■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.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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