FRANCE
Tiny club tries to sign Messi
The president of an amateur French club who has been suspended for trying to sign Barcelona star Lionel Messi thinks the French Football Federation (FFF) failed to see the funny side of his audacious bid. FC Borne president Cedric Enjolras was suspended on Monday for six months by the FFF after his club’s request to sign Messi was intercepted by the federation last month. Speaking by telephone, Enjolras — who is also the club’s goalkeeper — said he was only intending a bit of lighthearted humor when he decided to try and sign the prolific Argentina forward. “I don’t know the reason why I was suspended. I suppose my joke wasn’t appreciated. It pleases a lot of people except the French Football Federation,” Enjolras said on Friday. Enjolras is banned from soccer activities until June 7, with another three months as a suspended sentence. The club posted the decision on its Web site, with several reactions from fans, including: “suspended six months for having a sense of humor.” Asked if he would like to get Messi to play for his club on loan another time, he joked that it would be “with great pleasure.” FC Borne play in the second division of a regional league in the Auvergne region of France. “How many fans do we get? Oh, about 10 ... a bit less than the Camp Nou,” Enjolras said.
GREECE
Protect players, union says
The International Players’ Union has called on Greek authorities to protect players from fan violence, describing the situation as unacceptable and an infringement of EU rules on workplace safety. A planned strike by Greek players broke down on Thursday and the union said it would complain to FIFA and UEFA, the respective governing bodies for world and European soccer, about footballers’ exposure to violence. “The union fully supports the professional footballers in Greece who have suffered numerous serious violent spectator incidents,” the union said in a statement on Friday. “According to EU law, every worker is entitled to a safe and healthy workplace. An employer is obliged to secure the safety of all employees.”
SPAIN
Ronaldo expected to play
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho expects fellow Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo to play against Olympique Lyonnais in their crucial Champions League round-of-16 match on Wednesday, despite recently suffering a thigh injury. “I am pretty sure he will play, but I don’t like it when players are not 100 percent fit,” Mourinho told a press conference on Friday. “If Cristiano had to play tomorrow he wouldn’t because he is not fully fit, but I am sure he will play next Wednesday.” Ronaldo, 26, left the field in the 76th minute of Real’s league encounter with Malaga on March 3 after suffering a muscular injury in his left thigh. Lyon held Real to a 1-1 draw at the Stade Gerland last week.
ENGLAND
Balotelli allergic to grass
Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli was forced off the pitch in their 2-0 Europa League defeat to Dynamo Kiev with what British media said was a grass allergy. The Italian was rubbing his eyes when he came out late for the second half during Thursday’s defeat in Ukraine and he was substituted soon after. “Mario had an allergy — I don’t know what. His face was swollen — I don’t know why,” coach Roberto Mancini told reporters. “He wanted to play in the second half, but he had this problem 10 seconds before coming out.” British media reported the striker was sensitive to a certain type of grass.
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