■SOCCER
Star not kidnapped: police
Inter’s Brazilian star Adriano has not been kidnapped, police inspector Marcus Reimao told the Terra Web site in response to media speculation after the striker failed to return to Italy following a World Cup qualifier last week. He said that Adriano was apparently depressed because his girlfriend broke up with him and went to stay in the Vila Cruzeiro shantytown, where he was raised, to stay with friends. Adriano had not returned to Italy because of a personal matter, his agent said on Monday. “It’s not a family problem,” Gilmar Rinaldi told Brazilian media, according to Globo television’s Web site. “It’s something very personal, which could happen to anyone, but it’s a private thing and that’s why I can’t say what it is.” Once one of the world’s most fearsome strikers, Adriano has struggled with fitness and alcohol problems since the 2006 World Cup. Rinaldi confirmed that Adriano had been in Vila Cruzeiro. “I don’t have the right to ask Adriano not to go to the Vila Cruzeiro because it’s where his family lives, where he grew up,” Rinaldi said. “The price you pay for being someone who is well-known and for coming from where he came from is very high.”
■HORSE RACING
Broadcaster sorry for jibes
The BBC has apologized for jibes made by one of its presenters about jockey Liam Treadwell’s teeth, shortly after he had ridden a 100-1 outsider to victory in the Grand National, Britain’s leading steeplechase race. The broadcaster said it had received 1,477 complaints from viewers angered after presenter Clare Balding joked about the state of Treadwell’s teeth in a TV interview after the race. “Give us a big grin to the camera,” Balding said. Then to laughter from onlookers she added: “No let’s see your teeth. He hasn’t got the best in the world but you can afford to go and get them done now.” Treadwell, 23, had just sprung a huge surprise after guiding rank outsider Mon Mome to victory at the Aintree racecourse, becoming the biggest-priced winner since 1967.
■SOCCER
No charges for Robinho
British prosecutors will not charge Brazil forward Robinho over an allegation the Manchester City star committed a serious sexual assault at a nightclub, police said on Monday. Britain’s most expensive player was arrested in connection with a sexual assault on an 18-year-old woman in Leeds in January. “A file was submitted to the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] who decided no further action should be taken,” a spokeswoman for West Yorkshire Police said.
■FOOTBALL
Burress keeps bonus money
An arbitrator has ruled that former New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress can keep bonus money he earned prior to accidentally shooting himself in a nightclub last year. The decision means the Giants, who released Burress last week, must pay him the US$1 million that his been withheld from his US$4.25 million signing bonus since the shooting, the New York Times reported on its Web site. Burress was arrested in December and charged with criminal possession of a weapon after his gun accidentally discharged while tucked into his trousers, with the bullet wounding his leg. “We are very disappointed with the decision,” Giants president John Mara said in a statement. “To think that a player could carry a loaded gun into a nightclub, shoot himself and miss the rest of the season but get to keep his entire signing bonus illustrates one of the serious flaws in the current system.”
Jesper Boqvist on Tuesday scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period as the Florida Panthers, after raising their second straight NHL Stanley Cup banner, opened the defense of the title by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. Mackie Samoskevich — getting his second assist, the fifth two-point game of his career — chipped the puck toward the goal and Boqvist knocked it out of the air for the lead with 10 minutes, 20 seconds left. A.J. Greer and Carter Verhaeghe also had goals for Florida, who got 17 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Frank Nazar had a goal and an assist and Teuvo
HOMETOWN ZERO: Fans relished the fall of former Brewer-turned-Cubs manager Craig Counsell, as Milwaukee braces to face the Dodgers, who in 2018 denied them a pennant Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has referred to his team as the “Average Joes,” a nod to their small-market status and lack of big names, but after they beat rivals the Chicago Cubs 3-1 in the decisive fifth game of their National League Division Series (NLDS) on Saturday night, Murphy decided it was time for an upgrade. “You can call them the average Joes, but I say they’re the above-average Joes,” he said. The Brewers relied on contributions from just about every player to get past the Cubs. Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning, and William Contreras and Brice
Mexico’s teenage playmaker Gilberto Mora has lit up the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as he basks in the limelight afforded by the absences of Barcelona and Real Madrid stars Lamine Yamal and Franco Mastantuono. “I don’t know if I’m the biggest star, and I’m not really interested in that. I think you can always give more,” 16-year-old Mora said before Mexico’s 4-1 win against host nation Chile in the round-of-16 on Tuesday, in which he provided the assist for the opening goal. Next on Mora’s schedule is a quarter-final clash against Argentina this morning Taiwan time, but after
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Nathan Lukes hit a two-run single and Addison Barger had three of Toronto’s 12 hits as the Blue Jays bounced back After taking down the storied New York Yankees in their own ballpark in their American League Division Series on Wednesday, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ready to revel in the triumph. “Start spreading the news,” Schneider said while popping a bottle of bubbly to set off the Blue Jays’ jubilant celebration inside their Yankee Stadium clubhouse. With the party under way, the familiar lyrics from Frank Sinatra’s version of New York, New York — the Yankees’ long-time victory anthem — sounded in the background as roaring Toronto players sprayed each other with booze in the Bronx. This time, it was their
RSS