CONMEBOL
Centenary Cup planned
The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) will celebrate its centenary in 2016 with a 16-team tournament to be held in the US, the body announced on Wednesday. The tournament, called the Centenary Copa America, will also mark 100 years since the South American championship, as it was formerly named, was first played. CONMEBOL said at the end of a meeting in Buenos Aires that the teams taking part would be its 10 member nations, plus the US and Mexico and four other teams from the CONCACAF, picked on their ranking in that region’s Gold Cup. The Copa America is the world’s oldest active tournament since the demise of the British championship involving England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
MALAYSIA
Fowler in talks with T-Team
Former England and Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler is in talks with Super League side T-Team of Terengganu about joining the club as player-manager for next season, local media reported yesterday. Fowler, 37, has been without a club since February, after he left Thai side Muangthong United, where he held a similar role. Since then, proposed moves to English championship (second division) side Blackpool and a new Indian league have fallen through. Fowler is fourth on the Premier League’s all-time top scorers list, with 163 after his two stints for Liverpool and spells at Leeds United and Manchester City. He has also played in the Australian league, prior to moving to Thailand last year.
UNITED STATES
Sporting beat Union for title
C.J. Sapong scored the winning goal off a Kei Kamara pass on Wednesday as Sporting Kansas City beat the Philadelphia Union 2-1 to clinch their second straight Eastern Conference regular-season title. Jacob Peterson opened the scoring after entering the game as a first-half substitute for Sporting, who needed only a draw to secure the conference title. Antoine Hoppenot equalized early in the second half for the Union, but Sapong answered when Kamara found him open on the wing in the 82nd minute. Sapong’s shot past Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath found the back of the net for his ninth goal of the year. The victory pushed Sporting’s club-record point total to 63, six clear of second-place DC United, who have one game remaining in the regular season this weekend. Sporting will carry a 12-match unbeaten streak into the two-leg conference semi-finals, which start on the road on Nov. 3 or Nov. 4 against an opponent yet to be determined. The return match is scheduled for Nov. 7 at Livestrong Sporting Park.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Zenit edge Anderlecht 1-0
Alexander Kerzhakov scored the 200th goal of his career as Zenit St Petersburg edged out RSC Anderlecht 1-0 on Wednesday to earn their first points in this season’s Champions League. The Russia striker calmly converted the 72nd-minute spot-kick after defender Bram Nuytinck had pulled down Alexander Anyukov following a quickly taken free-kick. Kerzhakov scored a hat-trick in Zenit’s 3-1 win over Anderlecht when they last met in European competition two years ago. Anderlecht, missing leading scorer Dieudonne Mbokani of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after he returned from international duty with a broken nose, created several chances, but failed to score for the third consecutive game in the competition. The victory put Luciano Spalletti’s team back in contention for a place in the knockout stages after they had lost their first two matches.
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