■SPAIN
Swine flu hits Barcelona
Barcelona players Eric Abidal and Yaya Toure have contracted swine flu and missed yesterday’s La Liga match at Athletic Bilbao. Tests had confirmed both France defender Abidal and Ivory Coast midfielder Toure had the virus and they were being treated in isolation by medical staff, the league leaders said on their Web site. “We’ll get through this,” coach Pep Guardiola said at a news conference on Friday. “We knew that a lot of people have it and we were at risk. Now it has arrived here and we have to make sure it doesn’t spread, which is why we have isolated them.” Five players from Barca’s league rivals Osasuna have contracted swine flu in recent weeks and a second-division match involving Real Betis had to be postponed last month after the squad was hit by the virus.
■ENGLAND
Cudicini leaves hospital
Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini was discharged from hospital on Friday following surgery after a motorcycle accident, but the Italian is unlikely to play again this season, his club manager said on Friday. “I think he will be out for the rest of the season,” Harry Redknapp told reporters. “I’ve never thought about letting a player ride a bike. I didn’t even know he had one. We don’t let them do it. I’m sure he won’t be riding it again.” The keeper had successful operations the previous Friday on his right wrist and pelvis and is already mobile with the assistance of crutches, Spurs said in a statement. “The current position is that the operations went very well and I am already moving my wrist,” Cudicini said.
■CROATIA
Dinamo appeal successful
Dinamo Zagreb on Friday had their Europa League points deduction replaced with a 75,000 euros (US$111,000) fine and a three-year suspended ban from European competition. European governing body UEFA had initially docked Dinamo three points following “serious crowd disturbances” involving their fans during a Europa League game at Romanian side FC Timisoara on Oct. 1. “After examining the written submission of both parties, the chairman of the Appeals Body complied with the identical request submitted by Dinamo Zagreb and the UEFA Disciplinary Inspector, and decided to replace the initial three-point deduction from the Croatian club with a 75,000 euros fine plus Dinamo’s disqualification from all UEFA competitions for a probationary period of three years,” a UEFA statement said.
■ENGLAND
Lampard treated in Serbia
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has flown to Serbia for treatment on the torn thigh muscle he suffered training with England, British media reported yesterday. The Guardian said the 31-year-old flew to Belgrade on Thursday to see Serbian doctor Marijana Kovacevic, who has treated several Premier League players. Kovacevic has received widespread publicity in England for using a treatment involving the use of fluids derived from horse placenta to speed up the healing process.
■ITALY
Trezeguet out for a month
Juventus striker David Trezeguet will be sidelined for a month after injuring a calf muscle in training. Trezeguet picked up the injury on Friday. It leaves Juventus struggling for striking options, with captain Alessandro Del Piero just returning from a knee injury. The team will now rely on Amauri and Vincenzo Iaquinta to lead the attack against Udinese today.
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