■ICE HOCKEY
NHL reaches Coyotes deal
The National Hockey League and the owner of the league’s Phoenix franchise have struck an agreement that will allow the league to buy the Coyotes. Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes has been listening to offers from prospective buyers for the bankrupt franchise for several months. Nothing is official and the deal can’t go through without the approval of a US bankruptcy court that announced the pending sale on Monday. One of those purchase offers came from Canadian business tycoon Jim Balsillie who wanted to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario. Balsillie’s bid was rejected by the court. Bill Daly, deputy commissioner of the league, said they hope to wrap up the sale by Nov. 2. He said the NHL wants to eventually find a buyer who will keep the team in Arizona. “Obviously, the pieces fell into place,” Daly said. “The focus now has to shift to getting the club out of bankruptcy and finding a new owner. I’m pleased with the outcome today.” Phoenix has made the playoffs just five times since 1976 and have never made go out of the first round.
■SOCCER
Rangers’ plight intensifies
Concern surrounding Rangers’ financial plight intensified after the British government held talks with the club’s bankers in a bid to allay fears of the Scottish champions entering administration. Last week Rangers manager Walter Smith said Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), part of the Lloyds group, were in charge at Ibrox since chairman David Murray stepped down at the beginning of the season. Rangers have debts of around £30 million (US$49 million) and the club announced in January that every player on their books was up for sale. Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy held talks with Lloyds, which is 43 percent owned by the UK taxpayer, on Monday as the bank moved to make clear it was not planning to pull the plug on Rangers. A Scotland Office spokesman confirmed Murphy had spoken to Lloyds by saying: “The Secretary of State for Scotland spoke to Lloyds Bank about the importance of the bank’s support for Rangers Football Club.” Meanwhile, the bank said: “We do not run or manage the companies that we bank — that is, quite properly, the responsibility of the management. Given the recent press coverage, we would therefore like to be clear that Rangers FC is neither operated or run by Lloyds Banking Group.”
■SOCCER
Leicester shut out Reading
Martin Waghorn added to the pressure on Reading manager Brendan Rodgers by scoring the only goal of Monday’s Championship game as Leicester won 1-0 at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, England. Defeat meant Reading’s nine-month wait for a home league win continued and left them in the relegation zone. Leicester, last season’s champions of the third tier League One, moved into a play-off position after on-loan striker Waghorn headed home Matt Oakley’s cross on the stroke of half-time.
■SOCCER
Totti goes under knife again
Roma captain Francesco Totti on Monday had surgery on his right knee for the second time in 18 months, his club said in a statement. The 33-year-old forward previously suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in his right knee a year and a half ago but following training on Monday he went to see the club doctor, when it was decided that he would need surgery. No details were given about how long he will be on the sidelines.
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