Court convicts Portuguese hacker in Football Leaks trial and gives him a 4-year suspended sentence

The Derrick

11 September 2023

Court convicts Portuguese hacker in Football Leaks trial and gives him a 4-year suspended sentence

Croatia climbed atop its European Championship qualifying group by beating Armenia 1-0 away thanks to Andrej Kramarić’s goal in a first half that saw the game briefly delayed because of a drone carrying a political message. The striker tapped in at the far post after a 13th-minute corner from Luka Modric deflected off an Armenia player and went straight to Kramaric. The match in Yerevan was delayed for about 70 seconds when a drone carrying the flag of Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway Armenian-populated region of Azerbaijan, flew over the field. The incident comes amid soaring tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan and will likely lead to a UEFA disciplinary case.

Novak Djokovic is back at No. 1 in the ATP rankings and is the owner of 24 Grand Slam championships after winning the U.S. Open. He is still at the top of tennis at age 36. He was asked before facing Daniil Medvedev in the final whether it is surprising that he is still doing what he is doing, against the new generation. The answer, essentially, was “No.” And, frankly, no one else should be shocked by it either. If the assumption was that Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer would cede the stage in men’s tennis by now, Djokovic is still going strong.

Sports betting company DraftKings has apologized after using the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to entice people to bet on baseball and football games. The Boston-based company offered users a 9/11-themed promotion titled “Never Forget.” It required the Yankees, Mets and Jets to win their games Monday. That is the 22nd anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and the downing of a passenger jet in a field in Pennsylvania. The tragedy killed nearly 3,000 people. An outcry on social media from people offended by the promotion followed. DraftKings later took it down and apologized.

Tyler Reddick took advantage of good speed and good fortune, perhaps the two things most needed for success in the NASCAR Cup Series, to win at Kansas Speedway on Sunday. The win clinched his spot in the second round of the playoffs for the first time. Meanwhile, second-place finisher Denny Hamlin was missing the luck element, with a late caution spoiling what appeared to be a stress-free win. And Bubba Wallace and Martin Truex Jr. were also fast but both blew tires and sustained damage that not only ruined their chances Sunday but put them in peril heading to the last race in the first round of the playoffs.

Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has tested positive for testosterone. Italy’s anti-doping agency announced the positive test. The test was carried out after Juventus’ game at Udinese on Aug. 20. Pogba did not play in the Serie A match but was on Juve’s bench. Nado Italia says Pogba was suspended provisionally with immediate effect. Pending a trial and testing of a backup “B” sample the 30-year-old Pogba risks a suspension of up to four years. It’s another negative note for a player who has been bothered by injuries ever since rejoining Juventus from Manchester United a little over a year ago. There’s also been a police investigation ongoing in France into allegations that Pogba was targeted by extortionists.

Authorities say a man competing in Ironman Wisconsin fell ill during the grueling triathlon and later died. Ironman Wisconsin says the competitor needed medical attention during the bike portion of Sunday's race. He died at a local hospital after being assisted by a race staff member and an off-duty police officer. The Dane County Sheriff’s Office says the 51-year-old Madison, Wisconsin, man died after suffering “a medical event” in the town of Cross Plains. The full 140.6-mile Ironman contested Sunday included a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. Two athletes died in 2019 during the swim portion of the Ironman 70.3 Wisconsin triathlon.

A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart head into the playoffs this week as the top contenders to win the WNBA’s most valuable player award. That’s no surprise. They are the two superstars on the league's “super teams” — the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty. But there is a third contender for MVP as well. Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas has played her way into the conversation. She has recorded a league-record six triple-doubles in leading the Sun to the No. 3 seed. Thomas is the first player in league history to record at least 600 points, 400 rebounds and 300 assists in a single season.

Former Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones was arrested early Monday after police responded to a report of an “unruly passenger” at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Airport spokesperson Mindy Kerschner confirmed that Jones was the passenger arrested prior to takeoff. Captain Kevin Klute of the Boone County Jail says Jones was booked on misdemeanor counts of alcohol intoxication, disorderly conduct and terroristic threatening. Jones told WKRC-TV he asked to be moved because the charger at the two seats he had purchased wasn’t working and was told that they would have to turn the plane around. He vehemently denied being intoxicated and also rejected the terroristic threat allegation.

