Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Spanish soccer executive, son arrested in corruption probe
By ARITZ PARRA &
JOSEPH WILSON
Associated Press
MADRID — The exec-
utive who oversaw Spain’s
rise to dominate world soccer
in recent years was arrested
Tuesday in an anti-corruption
investigation, dealing yet
another blow to the sport’s
already-tarnished image.
Angel Maria Villar, his
son, Gorka Villar, and two
other soccer officials were
detained while raids were
conducted at the federation
headquarters and other prop-
erties, the state prosecutor
and Spanish police said.
The elder Villar, who
has led the Spanish Football
Federation for three decades
and is the senior vice pres-
ident of FIFA and a vice
president for the European
football organization, is
suspected of having arranged
matches for Spain that led
to business deals benefiting
his son, said the office of the
state prosecutor in charge of
anti-corruption.
Angel Maria Villar is
a longtime power broker
in football both inside and
beyond Spain’s borders,
and he was singled out for
questionable conduct in the
2014 FIFA report on the
World Cup bidding process
that rocked the sport.
A 2015 U.S. investigation
into corruption in world
soccer led to the eventual
resignation of longtime pres-
ident Sepp Blatter and other
top officials.
Several hours after Tues-
day’s arrests, police escorted
Villar into the federation offices
in Las Rozas, on the outskirts
of Madrid. He emerged from a
Guardia Civil vehicle flanked
by two uniformed agents.
Two policemen guarded the
entrance to the federation
offices near the training
grounds for Spain’s national
teams.
Also arrested were Juan
Padron, the federation’s
vice president of economic
affairs who is also president
of the regional federation
for Tenerife, and Ramon
Hernandez, the secretary of
that regional federation.
The four were arrested on
charges of improper manage-
ment, misappropriation of
funds, corruption and falsi-
fying documents as part of an
inquiry into the finances of
the federations.
“We have taken note of
the media reports concerning
the situation of Mr. Villar
AP Photo/Francisco Seco
Former President of the Spanish Football Federation
Angel Maria Villar, right, is lead by Spanish Civil Guard
policeman to enter the Federation headquarters during
an anti-corruption operation in Las Rozas, outside Ma-
drid, Tuesday, July 18, 2017. Villar, FIFA’s senior vice
president and a long-time player in world soccer, was
arrested Tuesday along with his son and two more fed-
eration executives in an anti-corruption investigation.
Llona,” FIFA said in a state-
ment. “As the matter seems
to be linked to internal affairs
of the Spanish Football Asso-
ciation, for the time being we
kindly refer you to them for
further details.”
As part of an operation
called “Soule,” the Guardia
Civil said it raided the national
federation’s headquarters, the
offices of the regional soccer
federation on the island of
Tenerife and “headquarters
of businesses and several
private homes linked to the
arrested individuals.”
Police began the inves-
tigation in early 2016 after
a complaint from Spain’s
Higher Council of Sport, the
government’s sports authority.
The probe led the state
prosecutor’s office to suspect
that Angel Maria Villar “could
have arranged matches of the
Spanish national team with
other national teams, thereby
gaining in return contracts for
services and other business
ventures in benefit of his son.”
Unregulated by FIFA,
friendly matches between
national teams can be more
easily corrupted. Scandals in
recent years involving FIFA
were tied to the siphoning
of cash from deals struck for
friendly matches, often held
in North and South America.
Gorka Villar, a lawyer,
worked in recent years for
the South American body
CONMEBOL
as
legal
director and then as the
CEO-like director general
for three presidents who were
implicated in the U.S. inves-
tigation. Gorka Villar left
CONMEBOL in July 2016.
The prosecutor’s office
said it also suspects that
Padron and the Tenerife
secretary
“favored
the
contracting of business” for
their personal benefit.
Inigo Mendez de Vigo,
minister of education, culture
and sport, told national tele-
vision after the raids that “in
Spain the laws are enforced,
the laws are the same for all,
and nobody, nobody is above
the law.”
Calls by The Associated
Press to the Spanish and
Tenerife federations went
unanswered.
UEFA said in a statement
it was aware of the reports
regarding Villar, but “we have
no comment to make at this
time.” The Higher Council
of Sport said it will “use
everything in its means to
ensure that competitions are
not affected” by the arrests.
In the wake of the arrests,
the Royal Spanish Federa-
tion of Football postponed
meetings to draw the Spanish
football league schedule.
A former professional
player, the 67-year-old Villar
has been the head of Spain’s
soccer federation since 1988,
overseeing the national
team’s victories in the 2010
World Cup and the 2008 and
2012 European Champion-
ships.
