MANCHESTER CITY
Toure to stay at City: agent
Yaya Toure’s agent performed a U-turn on Monday by declaring that the Ivory Coast midfielder would remain at Manchester City for next season. Dimitri Seluk had previously said that Toure, 32, was “90 percent certain” to leave the Etihad Stadium amid reports of interest from Inter and Paris Saint-Germain. However, in an interview with Sky Sports News, Seluk said that Toure would stay at City after the club informed him that he was “too important to let go.” Toure, whose contract expires in 2017, joined City from Barcelona in 2010 and has helped the previously success-starved club to two Premier League titles, the League Cup and the FA Cup. A four-time African Footballer of the Year, he scored 20 goals as City surged to the league title last year, but endured a mixed campaign this season as Manuel Pellegrini’s charges finished runners-up behind Chelsea. Toure, who reportedly earns £220,000 (US$340,310) a week, refused to answer questions about his future at the launch of FIFA’s new anti-discrimination monitoring system in London earlier this month. He is currently in North America on City’s post-season tour.
CHELSEA
Drogba to leave England
Didier Drogba will not play for another English team when he leaves Chelsea and may follow Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard by ending his career in the US. The 37-year-old former Ivory Coast forward played his final game for Chelsea when the Premier League champions beat Sunderland 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. “There are some really fantastic teams in the Premier League, but my love for this club... I can’t share it with another English team,” he told the Daily Telegraph on Monday. “Since I put the news I am leaving Chelsea on social media, I was in the dressing-room and I was receiving some calls from teams which is really unusual. It showed that maybe I can still bring something to a team. Of course I’m interested in the USA,” Drogba added. “Now I’m going to have a few days and weeks to think about what is good for me next, but all I want is to play.” His former Chelsea teammate Lampard, who was on loan with Manchester City this season, is about to start a new career with New York City FC. Gerrard, who used to patrol England’s midfield alongside Lampard, played his last game for Liverpool on Sunday before joining the Los Angeles Galaxy. Drogba re-signed for Chelsea last year after leaving in 2012 following a highly successful eight-year spell with the London club. The Ivorian has won four Premier League titles with Chelsea, three League Cups, four FA Cups and the Champions League. Drogba was voted the club’s greatest-ever player by supporters in 2012.
FLAMENGO
Coach Luxemburgo fired
Flamengo have fired coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo just three matches into the Brazilian league. The popular club made the announcement late on Monday, a day after they lost 2-1 at recently promoted Avai to remain winless in Brazil’s most important competition. Luxemburgo, a former Brazil and Real Madrid coach, had been under pressure since Flamengo was eliminated from the Rio de Janeiro state championship earlier this year. The club opened the Brazilian league with a 2-1 loss at Sao Paulo and a 2-2 home draw against Sport, when they scored the equalizer in injury time. Luxemburgo was hired by Flamengo 10 months ago and helped the team escape relegation in last year’s Brazilian league. He won 34 matches, lost 14 and drew 11.
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