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby has apologized after his father-in-law, disgraced former Baylor coach Art Briles, was seen on the field with Lebby after Oklahoma’s 28-11 win over SMU on Saturday night. Baylor fired Briles in 2016 after an investigation concluded he and his staff took no action against players named in sexual assault allegations. The images of Briles decked out in Oklahoma gear on Owen Field drew backlash from Sooners fans on social media. Lebby said the issue will not come up again.

The Pittsburgh Steelers say it's far too early to panic after a lopsided loss to San Francisco in the season opener. The Steelers fell behind by 20 points in the first half and never recovered on their way to a 30-7 setback. Second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett struggled, throwing a pair of interceptions and failing to make the kind of big plays downfield the Steelers say is an important part of their plan in 2023. Pittsburgh hosts Cleveland on "Monday Night Football" in Week 2.

Damar Hamlin isn't expected to play in a regular-season game for the first time since going into cardiac arrest when the Buffalo Bills open the season against the New York Jets on Monday night. That's according to a person familiar with the decision who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Bills didn't announce their lineup ahead of the game. Hamlin had to be resuscitated on the field in Cincinnati in January. He made the Bills’ roster as a backup safety after many doubted he would be able to take the field again. He played in three exhibition games this summer.

Disney and Charter Communications announced a deal to settle a dispute that had cut some 15 million cable TV customers off from ESPN and other Disney-owned stations. The two businesses faced a pressing deadline — the year's first ‘Monday Night Football’ game, that would have left a lot of angry football fans if they weren't able to watch the game. It matches the New York Jets against the Buffalo Bills, and many of the affected customers with the Charter-owned Spectrum TV are in the New York area. The companies were seeking to nail an agreement for Spectrum to carry Disney's stations, made difficult by cord-cutting that has cut into cable's audience.

A Portuguese hacker whose bombshell revelations on the “Football Leaks” website rocked European soccer has been convicted by a Lisbon court of nine crimes and given a suspended prison sentence of four years. Portuguese media reported that the three-judge panel found Rui Pinto guilty on five counts of unauthorized entry into computer systems, three counts of intercepting correspondence for accessing emails, and one count of attempted extortion. Pinto’s disclosures embarrassed star players, top clubs and influential agents between 2015-18 and helped drive official investigations across Europe. The website published information about the transfer fees and salaries of stars and alleged that Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain had flouted European soccer’s spending rules.

So much about Nick Saban’s 17 seasons at Alabama represents unprecedented success in college football football. Even the slightest dip in performance is notable. For any other program, permanent residence in the top 10 of The Associated College football poll for nine consecutive seasons would be celebrated. For the Crimson Tide, there are signs of slippage. No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Michigan held their places atop the AP poll, with Florida State moving up to No. 3 and Texas vaulting to No. 4 after beating ’Bama. The Tide fell to No. 10.

New England defender DeJuan Jones replaced Joe Scally on the United States roster for Tuesday night’s exhibition against Oman at St. Paul, Minnesota. The U.S. Soccer Federation said Scally left the team for family reasons. Scally was an unused substitute in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Uzbekistan in a friendly. Jones, 26, made his U.S. debut in January and has six international appearances. The U.S. also will be without goalkeeper Matt Turner, who returned to Britain for the birth of a daughter. Ethan Horvath and Drake Callender are the goalkeepers remaining with the team.

The World Cup is over. The U.S. didn’t medal. The world proved again that the Americans, even with NBA players, are vulnerable on the international stage. And now, every bit of USA Basketball’s focus shifts to the Paris Olympics. There, the challenge will be even tougher than the World Cup, which again reminded the Americans how much the FIBA game has changed.

The two biggest takeaways from the first block of games at the Rugby World Cup have reinforced a couple of pre-tournament predictions. France and Ireland both appear to be the real deal and ready to challenge the southern hemisphere’s vise-like grip on the trophy. Rugby’s newish rules on head contact and player safety also threaten to be an overriding theme at the tournament and match officials are already under scrutiny for apparent inconsistency. There was one red card for a head clash in the opening set of eight games and there might easily have been at least two more.

