VENEZUELA
Player, friend shot dead
International player Jhonny Perozo has been shot dead along with a friend after an argument, public prosecutors said in a statement on Monday. Perozo, 29, who was a free agent after leaving first-tier club Zulia in December last year, was killed at a sports center on Sunday morning along with Jaime Alberto Tey. “According to the preliminary information, the two were involved in an argument with a man who opened fire,” the statement said. Venezuelan media said that the incident happened outside a bar at the sports center in the town of Lagunillas. Zulia, the Venezuelan Football Federation and the players’ union all issued statements offering their condolences. “The professional footballers of Venezuela express their heartfelt condolences, and repudiate the violence which affects the country and claims the lives of Venezuelans every day,” the union said. “We demand that the authorities clear up this crime which ended the life of a professional who will always be remembered in this country’s football.”
URUGUAY
Suarez doing ‘very well’
Uruguay striker Luis Suarez is progressing “very well” after undergoing keyhole surgery on his left knee, although his chances of playing at the World Cup are still in the balance, the team doctor said on Monday. “It’s only been a few days [since the operation], but we can say that progress is very good,” Alberto Pan told a press conference at the team’s training camp. “It would be adventurous to set a time line. We have nearly three weeks ahead of us. We can’t rule out that he will be ready for intense activity in this period, but we can’t be certain, either.” Pan praised Suarez’s attitude. “I’ve never heard a negative expression from him, he’s always been positive,” he said. Suarez, who helped Uruguay to fourth place at the World Cup in South Africa four years ago, underwent surgery on Thursday last week.
ENGLAND
Rodgers inks long-term deal
Brendan Rodgers has been rewarded for leading Liverpool to the brink of their first English league title for 24 years with a new long-term contract, the club said on Monday. Liverpool ended two points behind champions Manchester City after faltering at the end of the season, but are looking forward to a return to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2009-2010 season. In a joint statement, owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner said Rodgers was the right manager to bring silverware back to Anfield. “We are very fortunate to have a hugely talented individual leading our football performance and in whom we place our trust to deliver the vision we share for Liverpool Football Club,” they said.
BRAZIL
Romario launches attack
Former World Cup winner Romario launched another attack on the nation’s organization of the finals on Monday and accused former teammate Ronaldo of inconsistency. The once deadly striker said comments by Ronaldo, who works on the tournament’s organizing committee, but professed himself embarrassed at Brazil’s shortcomings in an interview with Reuters last week, were opportunism. “Everyone knows what I stand for,” the federal deputy was quoted as saying by UOL, a Brazilian news Web site. “I don’t change sides depending on how the game is going.” However, Romario said the organizational problems did not mean he would not be cheering on the hosts. “We’ve already lost off the pitch,” he said. “Now we have to hope and pray that we do well on it.”
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