BRAZIL
Marcelinho accused of rape
Brazilian soccer player Marcelo dos Santos, better known as Marcelinho Paraiba or simply “Marcelinho,” was arrested in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday on suspicion of attempted rape, police said. Paraiba, 36, an attacking midfielder who won five caps for Brazil and still plays with Sport Recife, was arrested with three friends after a young woman accused them of trying to rape her at a party at the player’s Rio residence. The arrest was announced by police commissioner Fernando Zoccola, according to Globo media Web site G1. His lawyer, Afonso Vilar, told G1 that the soccer player denies assaulting anyone and told him he was drinking with around 30 people at his Rio apartment when he was surprised by the unexpected arrival of the police.
BARCELONA
Adriano out with injury
Barcelona’s Brazilian wing-back Adriano will be sidelined for no more than a week after pulling a hamstring in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over Rayo Vallecano, the Catalan club announced on Wednesday. “Tests have confirmed that the player has pulled a muscle in his left hamstring,” a statement read on Barcelona’s Web site. “He will be out for approximately five to seven days, and will therefore miss Saturday’s league game against Levante and next Tuesday’s Champions League match against BATE Borisov.” Gerard Pique will also miss the home meeting with Levante, although the central defender’s absence is because of a suspension.
BAYERN MUNICH
Gomez to play despite shin
Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez is set to face Werder Bremen in this weekend’s crunch German league clash, despite pulling out of training on Wednesday, the Bavarian giants have confirmed. The 26-year-old has scored 13 league goals in 13 games this season and took a painful knock to his right shin in training ahead of Saturday’s home game against Bremen, but the club told reporters he was set to play. After receiving the knock at Bayern’s training ground, Gomez was treated for several minutes before he headed off to the changing rooms, but is expected to play at Munich’s Allianz Arena.
WEST BROM
Zoltan Gera out for season
West Brom midfielder Zoltan Gera was on Wednesday ruled out for the rest of the season after a scan revealed he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament playing against Tottenham on Saturday, the club announced. The 32-year-old Hungarian national captain — who returned to West Brom from Fulham in the summer — will undergo an operation on his left knee and is expected to be out for between six to nine months. Gera initially joined West Brom from Ferencvaros in 2004, making more than 150 appearances before signing for Fulham — where present WBA manager Roy Hodgson was in charge — four years later.
SOUTH KOREA
Lee may go to Vancouver
South Korea’s star defender Lee Young-pyo is likely to join Major League Soccer club the Vancouver Whitecaps, news reports said yesterday. “We still disagree on one or two details and we need a bit more time, but the Whitecaps seem to be very interested in signing Lee,” South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo daily quoted the player’s agent as saying. The agent could not be reached for comment. The Korea Times also said his agency, Jissen, has been in talks with the Whitecaps.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later