Hope Solo pleads guilty to DWI, gets 30-day sentence
WINSTON-SALEM, July 26: Former U.S. women’s national team star goalkeeper Hope Solo pleaded guilty Monday to driving while impaired, almost four months after she was found passed out behind the wheel of a vehicle in North Carolina with her 2-year-old twins inside. Solo also was charged with misdemeanor child abuse and resisting a public officer in connection with the March 31 incident. Her attorney, Chris Clifton, said those two charges were voluntarily dismissed, the Winston-Salem Journal reported. A news release from the Forsyth County District Attorney’s Office said a judge gave Solo, 40, of Roaring Gap in Alleghany County, a suspended sentence of 24 months and an active sentence of 30 days. She was given 30 days’ credit for time she spent at an in-patient rehabilitation facility. The judge also ordered Solo to pay $2,500 in fines and a $600 fee for the cost of the lab tests. (AP)
Ronaldo expected to hold talks with Manchester United
MANCHESTER, July 26: Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at Manchester United’s training ground with his agent on Tuesday with the Portugal great’s future at the English club up in the air. Ronaldo has yet to start preseason training with United – he missed the team’s tour of Thailand and Australia – and is set to hold talks with recently hired manager Erik ten Hag. British broadcaster Sky Sports News reported that Alex Ferguson arrived at Carrington earlier Tuesday. The 37-year-old Ronaldo reportedly wants to play for another team after only one year back at Old Trafford, with United not in the Champions League this season or in shape to compete with the best teams in England. United finished in sixth place in the league last season, 35 points behind first-place Manchester City. (AP)
English football fans to face bans over field invasions
LONDON, July 26: Football fans who run onto the field or use objects like smoke bombs and pyrotechnics at matches in England will receive an automatic ban from clubs under new measures announced Monday to tackle increased anti-social behaviour. Concerns were raised about safety issues inside stadiums following a series of incidents which marred the end of last season in the Premier League and lower leagues. Among them, Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira kicked out at an Everton fan who was taunting him during a field invasion at Goodison Park and Sheffield United captain Billy Sharp was headbutted in the face by a Nottingham Forest fan at the end of a playoff game in the second-tier Championship. The Forest fan was given a 24-week prison sentence. (AP)
Russia sets eyes on 2024 Paris Olympics despite sports ban
Paris, July 26: With two years to go until the Paris Olympics open, Russia is making plans for its athletes to live and compete in the French capital even though many remain barred from upcoming qualification events because of the war in Ukraine. Russian Olympic Committee president Stanislav Pozdnyakov wrote on the Telegram messaging app Tuesday that the country was working to get its athletes access to qualification events and already making plans for the Olympic village in 2024. Most Olympic sports have suspended athletes from Russia and Belarus since the invasion of Ukraine began in February, following a recommendation from the International Olympic Committee. However, the IOC has not suspended the Russian Olympic Committee, the body which enters Russian teams for the Games. “In exactly two years, the Olympic Games start in Paris. Despite all of the circumstances, the Russian Olympic Committee is a full-fledged participant in the Olympic movement,” Pozdnyakov wrote. (AP)