■ITALY
Fiorentina win in Cup
Adrian Mutu scored twice to help Fiorentina beat Chievo Verona 3-2 to advance to the Italian Cup quarterfinals on Thursday. Mutu found the target in the 35th and 77th minutes, with Khouma Babacar also scoring for the home side. After Pablo Granoche Louro put Chievo ahead seven minutes in, Mutu equalized from a cross from Manuel Pasqual. Simone Bentivoglio restored Chievo’s lead in the 38th and Babacar made it 2-2 by redirecting in a free kick from Pasqual in the 75th. Two minutes later, Mutu skipped past two defenders to score the winner. Fiorentina next face Lazio, who beat Palermo 2-0. Aleksandar Kolarov put Lazio in front in the 57th minute before Sergio Floccari doubled the lead in the 74th. Also, Udinese eliminated third-division Lumazzane 2-0. Francesco Lodi scored a penalty seconds before halftime and Bernardo Corradi sealed the win with a goal in the 61st. Udinese’s quarterfinal opponents are AC Milan, who edged third-division Novara 2-1 on Wednesday. Also advancing were Juventus, Inter, AS Roma and Catania.
■ENGLAND
Pompey cash diverted
Portsmouth are to have their £7 million (US$11.4 million) share of the latest English Premier League television revenues diverted to clubs they owe money to over unpaid transfer deals, officials said on Thursday. Portsmouth, four points adrift at the bottom of English soccer’s top flight, are currently unable to sign new players during this month’s transfer window because of an embargo placed upon them by the league. The Premier League board held talks with Portsmouth, who on several occasions this season have failed to play their players on time. Pompey have been unable to convince the league they have the money to cover a reported £10 million of debts to other clubs, hence the decision to divert their share of the television cash to other teams.
■ENGLAND
Redknapp on tax rap
Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp was charged with tax evasion on Thursday, a spokesman for English prosecuting authorities said. The charges, which relate to Redknapp’s time in charge of Portsmouth, result from a police investigation into alleged corruption in English soccer. Redknapp, who has repeatedly protested his innocence, said he would fight the charges. “Henry [Harry] Redknapp, the former football manager of Portsmouth Football Club, has today been charged with two counts of cheating the public revenue,” a Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said on Thursday. Redknapp’s lawyer, Ian Burton, said his client had voluntarily attended a police station to be charged. The charges against Redknapp came two days after former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric was charged with two counts of tax evasion.
■ENGLAND
Teen fetches £3.5 million
Chelsea must pay Manchester City £3.5 million for teenage striker Daniel Sturridge, with the final bill possibly hitting £7 million depending on appearances. A Professional Football Compensation Committee hearing on Thursday ruled an initial payment of £3.5 million was due, with additional payments of £500,000 after each of 10, 20, 30 and 40 first-team appearances. A further payment of £1 million will be due if Sturridge makes a full international appearance. Sturridge, 19, joined Chelsea in July on a four-year deal after his contract expired at City, but the two clubs could not agree on a fee, which was determined by the tribunal.
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