Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger on Sunday queried the arrangement that has allowed former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard to join Manchester City on loan from sister club New York City.
MLS side New York have also loaned Spanish striker David Villa to Melbourne City. All three clubs are owned by the City Football Group, a holding company of City owner Abu Dhabi United Group.
Wenger, whose side face City in the FA Community Shield on Sunday, said the partnerships could give the Premier League champions an unfair advantage.
Asked for his reaction to Lampard’s move, he replied: “It’s a surprise, but it looks like all these ‘City’ clubs will feed the main club: Man City. I heard that they want to buy five clubs all over the world.”
“I don’t know the rules well enough. They bought a franchise [New York City] for US$100 million in the [United] States to play next season. At the moment, the players they sign cannot play until next year, so they register in the clubs where they put them and they can get out on loan,” Wenger added. “Is it a way to get around [European soccer governing body UEFA’s Financial] Fair Play [rules]? I don’t know.”
Asked if the Gunners would like to set up a network, the Frenchman said: “We’re happy to dedicate the money we make just to run our club.”
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