru dumps Palestine
Indian soccer authorities have dumped Palestine from next week’s Nehru Cup tournament for fielding a club side instead of the full national squad. Palestine were roped in to replace Thailand, who were also scratched for fielding a weaker side. The event would now become a five-team affair, the federation said in a statement. Syria, Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka and India feature in the Aug 19 to Aug. 31 tournament, organized mainly to prepare the hosts for the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar.
■CRICKET
Mortaza out after surgery
Bangladesh’s injured captain Mashrafe Mortaza will be out of action for six weeks after undergoing surgery on both knees in Australia on Monday, officials said. An arthroscopic surgery was conducted on him by surgeon David Young at the Avenue Hospital in Melbourne, the Bangladesh Cricket Board said. “Dr Young is confident that Mortaza would be able to start running after three weeks and should return to cricket action after six weeks of rehabilitation.” Mortaza hurt his right knee in the first Test match against the West Indies at Kingstown, St Vincent, last month.
■BOXING
Kameda to fight for title
Daiki Kameda, the middle brother of Japan’s infamous “brat pack” boxing family, will challenge Thailand’s Denkaosan Kaovichit for the WBA flyweight title in October, his gym said on Monday. Kameda will be making his second bid for a world title in Osaka on Oct. 6 and his first since he was banned for a year for violent behavior in a failed bid for the WBC crown in 2007. Kameda has won 13 of his professional fights with only one defeat — against countryman Daisuke Naito in a WBC fight that ended in farce and multiple suspensions. Kameda, who had branded Naito a “cockroach” in the build-up to the fight, was banned for a year after picking up the champion and slamming him to the canvas. His father and former trainer Shiro was booted out of the sport for abusing the referee and elder brother Koki escaped with a warning after TV microphones caught him telling Daiki to elbow Naito in the eye.
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