Sumo wrestling
New allegations surface
Japan’s scandal-tainted national sport of sumo wrestling is facing new allegations that senior wrestlers used cellphones to plan how to fix matches. Japanese media reported yesterday that police have found suspicious text messages on several wrestlers’ cellphones suggesting they were planning to fix bouts and going so far as to detail how one would attack and how he wanted his opponent to fall. The text messages, found on the phones of wrestlers in sumo’s second-highest division, indicate that the wrestlers routinely fixed bouts and charged hundreds of thousands of yen per match to do so, Japan’s Kyodo news service said. Several wrestlers were arrested last year for betting illegally on baseball games, allegedly with gangsters as go-betweens. Kyodo said the text messages this time were found on phones confiscated when police were investigating the baseball gambling ring.
Soccer
Ex-minister joins Black Cats
Former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband was named non-executive vice chairman of Premier League club Sunderland on Tuesday. Arsenal fan Miliband, who is the Labour Party MP for the neighboring constituency of South Shields, had talks over the role with Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn last month. Reports suggest he will be paid a £50,000 (US$80,000) salary and Quinn said: “We are delighted and honored to welcome David to Sunderland and I am certain he can bring an extra dimension to us as a club. He is already a great champion of our ethos of community involvement and will be a fabulous asset on this front. Adding David to our board in a non-executive capacity provides us with someone who possesses a different spectrum in envisaging how the club can grow.” Miliband lost out to his brother, Ed, in the battle to become Labour leader after last year’s general election.
Soccer
Blanc ignores minister’s call
France coach Laurent Blanc says he will call up whoever he wants for next week’s friendly against Brazil, despite a call from his country’s sports minister for a ban on the players who went on strike at last year’s World Cup. Blanc told regional newspaper Midi Libre that Chantal Jouanno had the right to her opinion on the matter, but added that he remained “totally free” in his choices. France’s players were accused of being a disgrace to their country after going on strike at last year’s tournament. They boycotted a training session in protest at Nicolas Anelka being sent home by team management after his profanity-laced tirade against then-coach Raymond Domenech during a 2-0 loss to Mexico.
Soccer
Lazio halt Milan title charge
Lazio produced a spirited rearguard action to hold Serie A leaders AC Milan to a 0-0 draw at the San Siro on Tuesday. Lazio came into the match in third place in the league and knowing that a defeat would almost certainly rule them out of the title running and although the hosts dominated throughout, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic hitting both posts with a single shot, they could not find a way through the Romans’ stubborn resistance. Massimiliano Allegri, the Milan coach, said his side had deserved to come away with three points. “We rushed too much in the first half, Lazio defended very well but they didn’t have a single shot on goal,” he said. “We had several good chances, especially Ibra hitting the posts. The lads played a good game and deserved the win but this is football.”
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was
The 40-year-old LeBron James on Thursday became the oldest player to score 40 points in an NBA game, putting up a season-high 42 in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James passed the record held by Michael Jordan, his idol and the only other NBA player to score 40 after his 40th birthday. “I’m old, that’s my take,” James said when asked about his latest achievement. “I need a glass of wine and some sleep, that’s what I think.” Jordan did it for the Washington Wizards just three days after turning 40 in February 2003. James is 38
SPEEDSKATER: Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990 Speedskater Chen Ying-chu yesterday made history as the first athlete representing Taiwan to secure a medal at the Asian Winter Games. Competing at the HIC Speedskating Oval in Harbin, China, Chen clocked 10.510 seconds in the women’s 100m event, finishing third behind South Koreans Lee Na-hyum and Kim Min-sun, who posted times of 10.501 and 10.505 seconds respectively. Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s drought at the Asian Winter Games since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990. This year’s Games mark Chen’s debut at the event. Previously excelling in roller speedskating, she won six medals at world championships before transitioning