SOCCER
Pinola sorry for spitting
Argentine midfielder Javier Pinola has apologized to German star Bastian Schweinsteiger for spitting at him during a Bundesliga match. The pair clashed repeatedly during Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win over Nuremberg at Munich’s Allianz Arena on Sunday when Pinola spat at Schweinsteiger during the first half. Pinola has apologized to Schweinsteiger, but the Argentinian is still likely to be fined and could also be banned for the incident. “Pinola will be given a fine, which will hurt him,” said Nuremberg manager Martin Bader, with Bild claiming it will be around 15,000 euros (US$20,200).
FOOTBALL
NFL may get bigger squads
The NFL Players Association wants two bye weeks and bigger squads before it accepts the league’s proposed 18-game regular season. A person familiar with the negotiations that the union’s counter proposal also includes a potential expansion of practice squad size and a two-thirds reduction in off-season workouts. The person spoke on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the details. The owners want to play 18 regular-season and two preseason games instead of the current breakdown of 16 and four. That’s one issue to be hashed out during the collective bargaining negotiations between the league and the union. The current agreement expires in March, raising fears of a potential lockout.
BOXING
Legal woes hit Mayweather
Police in Las Vegas say a security guard is accusing Floyd Mayweather Jr of poking him in the face several times and threatening him over parking violations outside Mayweather’s home. Las Vegas police officer Marcus Martin said on Tuesday that Mayweather refused to speak with police called to his home after the confrontation on Monday evening. Martin says a misdemeanor battery report was taken and is being submitted for possible prosecution. The security guard told police that Mayweather has been in an ongoing dispute with homeowner association guards over parking outside his home.
BOXING
Margarito surgery successful
Antonio Margarito underwent successful right orbital bone surgery at Methodist Hospital on Tuesday, three days after taking a punishing beating at the hands of Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao. Margarito was kept overnight at the hospital before being released yesterday. Pacquiao won a unanimous 12-round decision over Margarito on Saturday for their World Boxing Council super welterweight title bout in nearby Arlington, punishing his larger rival so badly that surgery to repair the bone around his eye had to be delayed so facial swelling could ease. Margarito will have two months without contact of any kind in a gym to allow the fighter to heal, his manager Sergio Diaz said.
SOCCER
Congo withdraws host bid
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has withdrawn its bid to host the 2015 or 2017 African Nations Cups, leaving just Morocco and South Africa in the running, the Confederation of African Football said on Tuesday. African soccer’s governing body will decide in January on the outcome of the bids, but with just two countries left in the running, it will only have to allocate one tournament to each. Morocco and South Africa were serious rivals for the right to host this year’s World Cup, which went to South Africa.
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