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Sports Briefs: Players questioned about match fixing
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Published: November 27, 2009
Updated: 11/27/2009 12:25 am
FRANKFURT
German police have questioned two players from the Fortuna Duesseldorf soccer team yesterday in connection with the widening match-fixing scandal in Europe.
The two players are reserves for the team, which competes in the fourth-tier league. The main Fortuna team is in the second division.
The team gave no further details about yesterday's interrogations.
Patrick Neumann, the captain of SC Verl, another fourth-tier German team said to be involved in the scandal, has decided to cooperate with authorities and "tell them all he knows," said his attorney, Lutz Klose.
In another development, police raided the apartment of a 21-year-old person suspected of trying to bribe a player of the fourth-tier Goslar team into throwing a match. The player reported the attempt to the team, which then informed police.
The questioning of the two Fortuna players came one day after UEFA announced that five teams in Albania, Latvia, Slovenia and Hungary are suspected of match fixing.
More soccer
■ Chile could be kicked out of the World Cup unless the Rangers, a Chilean team, drop a court case by Dec. 3 contesting its disputed demotion to the second division of the national soccer league.
CONMEBOL, the governing body of South American soccer, said yesterday that it was notified by FIFA about the possible sanction.
Rangers were deducted three points for using six foreign players -- the limit is five -- in a league match on Nov. 8. The three points cost them relegation to the second division, and last week they appealed the case to a Chilean court.
Chile, which has not played in the World Cup since 1998, is one of five South American nations that have qualified for next year's tournament in South Africa.
■ European leaders have unanimously backed a proposal to limit participation in future Olympics Games to players under the age of 21.
The International Olympic Committee wants to keep the status quo of under-23s plus three overage players, which allows countries to bolster their teams with star talent and enhances the appeal and credibility of the Olympics tournament.
But UEFA's strategy council of teams, national associations, leagues and players' unions unanimously agreed yesterday that the men's Olympics tournament should be changed to under 21.
UEFA has eight delegates on FIFA's 24-member ruling executive, which will discuss the issue in South Africa next week. FIFA will then send a report to the IOC's executive board, which meets Dec. 9-11.
■ The Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping commission has recommended that two doctors with the Juventus team be banned for three months for doping violations.
Bartolomeo Goitre and Luca Stefanini are accused of breaking Italy's anti-doping code, a note on CONI's Web site said on Thursday.
In October, Goitre and Stefanini were held responsible for Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro failing a doping test. Cannavaro was given medicine containing cortisone after he was bitten by a mosquito, but failed to submit the required extenuating-circumstances form.
■ American businessman Stan Kroenke has bought his second batch of shares this week in English team Arsenal, edging closer to the threshold that forces him to make a takeover bid.
The Premier League team said yesterday that Kroenke acquired 20 more shares at a cost of $281,280.
Kroenke, based in Denver, took his stake in Arsenal to 29.9 percent on Monday by purchasing 10 shares. If he reaches 30 percent, he has to make a takeover bid.
Kroenke, who also owns the Colorado Rapids, the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche, needs to buy 42 more shares to take his holding to 30 percent.
Baseball
■ The Toronto Blue Jays signed shortstop Alex Gonzalez to a one-year deal worth $2.75 million yesterday, which includes a team option for 2011.
The move came a day after backup shortstop John McDonald agreed to a $3-million, two-year deal that effectively marked the end of free agent Marco Scutaro's time with the team.
Gonzalez, 32, split last season between Cincinnati and Boston, batting .238 with eight home runs and 41 RBIs. Gonzalez was an All-Star in 1999, and is a career .247 hitter with 114 home runs and 521 RBIs.
■ Sammy Sosa is being sued for $203,000 by a businessman who says that Sosa, a former major-league baseball player, owes him for commission on a house sale, among other things.
Carim Abu Nabaa said that Sosa hasn't paid him a commission of $150,000 on a house sale, $43,000 for a luxury watch and $10,000 for getting Reggaeton singer Don Omar to perform at Sosa's 41st birthday party.
In legal documents obtained The Associated Press, Sosa has been ordered to appear in a Dominican court on Dec. 2.
Sosa played for the Chicago Cubs from 1992-2004 and became one of the league's most feared hitters. He also played for the Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles.
College football
■ Colorado coach Dan Hawkins will get a fifth season in Boulder instead of a pink slip and a $3.1 million buyout.
Athletics Director Mike Bohn announced yesterday that he's sticking with Hawkins despite a 16-32 record, including 2-20 on the road.The Buffs have endured four consecutive losing seasons under Hawkins, who has cleaned up a program tarnished by scandal under his predecessor, Gary Barnett, but has been unable to find success on the field.
The Buffaloes (3-8, 2-5 Big 12) wrap up their season today against Big 12 North champion Nebraska (8-3, 5-2).
■ UCLA's bruin mascot has gotten a messy paint job -- in the colors of cross-town rival Southern Cal.
UCLA spokesman Phil Hampton said the statue in Bruin Square was splashed with red and gold paint sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Vandals cut through a protective tarp to vandalize the statue in the middle of the west Los Angeles campus days before Saturday's Bruins-Trojans game.
No arrests were made but campus police are investigating.
Meanwhile, Southern Cal students in shifts are guarding their Tommy Trojan statue, which also is under wraps.
Miscellaneous
■ The IOC said yesterday that two sports have agreed in principle to a venue change for the 2012 London Olympics.
London organizers have proposed moving badminton and rhythmic gymnastics to Wembley Arena in north London rather than build a temporary venue near the Olympic Park in east London.
Scrapping the temporary venue would save organizers about $33 million.
■ Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell shot a better-ball 58 yesterday to give Ireland a three-stroke lead over Argentina after the first round of the World Cup of Golf in Shenzhen, China.
Argentina's Tano Goya and Rafael Echenique were at 11-under 61, with Japan another shot behind. The United States' Nick Watney and John Merrick were tied for 15th at 5-under 67.
Defending champion Sweden was tied with Italy, Canada and South Korea six strokes off the lead in the $5.5 million tournament at the Mission Hills Golf Club. Today's second round will be alternate shot, as will Sunday, while Saturday will be better-ball again.
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