SOCCER
Owl-kicker receives threats
Panamanian international Luis Moreno said he had been threatened on Tuesday for kicking an owl in Bogota, which subsequently died, during a Colombian championship match. “There have been all kinds of things ... on the telephone, everything,” the Pereira player said in a television interview. “It wasn’t my intention to hurt the animal.” Moreno caused an uproar by trying to kick the stricken bird — which had just been injured after being hit by the ball — into touch during the 2-1 defeat at Atletico Junior on Sunday. The owl, which lived under the roof of the Metropolitano stadium in Barranquilla, was considered Junior’s lucky mascot and Moreno had to be given police protection on leaving the field. “It’s very difficult for me and my family who are in Panama and are afraid about all this,” Moreno said. The player’s tearful mother said in an interview in Panama: “I’ve very worried, his intention was not to kill the animal.”
SKI JUMPING
Heiberg pleads for women
A senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) member in Oslo, Norway, said he supports including women’s ski jumping at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Gerhard Heiberg, who serves on the IOC’s executive board, said he would recommend the addition of the sport to IOC president Jacques Rogge. The Norwegian, who returned to work yesterday after suffering a mild heart attack last week, watched the women ski jumpers compete at the Nordic world skiing championships from his hospital bed. Heiberg says the women’s discipline has made major strides since the IOC decided against introducing the sport at last year’s Vancouver Games. Rogge will decide next month whether to add the sport to the Sochi program.
SOCCER
Another coach bites dust
Manuel Fernandes of Vitoria Setubal became the Portuguese top flight’s ninth coaching casualty of the season when he left the club by mutual consent on Tuesday. Fernandes, whose side had slipped to 14th and third from bottom in the league, is the second coach to leave a club inside a week after Leonardo Jardim quit Beira-Mar on Monday. Despite Beira-Mar sitting 10th in the 16-team division, Jardim handed in his resignation after his side were beaten at home by bottom side Portimonense. Sporting Lisbon announced last week that coach Paulo Sergio would be relieved of his duties because of their recent struggles. Sporting sit third with 33 points, but have a 26-point deficit to leaders FC Porto. Since the start of the season, four other clubs — Academica, Maritimo, Naval and Portimonense — have changed coaches. Naval and Academica are already on their third coach this season.
SOCCER
Fellaini out because of injury
Everton’s disappointing season suffered another blow yesterday after it was confirmed midfielder Marouane Fellaini would miss the rest of the campaign with an injury. Everton boss David Moyes, speaking after his side had been dumped out of the FA Cup by Reading late on Tuesday, revealed that the Belgian international had aggravated an ankle injury against Sunderland last weekend. “Marouane is going to be out for the season now, he will have an operation on Monday,” Moyes said. It is the second time Fellaini’s Everton career has been interrupted by injury. The 23-year-old was also sidelined for six months last year with an ankle problem.
GOLF
Kaymer now No. 1
Martin Kaymer of Germany is the new world No. 1, taking over from Lee Westwood, who had deposed Tiger Woods on Oct. 31. Kaymer reached the pinnacle by reaching the final of the WGC Matchplay tournament at the weekend in Arizona, where he lost to England’s Luke Donald. Donald moves up to third, while US Open champion Graeme Mc-Dowell is at fourth, relegating Woods to fifth place, his lowest position since before his breakthrough win at the 1997 Masters.
SOCCER
Duisburg downs Cottbus
Ten-man MSV Duisburg beat fellow second-division side Energie Cottbus 2-1 in Tuesday’s German Cup semi-final and will face either holders Bayern Munich or Schalke in the final on May 21. Duisburg will contest the prestigious final at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium after Austrian striker Stefan Maierhofer netted in the first half before Serbia’s Srdjan Baljak made sure of the win with a 54th-minute strike. There was drama with 12 minutes to go as Duisburg defender Bruno Soares was sent off for hauling down Cottbus’ Dutch midfielder Jules Reimerink in the penalty area and Nils Petersen netted the spot-kick. Cottbus had a header from defender Uwe Huenemeier cleared off the line with 89 minutes on the clock in a frantic finale. “At the end we had a red card, a great backdrop, a great game and now Duisburg are on our way to Berlin,” said Maierhofer, who scored with a 24th-minute header. “I’d like to thank my ex-girlfriend’s mother, who always said I was tall with a hard head, so perfect for heading the ball.” This is the first time since 2004, when second-tier Alemannia Aachen lost 3-2 to first division side Werder Bremen, that a second-division Bundesliga team has reached the final. With an automatic place in the Europa League on offer for the winners of the cup, Duisburg — currently sixth in the second division — are just one more giant-killing away from a European place. They have already beaten Cologne, in the round of 16, and Kaiserslautern, in the quarter-finals, on the way to the final.
SOCCER
Reading advance in FA Cup
Reading reached the FA Cup quarter-finals at Premier League Everton’s expense after a first-half goal from defender Matt Mills earned a 1-0 fifth round victory at Goodison Park on Tuesday. The Championship side will visit either Manchester City or Aston Villa in the last eight. Mills struck the only goal in the 26th minute, following up after his initial header from a corner had been blocked. Lackluster Everton, beaten by Chelsea in the 2009 final, created few clear-cut openings. Their best chance fell to Leon Osman late on, but he was denied by a fine block from Reading goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.
CYCLING
Arriagada tests positive
Chile’s top cyclist Marco Arriagada announced he has tested positive for banned substances, but has pledged to prove his innocence. He tested positive last month during the Tour of Chile, a race he has won three times. According to press reports, the 35-year-old’s sample tested positive for anabolic steroids. “The Federation told me the news and now I have to discuss it with my lawyers,” Arriagada told the Web site of Chilean daily El Mercurio from the Dominican Republic. He said he would return home immediately “to undergo the necessary tests and prove my innocence.” Arriagada won three of the 10 stages on the most recent edition of the Tour of Chile and is a four-time national time trial champion.
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