SOCCER
UEFA backs Sepp Blatter
UEFA will support incumbent Sepp Blatter in next month’s FIFA presidential election, European soccer’s governing body said on Friday. “The UEFA executive committee has decided to give its unanimous support to Mr Joseph S Blatter in the upcoming FIFA presidential elections and strongly recommends all UEFA member associations to do likewise,” UEFA said in a statement. Blatter will be up against Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar in the June 1 election and UEFA’s announcement could now swing the vote in his favor. UEFA holds 53 of the 208 votes that will be up for grabs. Blatter, bidding for a fourth term in office, has already been promised the unanimous support of South America, which has 10 votes.
ICE HOCKEY
Ovechkin off to worlds
Washington Capitals leading scorer Alex Ovechkin will join Russia for the second round of the World Ice Hockey Championships in Slovakia, the NHL club announced on Friday. Ovechkin, the Capitals’ captain, became available when the Tampa Bay Lightning ousted Washington from the NHL playoffs, sweeping the Eastern Conference top seed four games to none in a second-round best-of-seven series. The 25-year-old playmaker from Moscow scored 32 goals and assisted on 53 others in 79 games for the Capitals this season and also led the club in hits delivered to opponents. Ovechkin took more shots than any other NHL player this season, 367, and shared the league lead with 11 game-winning goals. In the playoffs, Ovechkin scored five goals in 10 games. Ovechkin helped Russia finish second in last year’s worlds in Germany and helped bring Russia the 2008 title.
RUGBY UNION
Bledisloe Cup gets revamp
The All Blacks and Wallabies will contest the Bledisloe Cup over three Tests under a revamped format to take effect next year, the New Zealand and Australian rugby unions announced yesterday. The new arrangement replaces the present system where the Cup, the symbol of trans-Tasman rugby supremacy, is contested as part of the Tri-Nations tournament, which also involves South Africa. From next year, the third and possibly deciding match will be hosted alternately between the two countries, following their home and away clashes in the Tri-Nations. The first additional Bledisloe Cup Test will be hosted by Australia in October next year and there are no plans to take it to a neutral venue, as has happened in recent years. New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew said the additional Test was part of a new All Blacks schedule, which includes three Tests next month, the expanded Tri-Nations that takes place in Argentina from next year and the end-of-year northern hemisphere tour.
GOLF
Woods set for the Players
Tiger Woods will return to action from a minor knee injury to compete in this coming week’s Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, the PGA Tour said on Friday. Woods, who has been sidelined since last month’s Masters, submitted his entry for the Players before Friday’s deadline, the tour said in a statement. Woods had been scheduled to play in last week’s Quail Hollow tournament in North Carolina, but was advised by doctors to rest his knee while using cold-water therapy and soft tissue treatment. He suffered mild strains to his left knee and left Achilles’ tendon while hitting an awkward shot from pine straw to the left of the 17th fairway at Augusta National during the third round of the Masters.
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