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Goalie spends night in jail
Police say they have enough evidence to prove that Bruno Souza, the captain and goalkeeper of Brazilian champions Flamengo, took part in the abduction and murder of his ex-girlfriend. Authorities have said they consider Souza the main suspect in ordering the kidnapping and possible murder of his former girlfriend, 25-year-old Eliza Samudio. Souza and his friend Luiz Henrique Romao, also a suspect in the case, turned themselves in to police on Wednesday. Earlier, police arrested Souza’s wife, Dayanne Rodrigues, in connection with the case. Wagner Pinto, a homicide detective with the police department of Minas Gerais state, said on Thursday that evidence collected proved “without a shadow of a doubt” that Souza and Romao “committed homicide.” He also mentioned Souza’s 17-year-old cousin who has confessed to being involved in the June 4 abduction of Samudio. Pinto said they found stains of Samudio’s blood inside Souza’s car, which he said was used in the abduction. “We still have to find the body,” he said. “But even if we don’t, we have enough evidence to charge those involved with murder and with hiding the body,” Pinto said at a news conference broadcast live on TV.
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Hargreaves suffers setback
Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves will miss the start of next season after another setback following a series of knee problems. Hargreaves made one brief substitute appearance in May to end a 19-month absence from the game, during which time he had surgery on both knees to treat persistent tendinitis. But United manager Alex Ferguson said on Thursday that “Hargreaves is back in America seeing a specialist. He will not be ready for the start of the season. I do not know when he will be back.” The 29-year-old Hargreaves has been plagued by injuries since signing from Bayern Munich in July 2007. The new season begins next month.
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Nadal helps local club
Tennis star Rafael Nadal has become a shareholder at financially troubled Real Mallorca, the La Liga side said on Thursday. “It’s an honor to be able to help Real Mallorca, I will help in any way I can,” Wimbledon champion Nadal was quoted as saying on the club Web site. “I am proud to be a part of this new project put together by Mallorca locals. I am very pleased to have [Michael] Laudrup as the new coach and as the image for the club.” Nadal, a Real Madrid fan, was born and lives in Manacor on the Mediterranean island. His uncle Miguel Angel Nadal, the former Barcelona and Spain defender, will be No. 2 to Laudrup, who was appointed to replace Gregorio Manzano last week. Mallorca are struggling with debts of up to 85 million euros (US$104 million), are in voluntary administration, and have just been taken over by a consortium led by a former coach Llorenc Serra Ferrer.
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Record crowd watch match
A world record crowd at King Baudouin Stadium watched Kim Clijsters beat Wimbledon champion Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2 in an exhibition umpired by Martina Navratilova on Thursday. The crowd of 35,681 surpassed the previous record of 30,472 set in 1973 in Houston for the Battle of the Sexes between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Clijsters was originally meant to play compatriot Justine Henin, but Henin withdrew after injuring her elbow at Wimbledon. Top-ranked Williams agreed to replace Henin despite a foot injury.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was