Tottenham Hotspur midfielder David Bentley apologized to his Premier League club and fans on Thursday after being charged with drunk driving following a car crash.
The 24-year-old winger, who has nine England caps, crashed his car into a lamp post in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, 25km north of London, in the early hours of Thursday morning and was arrested at the scene, Herts police said.
No other vehicle was involved in the accident.
Bentley has been released on bail until Aug. 28, when he will appear at St Albans Magistrates Court.
“I should like to apologize to my club and the supporters for my actions which led to my car accident last night and my subsequent charge,” Bentley said in a statement on the Spurs Web site, www.spurs.co.uk.
“It was wholly unacceptable and I fully appreciate that as a professional footballer I have a duty to behave in a reputable and responsible manner,” he said.
“I am thankful that nobody was injured in the accident. This has been a wake-up call for me both personally and professionally,” he added.
Bentley, who joined Spurs from Blackburn Rovers in July last year, has been on the fringes of the Tottenham first team since manager Harry Redknapp took charge last October.
Although Bentley scored a spectacular 45m goal in October to help Tottenham to a 4-4 draw at fierce north London rival Arsenal — his former club — he lost his place on the right of midfield to Aaron Lennon and has been linked with a move to Aston Villa.
Fenerbahce on Thursday earned a rare 2-1 win in England, but were still knocked out of the UEFA Europa League by Nottingham Forest in the playoffs. Forest entered the second leg with a healthy 3-0 lead from the opener in Istanbul — where Vitor Pereira made an impact in his first game in charge — and that proved enough to advance to the round-of-16 with a 4-2 aggregate score. The result was a boost for Forest, struggling at 17th place in the Premier League, in their return to Europe after three decades. They next face Real Betis Balompie or Kerem Akturkoglu gave Fenerbahce
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
RSS