ARGENTINA
Grondona dead at 82
Julio Grondona, the veteran president of the Argentine Football Association and FIFA vice president, died on Wednesday at the age of 82 in a Buenos Aires clinic, association sources reported. The all-powerful figure, who had been in charge of Argentine soccer since 1979, was taken to hospital suffering heart problems and died while undergoing emergency surgery. Grondona had been a FIFA Executive Committee member since 1988 and was appointed to head the association nine years earlier by Argentina’s then-military government. Clubs re-elected Grondona every four years to keep him governing the sport in the South American nation until his death. His time in charge saw Los Albicelestes win the FIFA World Cup in Mexico in 1986; the Copa America in 1991 and 1993; and Olympic gold in 2004 and 2008.
BOLIVIA
San Lorenzo in Copa final
Argentina’s San Lorenzo were pelted with objects thrown by rival fans and needed protection from police at halftime of their Copa Libertadores semi-final second leg against Bolivian side Bolivar on Wednesday, which they lost 1-0, but still advanced to the final of the tournament for the first time. The Argentine side held a comfortable 5-0 lead from last week’s first leg and sat back to defend in two lines of four, 3,600m up on Bolivia’s Andean Plateau. Substitute Gerardo Yecerotte scored the only goal for Bolivar in the second minute of added-time on a poor Estadio Hernando Siles pitch. San Lorenzo next meet Nacional of Paraguay, who booked their first final after beating Uruguay’s Defensor Sporting 2-1 on aggregate on Tuesday. San Lorenzo and Nacional will face off over two legs for the South American club title and a place in the FIFA Club World Cup in December.
ENGLAND
Referees to use magic spray
The Premier League on Wednesday announced that referees in the English top flight will use vanishing spray to police free-kicks from the start of the 2014-2015 season. “Vanishing spray will be used in the Barclays Premier League from the start of this season,” read a statement the organization posted on Twitter. The biodegradable foam, which dissolves within a minute, is sprayed on the ground by referees to mark where free-kicks should be taken from and the 9.15m distance that the opposition’s defensive wall must observe. It was judged a success after being pioneered at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil and has since been adopted by European governing body UEFA for the Champions League and Europa League. It will also be used in domestic competitions in France. The first Premier League fixture to feature vanishing spray will be Manchester United’s home game with Swansea City on Aug. 16.
GREECE
Moras to give sibling marrow
Greece international Vangelis Moras has flown to Australia to donate bone marrow to his elder brother, Dimitris, who has leukemia, sport FM radio reported on Wednesday. The 32-year-old Hellas Verona defender, part of the Greece squad that reached the last 16 at last month’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil, uploaded a photograph of him with his brother at a hospital on Facebook. The image carried a caption reading: “Ready for Action” and in it, both men are wearing Superman T-shirts in a hospital bed. Dimitris, 33, traveled to Australia from Greece in March to see relatives, but fell ill a week after his arrival. He was diagnosed with Acute myeloid leukemia. The bone marrow transplant is scheduled to take place tomorrow.
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