Real Madrid's José María Gutiérrez, better
known as Guti, must have been shocked when a former boxer came at
him before his team was getting ready to head for a Primera Liga
game in Santander.
Guti had been stalked for some time by the individual, whose name
has not been revealed by the Spanish police, but no close confrontation
had occurred before last Saturday.
The stalker noticed Guti as he arrived at the parking lot in Ciudad
Deportiva, Real's training camp, and headed towards him in his vehicle.
In the process, the man broke the security ramp and damaged a couple
of parked cars before stopping. The guards called the police and
tried to intervene themselves, but the boxer punched one of them
in the face with his fist.
However, other guards managed to control the individual and kept
him at bay before the police arrived.
Guti filed charges against the stalker for stalking and harrasment,
while the guards also presented their own charges for assault and
trespassing. The investigation is likely to reveal the motive the
man could have for shadowing the Madrid midfielder.
Palermo's boss denies ties to the mafia
Italian soccer club Palermo has no links to the mafia, said their
chairman Maurizio Zamparini, denying any contact with the criminal
organization, hinted at by some Italian media.
It has been claimed that the mobsters have some influence in the
construction of Palermo's new ground and the new shopping mall which
is planned to be opened within the stadium.
"Mafia has no ties to the club," said Zamparini. "I
hope everybody sees that my associates and me are doing our jobs
professionally. Although the mafia was created in this city, it
does not mean they rule everything that exists here, or that they
are related to me in any way."
Two years ago, the former Palermo sporting director received a goat's
head in the mail, which is the mafia's way of warning of an upcoming
execution.
"If anything similar had happened to me, I would have left.
I am clean, and so is this club," concluded Zamparini.
Roman still speechless in London
Russian and other Slavic languages are notoriously tough for English
speakers. However, the Slavs usually find it easy to learn a syntactically
simpler language like English.
Tottenham's new signing Roman Pavlyuchenko may be an exception to
the rule, as he has not yet managed to master English well enough
to maintain meaningful conversations with his teammates at White
Hart Lane.
According to the Russian newspaper Tvoy Dan (Your Day), Spurs
were wise to include a clause in their contract with Pavlyuchenko,
stipulating a fine unless he learned English well enough within
his first weeks at the club.
The period has passed and the former Spartak Moscow
striker still has to use an interpreter to understand Juande Ramos'
instructions. Since the Spaniard himself is hardly a great connoisseur
of English, communcation between the two be hilarious.
Still, the Spurs' bosses are certainly not amused, as the team sits
at the bottom of the Premiership table after five matches.
Did Haim Revivo escape to the US because of a mob threat?
Haim Revivo, the former Israeli international, has emigrated to
the United States after receiving mafia threats, according to the
Israeli media.
The one-time forward for Celta Vigo, Fenerbahce and Galatasaray
said he and his family moved because his rabbi had advised him to
do so.
It may be true, but for all we know, the advice may have been, "save
your skin."
The Yedioth Ahronoth daily published a different story, claiming
that Revivo had to leave because the local mafia had threatened
to kill him because he had an affair with a mob kingpin's wife.
According to Yedioth, the mafia imposed on Revivo a two-year
exile as a way of redeeming himself.
One of the leading players in Israel's history, Revivo played 67
games and scored 15 goals for the national team, including the winner
in his country's only win over Argentina in 1998.
Welcome to the Boca Juniors Hotel
The Argentinian club Boca Juniors are very special in many respects.
Until recently, they were the only soccer club to have a graveyard
exclusively for their fans (in the meantime Germany's Hamburger
SV have joined the select group of cemetery-owning soccer clubs).
Within two years, they should also have a hotel carrying their name.
The construction work is due to start next month, and should be
finished in mid-2010.
The luxury hotel will have 17 floors with 89 rooms, some of which
will bear names of Boca's celebrities like Diego Maradona, Alfredo
Rojas or Ubaldo Rattin. The building, designed by the Uruguayan
architect Carlos Ott, will also boast swimming pools, restaurants
and other commercial and entertainment facilities.
The hotel and the graveyard are not the the only two distinctions
that set Boca apart; the blue and yellows have also started their
own taxi service in Buenos Aires. We bet there are not many River
Plate fans among their customers.
In their 103 years of existence, Boca have won a record 18 international
trophies, tying AC Milan, and 22 Argentinian titles.
