■SOCCER
Silvestre signs for Arsenal
Manchester United’s French defender Mikael Silvestre has signed for Arsenal on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee, British media reported on Wednesday. Silvestre had spent nine seasons under Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, but his move south to North London means he joins up with manager Arsene Wenger, whose defensive options will have increased with his signature. The United contract of the 31-year-old, who missed a large part of last season with knee ligament damage, was set to expire next season. He had been linked with a move to Bordeaux and Manchester City during the summer but opted to move to the capital city instead. Silvestre is the first player to leave United for Arsenal since Brian Kidd 34 years ago.
■BASEBALL
Instant replay deal signed
Major League Baseball (MLB) umpires and management signed an agreement on Wednesday that will introduce instant replay to help determine calls on the field. The deal was signed by lawyers for the commissioner’s office and the World Umpires Association (WUA) one day after a WUA spokesman went public with complaints over negotiations. “We reached an agreement. Final decision with respect to moving ahead has not been made yet, but we have an agreement with the umpires,” said Rob Manfred, MLB’s executive vice president of labor relations. MLB had already started installing equipment in ballparks, hoping to get the replay system running this month. It would be used for boundary calls, such as determining whether balls cleared fences for home runs and whether potential homers near foul poles were fair.
■CRICKET
Scots to replace Zimbabwe
Scotland will replace Zimbabwe in next year’s World Twenty20 in England, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed on Wednesday. Zimbabwe withdrew from the event last month to avert demands that they be suspended because of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s government. Zimbabwe Cricket confirmed its decision at a meeting with senior ICC officials at the ruling body’s Dubai headquarters. “This allows the ICC the opportunity to plan with certainty the ICC World Twenty20 2009, as well as giving Scotland ... plenty of preparation time ahead of the tournament,” ICC president David Morgan said in a statement on the organization’s Web site after the meeting. Zimbabwe was persuaded by the ICC executive board last month to stay away from next June’s event. An ICC statement said the Zimbabwe board recognised the British government was unlikely to issue visas for the team, having already canceled next year’s bilateral series between England and Zimbabwe.
■CRICKET
Sarwan guides Windies win
Ramnaresh Sarwan hammered an unbeaten 49 to guide the West Indies to a crushing six-wicket victory over Bermuda in the second match of the Canada Cup Tri-Series in King City, Ontario, on Wednesday. Man-of-the-match Sarwan struck five fours and a six in 58 balls as the West Indies totaled 159 for four in reply to Bermuda’s 158-9 at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club. Left-hander Shawn Findlay weighed in with a whirlwind 41 to help the tournament favorites cruise to victory with 18.1 of their 50 overs to spare. The West Indies face hosts Canada today before the two sides meet again in the tournament final on Sunday.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
Shin Oebori coaches the Fukagawa Hawks youth baseball team in Tokyo, and he is very aware how Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani touches his players. “With Ohtani, the kids think everything is possible,” Oebori said, wrapping up practice yesterday on an all-dirt field set alongside a local Buddhist temple, below an elevated highway, and in the shadow of tall apartment blocks in central Tokyo. “Nothing is impossible with him. A dream is not a dream,” Oebori said, stepping out of the fenced practice field that keeps balls from landing on the temple grounds. None of the players hitting sponge-soft baseball has reached
Italian defender Marco Curto has been banned for 10 matches for racially abusing South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan while playing for Como 1907 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a pre-season friendly in July. Curto, who is on loan from Como to Serie B club Cesena, would serve half of the punishment immediately with the other half suspended for two years. “The player Marco Curto was found responsible for discriminatory behavior and sanctioned with a 10-match suspension,” a FIFA spokesperson said. “The player is ordered to render community services and undergo training and education with an organization approved by FIFA.” Wolves said the club would
CRICKET Azhar’s 59 leads Stallions Aashir Azhar’s blazing half-century guided the Taipei Stallions to victory over Taipei Super 11 in the Taiwan Premier League’s Group A at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei yesterday. The Stallions were 102-3 and into the 12th over of 20 when Azhar came to the crease. He hit seven sixes and two fours in the 25 deliveries he faced to push his side to 171-5. Gokul Kumar was the star with the ball for Super 11, taking 3-17. In the reply, Deepak Vishnu outscored Azhar with 77 from 50 balls, but nobody else got past 20 as