Villar won an eighth term
as president in May, running
unopposed after another
candidate, Jorge Perez,
withdrew to protest what he
called irregularities in the
election of the federation’s
general assembly.
He has been at the heart of
FIFA and UEFA politics since
the 1990s, and has worked
closely with several inter-
national soccer leaders who
have since been indicted by
the U.S. Justice Department.
NFL
No home, road
uniforms as NBA Cowboys still exploring latest Elliott incident
goes to Nike
In this Jan. 15,
2017, file photo,
Dallas Cowboys’
Ezekiel Elliott
(21) walks off
the field after a
34-31 loss to the
Green Bay Pack-
ers in an NFL
divisional playoff
football game, in
Arlington, Texas.
By SCHUYLER DIXON
Associated Press
By BRIAN MAHONEY
Associated Press
NEW YORK — NBA teams are making a
wardrobe change, with the traditional home and
road uniforms going back in the closet.
The league said Tuesday it is eliminating the
old apparel designations starting with the 2017-18
season, when Nike becomes the official outfitter.
Instead, there will be four primary uniforms for
each team.
The host team will pick which of its uniforms
will be worn for each game and the visitors will
select one of the contrasting ones from their
collection. Previously, white uniforms were the
default for home teams.
The first two editions will debut at the start
of the season. The “Association” is formerly the
home white uniform and the “Icon” is the previous
road jersey, featuring the team’s primary color.
The other two primary uniforms will be
revealed in the coming months.
Also, eight teams will have a “Classic”
uniform available in the fall that they can wear at
their discretion.
Nike, which is replacing Adidas, says its
uniforms are the NBA’s lightest ever and absorb
sweat faster, with changes to the neck, back
shoulder and armhole to enhance agility.
FRISCO, Texas — Dallas
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
said Tuesday the team is still
gathering details over Ezekiel
Elliott’s involvement in an
altercation at a Dallas bar, the
latest off-field incident for the
star running back.
Elliott, who was already
facing a potential suspension
over the NFL’s investigation of
a year-old domestic case, was
involved in a dispute Sunday
night that led to a man getting
punched in the nose and being
taken to a hospital. Dallas
police said the 30-year-old man
didn’t know who punched him,
and the report does not mention
Elliott. Dallas police also are
investigating the incident.
Jones said he didn’t want
to speculate about a possible
suspension. An NFL spokesman
said the league is looking into
the latest incident “to under-
stand the facts.” One of Elliott’s
representatives didn’t return a
message seeking comment.
AP Photo/Michael
Ainsworth, File
Authorities in Columbus,
Ohio, declined to prosecute
the former Ohio State star over
a domestic dispute with his
ex-girlfriend before Elliott’s first
training camp with the Cowboys
last year. But the NFL’s investi-
gation continued , and the league
hasn’t cleared Elliott.
Elliott also drew unwanted
attention last season when he
visited a legal marijuana shop
before a preseason game in
Seattle. Last spring, he pulled
down a woman’s shirt during a
St. Patrick’s Day parade.
The 21-year-old Elliott,
who led the NFL in rushing
as a rookie and helped the
Cowboys to the top seed in
the NFC playoffs with a 13-3
record, can get suspended
without any convictions.
“Because of his style,
personality, (he’s) like a rock
star wherever he goes in terms
of attention,” Jones said.
“Certainly Zeke is evolving and
being subject to needing to learn
how to deal with the media and
social media the way it is today.”
Jones said he had discussed
Elliott’s latest incident with
the running back but declined
to provide details. Elliott said
during the offseason program
that he was going out less
while understanding more the
scrutiny he faces. But now he’s
had another incident.
“Like all of us, we do good
some days and don’t do good the
others,” Jones said. “That’s not
to be confused with tolerating
bad behavior or illegal behavior.
That’s not what I’m talking
about. I’m talking about just
learning that your every move
will be scrutinized and how in
this day and time it will be looked
at from many vantage points.”
Elliott was a star before the
Cowboys drafted him fourth
overall last year, having led Ohio
State the first championship in
the four-team playoff. He ran
for an Ohio State bowl-record
246 yards and four touchdowns
in the title game on his future
home field in the NFL.
With 1,631 yards rushing
last season, Elliott powered
the Dallas offense alongside
fellow rookie sensation Dak
Prescott, who took now-retired
Tony Romo’s job with the best
debut season for a quarterback
in franchise history.
TOUR: Kittel struggles at back of pack, temper gets the better of Degenkolb
Continued from 1B
AP Photo/Peter Dejong
The pack rides through vineyards during the Tour de France cycling race over 165 ki-
lometers (102.5 miles) with start in Le Puy-en-Velay and finish in Romans-sur-Isere,
France,, Tuesday, July 18, 2017.
