PREMIER LEAGUE
Agents paid US$123m
The Premier League’s 20 clubs paid players’ agents £77 million (US$123 million) in one year, with Manchester City spending 14 percent of the total, the league announced on Friday. City, last year’s champions, paid £10.5 million to agents from Oct. 1 last year to Sept. 30, accounting for two transfer windows. The second-biggest spenders were Liverpool, who handed agents £8.6 million, but finished eighth last season and are currently 12th. Third on the list are Queens Park Rangers, who spent £6.8 million, but are currently win-less and bottom of the league after avoiding relegation on the last day of last season. Tottenham Hotspur were fourth on the list with £6.6 million, followed by Champions League winners Chelsea with £6.5 million and Arsenal with £5.6 million. However, league leaders Manchester United only paid £3.7 million.
FRANCE
Ajaccio hold Saint-Etienne
AS Saint-Etienne missed a chance to claim top spot in Ligue 1 when they were held to a goalless draw at AC Ajaccio on Friday. Les Verts climbed from fourth place to second on 26 points, trailing leaders Olympique Lyonnais, who hosted champions Montpellier Herault yesterday, by two points. Ajaccio are 16th on 16 points, two points above the relegation zone. Saint-Etienne enjoyed most of the possession in a game hampered by rain and gusty winds, but they were toothless up front. Adrian Mutu had a good chance for Ajaccio in the first half when his header shaved Stephane Ruffier’s post. The Romanian was then replaced on the hour mark. Saint-Etienne’s Brazilian striker Brandao went off 15 minutes from time because of a strained leg muscle.
GERMANY
Fortuna destroy Frankfurt
Fortuna Duesseldorf demolished 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 on Friday to move further away from the Bundesliga relegation zone and inflict a second straight defeat on their rivals. The Duesseldorf club are up to 13th place on 18 points while Frankfurt, with only one win in seven matches, are stuck in fifth spot on 24 points. The visitors had Karim Matmour sent off in the 34th minute for a second booking and four minutes later Stefan Reisinger put Fortuna in front, driving past two defenders to score. Promoted Fortuna made it 2-0 in the 42nd minute when Oliver Fink curled a 22m shot past ’keeper Kevin Trapp after shaking off two markers. Nando Rafael was left completely unmarked in the box as he grabbed the third goal in the 58th minute. Axel Bellinghausen sealed Fortuna’s second successive home win five minutes from time, scoring through Trapp’s legs.
SPAIN
Rayo lose 1-0 to Osasuna
CA Osasuna beat Rayo Vallecano de Madrid 1-0 thanks to an early goal from striker Kike Sola on Friday, provisionally lifting the team out of La Liga’s relegation zone. Sola ran onto Alvaro Cejudo’s pass down the right flank and beat goalkeeper David Cobeno with a chipped shot in the fifth minute at the Estadio Reyno de Navarra. Rayo’s best chance of equalizing came four minutes later, but Osasuna goalkeeper Andres Fernandez blocked an effort by Francisco “Piti” Medina. Osasuna kept a clean sheet for the fifth straight game without a loss, including in the Copa del Rey. “We had that little bit of luck that they were lacking,” Osasuna manager Jose Mendilibar said. “We didn’t play particularly well. We created few chances, but we managed to pull out the victory based on our effort and pressing them as much as possible.”
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