TENNIS
Paire fined for meltdown
France’s Benoit Paire on Wednesday was fined US$16,500 by the ATP Tour after a meltdown at the end of his first-round match at the Citi Open. Paire on Tuesday lost to Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Down 4-2 in the final set, the Frenchman netted an overhead smash to surrender a break and a 5-2 edge. He smashed his racket on the ground four times and kicked it in frustration. Baghdatis tried to calm Paire, but he hurled two more rackets onto the court, where a ball person collected them. After a weak effort on the final point of the match, he congratulated Baghdatis, then walked off to a chorus of boos, blowing the crowd kisses. The fine, more than double the prize money Paire made for his appearance, was issued for an audible obscenity, unsporting conduct and a lack of giving best effort.
OLYMPICS
Italy floats 2026 bid
The Italian National Olympic Committee on Wednesday voted to submit a joint bid formed by Milan, Turin and the Alpine resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo to host the 2026 Winter Olympics. The group’s executive committee unanimously backed the bid, which it said would be an “innovative project” that would that give “the greatest chances of success of the candidature for the whole of Italy,” it said in a statement. However, Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala has already said that, while his city is willing to host events, it does not want any governance role in organizing the Games.
SOCCER
Peru soccer head under fire
Peruvian Football Federation president Edwin Oviedo is under growing pressure to resign as he faces accusations that he gave World Cup tickets to a judge who helped exclude him from a murder probe. Peru’s prime minister, lawmakers and scores of Peruvians have called for Oviedo to step down until he can clear his name. Oviedo has denied the accusations. Federation sports director Juan Carlos Oblitas on Wednesday said that the scandal could derail Peru’s bid to persuade widely respected coach Ricardo Gareca from signing a new four-year contract. Oblitas fell short of calling for Oviedo to resign, but he told journalists he felt “disgust, like all of you,” with wiretapped telephone conversations published by local media in which Supreme Court Judge Cesar Hinostroza appears to be arranging to get World Cup tickets from Oviedo. Hinostroza was one of five judges who ruled in favor of excluding Oviedo from a murder probe in 2016. Public prosecutors suspected Oviedo of leading a criminal gang that killed workers of his former sugar company.
SOCCER
Nasri’s doping ban extended
Former Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri’s doping ban was increased to 18 months following an appeal against the original six-month sanction, UEFA said. The Frenchman was handed the original suspension in February after UEFA found the 31-year-old “guilty of using a prohibited method.” The former France international’s lawyer had said that Nasri was sanctioned for receiving an intravenous drip treatment at a clinic in Los Angeles in 2016, when he was on loan at Sevilla from City. “The player Samir Nasri is allowed to return to training with any football club starting from 1 November 2018,” UEFA said on its Web site.
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