BASKETBALL
Turkoglu fails dope test
The NBA slapped Orlando Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu with a 20-game ban on Wednesday after he tested positive for steroids. The league said the 33-year-old Turkish player tested positive for the steroid methenolone. Turkoglu blamed the positive test on a “trainer” in Turkey, but he did not name the person who gave him the steroids. “While I was back home in Turkey this past summer, I was given a medication by my trainer to help recover more quickly from a shoulder injury,” Turkoglu said in a statement. “I didn’t know that this was a banned substance and didn’t check before taking it. I take full responsibility for anything that goes into my body. This was a complete error in judgment on my part and I apologize to the Orlando Magic organization, the league, my teammates and the Magic fans. I know I have let down a lot of people and I am truly sorry for my mistake.” His suspension began on Wednesday night.
SOCCER
Magpies’ Tiote arrested
Newcastle United and Ivory Coast midfielder Cheick Tiote has been arrested on suspicion of fraud. Media reports said Tiote, who only returned to England this month after playing for Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations, had his car seized following his arrest. “At about 1:30pm on Feb. 12, a car was stopped on Benton Park Road, Newcastle, and a 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of fraud in relation to driving offenses,” a Northumbria police spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Any absence for the tough-tackling Tiote will be a blow to Newcastle, who are 16th in the Premier League, four points above the relegation zone. There was some good news for Alan Pardew’s men, though, with the manager saying striker Yoan Gouffran should return to training next week following a shin injury in the 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
RUGBY UNION
Healy to miss two matches
Ireland’s Cian Healy will miss the Six Nations matches against Scotland and France after receiving a three-week ban for stamping on England’s Dan Cole during last weekend’s defeat in Dublin. After Sunday’s 12-6 loss at Lansdowne Road, prop forward Healy was cited and his case was heard by a disciplinary committee in London on Wednesday, who suspended him until March 10. Tempers flared in the 14th minute of England’s victory when Healy used his boot on rival Cole’s ankle at a ruck formed following a collapsed maul, sparking a mass brawl. Healy will miss the matches away to Scotland on Feb. 24 and at home to France on March 9, but he will be available for Ireland’s final game against Italy in Rome on March 16.
SOCCER
Dresden ban own fans
Second-tier German side SG Dynamo Dresden have taken the unusual step of banning their own fans for their next three away matches after supporters rioted at a match on Friday last week. Supporters of relegation-threatened Dynamo landed the club in hot water again with the German Football Association when they clashed with police and set off flares during their team’s 3-0 defeat at Kaiserslautern. Dresden fans rioted in the town center before the game, causing an estimated 70,000 euros (US$94,150) of damage, having also caused trouble in Hannover in October last year. The ban will include next month’s trip to second-tier leaders Braunschweiger TSV Eintracht 1895. “We wanted to set an example. This penalty should bring the rioters around.,” Dresden chief executive Christian Mueller said.
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