BASEBALL
Magic Johnson eyes Dodgers
Former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson of the National Basketball Association is teaming up with a group of investors that are looking at buying the Los Angeles Dodgers. Johnson, who is also a former part-owner of the Lakers, is joining a group that includes former Atlanta Braves executive Stan Kasten and business tycoon Mark Walter. They plan to take part in the auction to purchase the team, which will be sold by owner Frank McCourt. Johnson, who played point guard, sold his stake in the Lakers 13 months ago.
BOXING
Klitschko hospitalized
Wladimir Klitschko’s promoter Bernd Boente said the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion was taken to a Duesseldorf hospital with abdominal pains. Boente told German news agency DAPD on Friday night that Klitschko was displaying symptoms of renal colic, a pain commonly caused by kidney stones. Boente said Klitschko’s bout against French challenger Jean-Marc Mormeck on Saturday next week is not in danger. Boente said “the fight isn’t called off yet. Wladimir is doing well.” Klitschko has never before had kidney stones or other similar problems.
SPEED SKATING
US’ Fredricks wins 500m
Tucker Fredricks of the US won his first 500m World Cup race of the season on Friday at the Thialf in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Fredricks finished in 34.98 seconds. Joji Kato of Japan was second in 35.07 and South Korean Olympic champion Mo Tae-bum was third in 35.08. Martina Sablikova won the first women’s 5,000m World Cup race of the season in 6 minutes, 58.87 seconds. Claudia Pechstein was second and German teammate Stephanie Beckert was third. Yu Jing of China won the women’s 500m in 37.84, edging Lee Sang-hwa of South Korea by seven-hundredths of a second. Wang Beixing of China was third. Ivan Skobrev of Russia took first place in the men’s 1,500 in 1 minute, 45.81 seconds, ahead of Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands and Havard Bokko of Norway.
BOXING
Muhammad Ali recovering
Icon Muhammad Ali is recovering at home after a short hospital stay in Arizona, the Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper reported on Friday. The newspaper said it spoke to Ali’s close friend John Ramsey, who said Ali was “home and well” after a scare last month where his wife called for an ambulance to take him to the hospital. “I don’t think he stayed very long,” Ramsey said. “He may not be going in the direction you or I like, but no one is on the alert.” Earlier on Friday, Star magazine and RadarOnline.com reported that Ali had been hospitalized just a few days after attending the funeral for old rival Joe Frazier, after Ali lost consciousness at his Phoenix home.
BIATHLON
Bergman wins 10km sprint
Carl Johan Bergman of Sweden won the men’s 10km sprint on Friday at the season-opening biathlon World Cup meet in Ostersund, Sweden, shooting clean to hold off Tarjei Boe of Norway. The 33-year old Bergman finished in 24 minutes, 22.5 seconds to beat Boe by 7.6 seconds. The Norwegian also hit all targets in the two shooting rounds. Bergman said he “probably hadn’t imagined winning today, but I felt pretty strong during the race.” He added he “had decided beforehand to be on the offensive, but in a positive way.” Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway was third, 13 seconds behind Bergman after missing one target.
SOCCER
Djalo lets cat out of bag
Aston Villa coach Alex McLeish was unable to hide his annoyance on Friday after potential signing Yannick Djalo announced his trial at the club on Facebook. The Portuguese forward was due for a trial at Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground, but any hopes McLeish had of keeping the move quiet were extinguished when Djalo wrote about it on his Facebook account. “We’re just going to look at him on trial,” McLeish said. “Talk of signing him is very premature. I didn’t really want it to be anybody’s business, but I know the lad put it on Facebook himself, so what chance have you got?”
SOCCER
Lighter sentences vetoed
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has vetoed amendments that would have reduced prison terms for match-fixing and led to lighter sentences for about 30 club officials and players arrested in a recent rigging scandal. Parliament voted for the changes last week, only eight months after it approved sentences of up to 12 years for anyone convicted of rigging games. The changes led to criticism that they were designed to save Fenerbahce president Aziz Yildirim, who is among those awaiting trial for alleged involvement in the scandal. A statement from Gul’s office on Friday said the president vetoed the new reduced term of three years on grounds it was giving “the impression of a special arrangement” to save the suspects.
SOCCER
Nancy not to play host
AS Nancy-Lorraine has pulled out of hosting games at the 2016 European Championship because of a financial disagreement between the French city and companies bidding for the renovation of the Marcel Picot stadium. Nancy was among the 11 cities picked by the French Football Federation to host Euro 2016, but it needed to expand the Marcel Picot stadium’s capacity from about 20,000 to 32,000 to comply with the UEFA requirements. However, Nancy and the two companies bidding for the renovation of the stadium could not reach an agreement over the financing.
SOCCER
German trio break record
German trio Rene Enders, Maximilian Levy and Stefan Nimke have broken the world track speed record for three laps (750m) during qualifying at the Track Cycling World Cup in Cali, Colombia. The trio’s time of 42.914 seconds on Thursday beat the previous record of 42.95 seconds set by Great Britain’s Jamie Staff, Jason Kenny and Sir Chris Hoy during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Enders completed the first lap in 17.118 seconds, the quickest individual time over the first 250m recorded in the event’s history. The trio beat another German team in the final.
SOCCER
‘Mar Mostro’ gets new mast
Puma Ocean Racing’s disabled Mar Mostro has been loaded onto a container ship at a remote south Atlantic Ocean island for transport to Cape Town for the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. Skipper Ken Read says loading took about five hours on Friday. Team officials estimate it will take about four days to get from Tristan da Cunha to Cape Town. Mar Mostro’s 105-foot (32m) mast broke in three pieces on Nov. 21, forcing the crew to withdraw from leg one. A new mast was to arrive in Cape Town yesterday. The crew hopes to have the boat ready for the in-port race on Saturday. The second leg, to Abu Dhabi, begins the following day.
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
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