SOCCER
Real Betis win at Getafe
A wonderful free kick from Benat Extebarria helped fire Real Betis to a 4-2 victory at Getafe on Monday that lifted them up to fourth in La Liga. Jorge Molina put the visitors in front after a well-worked passing move in the 59th minute, only for Getafe to quickly equalize through Diego Castro. Midfielder Benat, on the fringes of Vicente del Bosque’s Spain team, restored the Betis lead with a curling free-kick into the top corner from wide of the area in the 74th. Two minutes later striker Ruben Castro sprinted clear following a counter-attack to put Betis 3-1 up. Getafe pulled one back through Pedro Leon with a minute to go, but as the hosts poured forward looking for the equalizer, Betis broke away and Salva Sevilla netted the decider. Betis are fourth with 19 points from 10 games.
BASKETBALL
Pair draw flop warnings
Minnesota’s J.J. Barea and Cleveland’s Donald Sloan were named on Monday as the first NBA players to draw warnings from the league under a new anti-flopping rule. Both incidents of flopping — where a player exaggerates slight contact to convince an official he has been fouled — took place in games on Friday. Barea exaggerated the impact of receiving a forearm to the face from Sacramento’s Jimmer Fredette in Minnesota’s victory over the Kings, by throwing his arms in the air and stumbling backwards. Sloan tangled legs with Chicago’s Nazr Mohammed before spinning around and tumbling to the court with his arms raised. First-time offenders under the new rule are given only a warning, but a second flop brings a US$5,000 fine. A third violation leads to a US$10,000 fine followed by US$15,000 for the fourth flop and US$30,000 for a fifth. After that any further flops could lead to a suspension.
SOCCER
Spanish star joins Johor
Former Spain striker Daniel Guiza has signed a contract with wealthy Malaysian state club Johor, an official said yesterday, in one of the country’s biggest transfer deals. Johor Football Association secretary Suhairi Hashim said that the 32-year-old had signed a one-year contract. He declined to say how much Guiza cost but added that his market value was £2 million (US$3.2 million). “We have a massive budget for the team this year to develop football in Johor. For sure, it is one of the biggest soccer transfer deals in the country,” Suhairi said. Guiza was top scorer in La Liga for Real Mallorca four years ago before going on to help Spain win Euro 2008. He has scored six goals in 21 internationals for Spain. Johor have embarked on a buying spree and Suhairi said at least eight internationals would be joining his club.
CRICKET
Refugee helps Aussies
Australia yesterday used the leg-spin bowling of a Pakistani asylum seeker in their first net session ahead of this week’s first Test against South Africa in Brisbane. Fawad Ahmed, who is awaiting a decision from the Australian government about his refugee protection claim, bowled against Australia’s top batsmen as a preparation for South African spinner Imran Tahir ahead of Friday’s Gabba Test. Ahmed, who plays Melbourne club cricket, was flown to Brisbane because he has a similar bowling action to Pakistan-born Tahir, team officials said. Ahmed is familiar with Tahir, having played against him in Pakistan. He left his home in the border region near Afghanistan to come to Australia on a short-stay visa to play cricket in 2010.
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