“Myself and Mikel Landa
are feeling great,” said
Froome. “The next two days
are the biggest consecutive
days in this year’s Tour de
France. And the goal of my
preparation for the Tour de
France was to head into the
third week feeling the way
I’m feeling now.”
The battle for the yellow
jersey will resume on
Wednesday during the first
of two Alpine stages in high
altitude. It will lead riders
to the ski station of Serre
Chevalier through a grueling
183-kilometer trek featuring
four climbs, including the
Col du Galibier — one of the
Tour’s most fearsome and
famed climbs at 18 kilometers
(11 miles), with a 10-percent
gradient at the top.
Next will be the daunting
Stage 18 to the Col d’Izoard
, which features a final
14.1-kilometer ascent to the
top of the mountain, at an
altitude of 2,360 meters.
“I’m looking forward to
the Alps,” Froome said.
Three days after his
victory in Rodez, Matthews
reduced the gap with green
jersey holder Marcel Kittel to
29 points in the best sprinter’s
classification with his second
stage win.
He made the most of a
slightly uphill section 500
meters from the line and
accelerated after Greg Van
Avermaet launched the
sprint. Matthews then resisted
Edvald Boasson Hagen’s late
surge to prevail by a wheel’s
length. John Degenkolb
completed the podium.
Tempers frayed after the
stage. Matthews claimed
Degenkolb grabbed him by
the neck out of frustration
and accused him of going
into his line during the sprint.
“I did a clean sprint, I
did not change my line,”
Matthews said. “After the
finish, I was waiting for the
results, he came past and
grabbed my neck. It was not
very sportsmanlike.”
On a difficult terrain
with constant up-and-downs
across the lush forests of
Massif Central, several
attacks had taken place
during the first hour of racing.
Kittel was dropped in the first
climb and struggled at the
back throughout the day.
The German ace sprinter
could not count on teammate
Philippe Gilbert to bring him
back — the former world
champion did not start the
stage in Le Puy-en-Velay due
to gastroenteritis. Standing
12th overall, Lotto NL Jumbo
rider George Bennett had a
bad day and dropped out about
100 kilometers from the finish.
BRITISH: DeChambeau earned final qualifying spot with win at John Deere Classic
Continued from 1B
Sergio Garcia, the Masters
champion who is still looking
for his first Claret Jug. “It’s
a really high level and it
doesn’t matter if you’ve won
a major or not, everybody
can definitely do it.”
That everybody certainly
includes Garcia himself, who
spent the better part of the
last two decades tantalizing
fans with his talent but never
delivering in a major before a
brilliant back nine comeback
gave him the green jacket at
Augusta National this year.
His Open career began as
an amateur at Royal Birk-
dale in 1998, and he’s had
several legitimate chances to
win the Open, only to kick
them away. But he’s now a
major champion and, with a
wedding set for next week,
he could be a storybook
champion should he emerge
with the iconic jug engraved
with winners of years past.
“Obviously I am excited
about it,” Garcia said. “I am
confident about my possi-
bilities but I can’t tell you if
I’m going to be right up there
on Sunday with a chance.
I’m hoping that I will be, but
unfortunately it doesn’t work
like that every week.”
The player nicknamed Beef
certainly understands that.
The bearded, portly Johnston
entertained the crowd at last
year’s Open, nearly upstaging
a tremendous duel between
Phil Mickelson and eventual
winner Henrik Stenson in the
final round before finishing
eighth.
But Johnston has strug-
gled to make cuts ever since,
as did DeChambeau until he
came through Sunday with
a blistering back nine to win
for the first time in the John
Deere Classic.
That gave him the final
qualifying berth in the Open,
and a chance to demonstrate
some unusual theories he has
about golf, including using
the same length shaft in all of
his irons.
A win here would be an
extreme longshot, but strange
things can happen in golf.
That’s especially true at a
tournament where just a few
years back 59-year-old Tom
Watson came within a par
of winning before losing to
Stewart Cink in a playoff.
So maybe the search for
a new hero will focus on
the hometown kid with the
flowing bangs who used to
sneak onto Royal Birkdale
to play a few holes while his
dad walked the dog around
the course perimeter.
A win for Fleetwood —
now the No. 1 player on the
European Tour — might
even get him noticed in the
town where he grew up.
So far, his appearance here
has been welcomed with a
collective shrug.
“There’s nobody fainting
in the street as I walk past,”
Fleetwood said. “So I’m still
waiting.”
AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
Bryson DeChambeau celebrates with the trophy after
winning the John Deere Classic golf tournament, Sun-
day, July 16, 2017, at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.