■ SOCCER
Albania wants UEFA probe
Albania wants UEFA to investigate match-fixing allegations involving its last two European Championship qualifiers. State Minister Ylli Pango, responsible for sports, wrote to UEFA and implicated Albania's top soccer official in the alleged scandal, ministry spokeswoman Suela Musta said Wednesday. "We have received a letter relating to two games by the Albanian national football team, pointing out that there were some irregularities and encouraging us to investigate," UEFA spokesman William Gaillard said. "We have a number of means to find out about irregularities, so of course we will treat it like any other kind of information we receive. We will pay attention to it." Albania lost to visiting Belarus 4-2 and at Romania 6-1 last month in their final Group G qualifiers.
■ SOCCER
Dudek wants out of Madrid
Jerzy Dudek wants to leave Real Madrid for a starting place at another club to improve his chances of playing for Poland at next summer's European Championship. "I would like to leave," Dudek told Spanish newspaper Marca on Wednesday. "Poland have qualified for the first time and I have received a call from the coach Leo Beenhakker who told me that if I played regularly I would be his goalkeeper at Euro 2008." The 34-year-old Dudek joined Madrid on a free transfer from Liverpool during the European summer transfer window, signing a three-year deal. However, he has not played a single minute in the Spanish league or European Champions League while serving as a reserve behind Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
■ SOCCER
Coach deceived by players
As many as four Peruvian national team players, including Chelsea striker Claudio Pizarro, were drinking in a hotel room with women last month, four days before the side was beaten by Ecuador 5-1 in a World Cup qualifying match, the Peruvian Football Federation said on Wednesday. "It's confirmed that there was a lack of discipline. The players were enjoying a night of pleasure, with women and alcohol" at their Lima hotel after Peru drew 1-1 with Brazil, said Lander Aleman, a member of the federation's World Cup commission. The players were supposed to abstain from such parties during the qualifying rounds, which Peru officials call "a period of concentration." Peru are currently ninth in the 10-team South America table with two points, trailed only by Bolivia with one point.
■ CRICKET
Imran hit by revolt: Miandad
Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan survived a player revolt before leading his team to victory in the 1992 World Cup, former teammate Javed Miandad said. Miandad, a former captain and three-time coach of the national side, said leading players had grown disaffected with Imran's leadership style throughout the tournament. "The revolt took place before the semi-final against New Zealand. But to me the country was more important and I convinced the players to carry on playing under Imran," Miandad said on a local television chat show late on Wednesday. "Imran retired after winning the World Cup and before the England tour in 1992 because he had come to know about the revolt." Miandad, when contacted on Thursday, confirmed his statement but would not elaborate. "I have never spoken about this incident but now many people know about it so I disclosed the truth," he said.
■ BASEBALL
Cardinals release Taguchi
Japanese outfielder So Taguchi, who helped the St Louis Cardinals win last year's World Series title, was released by the Major League Baseball club on Wednesday. The 38-year-old veteran of six US seasons, all with the Cardinals after leaving his homeland, enjoyed his best season in 2005 when he batted .288 with eight home runs and drove in 53 runs. Last year he hit .290 with three homers and 30 runs batted in over 130 games. For his career, Taguchi batted .283 with 19 homers and knocked home 154 runs over 578 games.
■ Football
Vikings star receives ban
Minnesota Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards has been suspended for four games for violating the NFL's policy on steroid use. Coach Brad Childress said he was disappointed in Edwards and could not comment further because of the confidentiality surrounding the policy. The Vikings will turn to Erasmus James, rookie Brian Robison and Jayme Mitchell to fill in during Edwards' absence. Edwards is in his second year out of Purdue University and has been one of the Vikings' most consistent performers at defensive end. He is eligible to return to the team after the Dec. 30 season finale against Denver and could play if the Vikings make the playoffs.
■ Soccer
Player denies wrongdoing
Eintracht Frankfurt striker Ioannis Amanatidis has denied any wrong-doing after it was revealed he is being investigated by police over an alleged assault on a woman. The 26-year-old is alleged to have struck a 33-year-old Macedonian woman in Frankfurt on Tuesday after an argument with her father and is under investigation, a police spokesman confirmed on Wednesday. "I didn't hit anyone, neither the lady nor her companion," Amantidis said. But the alleged victim says the Greek international hit her after an argument broke out as she tried to park her car. "I wanted to protect my father and he [Amanatidis] hit me with his full palm on the left side of my face," the woman involved said.
■ Soccer
Expert says club wasn't Nazi
Hertha Berlin, the German capital's premier team, was not heavily linked to the Nazi party, according to a history expert's study. Professor Daniel Koerfer, who works at Berlin's Freie University, has conducted a study into Hertha, who play at Berlin's Olympic Stadium, to assess how much influence the Nazis had on the team during the Third Reich era. Koerfer's report shows the vast majority of players stayed away from the Nazi party and almost all the club's 400 members did not sympathize with the Third Reich regime. But the report does conclude several leading figures at the club became party members and co-operated with the Nazis, often to protect the club. Hertha president Bernd Schiphorst says the club is still often associated with the Nazi era because of their links to the stadium built by Hitler's chief architect Albert Speer. One of Hertha's most famous players, Hanne Sobek, who helped the Berlin side to become German champions in 1930 and 1931, joined the Nazi party in 1940, but later distanced himself. When the Nazis anti-semitic policy forced the closure of the stadium's Jewish stand, Sobek protested, according to Koerfer's study.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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