■COLOMBIA
Popescu receives boost
Former star Gheorghe Popescu said on Wednesday he would try to clear his reputation after allegations that he was a spy for the Securitate secret police were dismissed by the council that holds communist-era files. The Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives said on Tuesday there is no evidence in the files that Popescu did anything that violated human rights and cleared him of collaborating with the Securitate. Last month, two newspapers alleged that notes in his file showed that Popescu was a Securitate informer. Popescu denied the allegations but later conceded he signed a document promising to “defend the national interests” and wrote notes providing information about teammates. He now says he does not remember signing the notes, although they appear under his name. Popescu said his file is largely made up of reports written by two Securitate agents who were keeping an eye on the players when they went abroad. He said the handwriting of one of the agents is similar to his, and implied the agent could have written the notes and signed them in his name.
■COLOMBIA
Striker returns aged 46
Former Colombia striker Anthony de Avila is making a comeback with America de Cali at the age of 46 after a decade out of soccer, he announced on Wednesday. “My real motivation is to have a farewell match as an active player ... I didn’t get the chance then [10 years ago] but it’s working out now,” De Avila said he is fit and ready to play competitively. He played for Colombia at two World Cups.
■ENGLAND
Players punished for betting
Four players who bet on a League Two match involving their own clubs were banned for up to a year by the English FA on Wednesday. James Harris, Robert Williams and David Mannix, Accrington Stanley players at the time, and then Bury player Andrew Mangan were found to be in “blatant breach of the rules” by the FA regulatory commission after betting on Bury to win on May 3, last year, the FA said. Harris, who played in the match which Bury won 2-0, was suspended immediately from all soccer activities for one year, while Mannix and Williams were banned for 10 months and eight months respectively. Mangan was banned for five months. The players also received fines of between £2,000 and £5,000 (US$3,300-US$8,200).
■BOLIVIA
Arrive late, leave early
Playing at altitude need not be banned provided teams arrive just before kickoff and leave immediately after, the head of research carried out in Bolivia said on Wednesday. “According to the studies were have completed, a period of acclimatization is unnecessary. There is no reason to prohibit football at altitude,” said Ivo Eterovic, head of the Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) medical commission. Opponents of soccer at high altitude argue that it gives teams accustomed to the rarefied air an unfair advantage and world body FIFA banned all matches at more than 2,750m above sea level in 2007. FIFA lifted the ban last year pending more research but is set to recommend that teams must only play at altitude after a two-week adaptation period, FBF sources said. Eterovic, however, said: “Arriving only a few hours before [the match], playing and leaving is the best thing so the altitude does not affect the players. Physiologically, the human body only starts responding [to the altitude] after the fourth or fifth hour,” he said. Bolivia play internationals in La Paz, 3,600m above sea level.
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
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,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to