■ SOCCER
Players in match-fixing probe
Four Livorno players and an Atalanta player will face a disciplinary commission in a Serie A match-fixing probe, the Italian soccer federation said on Friday. The federation said that two games were being probed — a 1-1 draw on Dec. 23 between the clubs and a 3-2 victory by Atalanta over Livorno on May 4. Ordered to face the judgment of the disciplinary commission were David Balleri, Livorno’s captain, and three other Livorno players, brothers Emanuele and Antonio Filippini and Alessandro Grandoni. Atalanta captain Gian Paolo Bellini will also face the disciplinary body, the federation said. Balleri and Bellini were investigated by the federation for alleged match-fixing in both games, while the other three players were probed for allegedly having failed to inform federation authorities about the alleged fixing of the May match.
■ BOXING
Calzaghe eyes Jones Jr bout
Joe Calzaghe has relinquished his WBC super-middleweight title to set up a potential fight against Roy Jones Jr for the light heavyweight belt, the British Boxing Board of Control said on Friday. The 36-year-old Calzaghe, who went to light heavyweight level to defeat Bernard Hopkins in April, hopes to fight Jones Jr in September. If he had kept the super-middleweight title, the Welshman would have been obligated to defend it against British fighter Carl Froch. Froch will now face Jermain Taylor for the super-middleweight title later this year.
■ FORMULA ONE
Silverstone loses Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is leaving Silverstone and moving to Donington Park in 2010. Having staged the race annually since 1987, Silverstone will hold the event for maybe the last time next year and then hand it over to a circuit some 100km away in central England. FIA president Max Mosley and Formula One Manufacturers president Bernie Ecclestone announced on Friday that major development work at Donington and the lack of funding for improving Silverstone had forced the sport’s world governing body to move the Grand Prix and safeguard the future of the race.
■ SOCCER
Coupet signs for Atletico
Spain’s Atletico Madrid on Friday signed French international goalkeeper Gregory Coupet from Lyon for 1.5 million euros (US$2.35 million), Lyon announced. Coupet, 35, had been set to sign last week following talks, but the move hit a hitch over the fee. Coupet had a clause in his Lyon contract running to 2010 allowing him to leave Lyon, with whom he has won seven straight league titles, for 3 million euros, but the Spanish finally got their man for less. Atletico will pay an extra 500,000 euros if Coupet helps them qualify for the Champions League in the next two seasons. This year they will participate in the final qualifying round of the competition.
■ SOCCER
Peru shortens players’ ban
Peruvian soccer federation officials have shortened a ban on three of the national squads top players — including Chelsea striker Claudio Pizarro — paving the way for their return as early as next week. Pizarro, forward Jefferson Farfan — a new signing for Germany’s Schalke 04 — and Santiago Acasiete of Almeria, were slapped with an 18-month suspension in March for allegedly drinking alcohol and having a party in a luxury hotel in Lima, three days before Peru lost to Ecuador 5-1 in 2010 World Cup qualifiers last year.
South Korean giants T1, led by “Faker,” won their fifth League of Legends (LoL) world championship crown in London on Saturday, beating China’s Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in a thrilling final. The teams were locked at 2-2 at a packed O2 arena, but T1 clinched game five to make it back-to-back titles after nearly four hours of tense action. China’s BLG started strongly, taking the first game before T1 struck back to level. The Chinese team pulled ahead again at 2-1 only for their opponents to hit back again and go on to take the decider. Faker, who won the Most
Amber Glenn overcame a fall and her own doubts to win a maiden Grand Prix figure skating title on Saturday at the Grand Prix de France. The American skater had the lead from Friday’s short program. That and the support of the crowd got her through a tough free skate in which she fell on a triple flip and put a hand onto the ice to steady herself on two other jumps. “I didn’t feel that great out there today, but I really tried, and the audience really got me through that last half when I was doubting myself,” Glenn
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Belgian partner Elise Mertens on Monday notched up their first win in the doubles group stage of the WTA Finals in Riyadh to keep their semi-final hopes alive, while Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russian partner Veronika Kudermetova were aiming to record their first victory after press time last night. Third seeds Hsieh and Mertens came back from a disheartening opening-day loss to Australia’s Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez to defeat top seeds Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the women’s doubles world No. 3 and 4 respectively. The 6-1, 6-3 victory at King Saud University Indoor Arena
The Major League Baseball World Series trophy is headed to Los Angeles, but the party is extending all the way to Japan. People milled around local train stations yesterday morning in Tokyo as newspaper extras were ready to roll off the presses, proclaiming Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as world champions along with their Dodgers teammates after a stirring Game 5 victory over the New York Yankees. The 30-year-old is a national hero in Japan whose face adorns billboards and TV adverts all over the country. Ohtani this year became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and
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