A major rescue operation is underway in Turkey’s Taurus Mountains to bring out an American researcher who fell seriously ill nine days ago at a depth of some 1,000 meters — or about 3,000 feet — from one of world’s deepest caves. Mark Dickey is a 40-year-old cave explorer and a cave rescuer himself. He became stricken with severe stomach bleeding on Sept. 2. There were several other people with him, including three other Americans, on the mission to map the deep cave system for the Anatolian Speleology Group Association. Dickey is being assisted by teams of international rescuers who by Monday had brought him up a level about 300 meters, or nearly 1,000 feet) from the surface.

UNDATED (AP) — Texas jumped to No. 4 in The Associated Press college football poll after beating Alabama and the Pac-12 became just the second conference to place as many as eight teams in an AP Top 25. Georgia received 55 first-place votes to remain the clear No. 1. Michigan is No. 2, with …

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — The hype is coming for the Texas Longhorns like it hasn’t in years. That's what happens when you knock off Alabama on the road and get your first win over a top-five team in 15 years. The Longhorns, who vaulted seven spots to No. 4 in the AP poll following that 34-24 …

UNDATED (AP) — Michigan State has suspended football coach Mel Tucker after allegations became public that he sexually harassed an activist and rape survivor during a phone call last year. The university's president and athletic director announced the suspension pending the results of an out…

FIBA has confirmed the 19 national teams that used the World Cup to play their way into last-chance qualifying tournaments for the Paris Olympics next summer. They are Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Montenegro, Greece, Georgia, Finland, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Egypt, Angola, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Philippines and New Zealand. They’ll join Cameroon, Bahamas, Bahrain, Poland and Croatia in the last-ditch chances to make the Olympic field.

Spanish soccer is ready to move forward three weeks after its women’s team won the Women’s World Cup but had its celebrations marred by a kiss that ignited a crisis. Luis Rubiales resigned late Sunday following weeks of relentless pressure after the Spanish soccer federation president kissed a player on the lips without her consent during the trophy ceremony in Australia last month. The decision was expected to help Spanish soccer start overcoming one of its most embarrassing chapters. It should also clear the way for Spain to get back on track with its bid to host the men’s World Cup in 2030 along with Portugal, Morocco and possibly Ukraine.

The French rugby federation says hooker Julien Marchand will remain in the national team's squad despite damaging his left hamstring in the World Cup opener against New Zealand. Marchand won’t play against Uruguay on Thursday and will undergo further tests later this week that will help determine how long he will be out. Marchand picked up the injury in the 12th minute of the 27-13 win against the All Blacks on Friday. Pierre Bourgarit or Peato Mauvaka will start in place of Marchand.

Marcus Semien is at the top of the Texas Rangers lineup every game and keeps swinging. The All-Star second baseman just became only the fourth player in the majors this season to twice have a four-hit game that included two homers. Both came in a span of four games. The Rangers open a huge series between AL wild-card contenders Monday night at Toronto, Semien's former team. Going into the opener of that four-game series, Semien is among only six players in the majors to appear in every one of his team’s games. He is hitting .281 with 24 homers and 87 RBIs, and leads the AL with 166 hits and 109 runs scored.

Several NFL teams looked like they needed more preseason work. Some seemed unstoppable. It’s only one game so don’t rush to judge. Most of the NFL’s $50 million men had shaky days, though two ended up on the winning side. The Packers, Dolphins, 49ers and Rams were impressive. The Cowboys dominated despite an average offensive performance. Eight of 14 games finished under 40 points combined and 12 teams scored less than 20. Nine road teams won, including five underdogs.

The Houston Astros swept the Rangers in a Texas-sized rout. Now the question is whether the defending World Series champions will deny the AL West a thrilling division race. The Astros won three games at Texas by a combined score of 39-10 this past week. Then they followed that up by taking two of three at home against San Diego. Houston now leads the AL West by 2 1/2 games over Seattle and three over Texas. And there’s more bad news for those two challengers: Nine of the Astros’ next 12 games are against Oakland or Kansas City.

No team in seven years has opened a season scoring at the rate Caleb Williams and Southern California are so far. The Trojans have scored at least 50 points in each of their first three games for the first time in program history. Their 56-10 rout of Stanford on Saturday ran their three-game total to 178. That's the most in the FBS since Louisville had 195 points to open the 2016 season. North Carolina's Omarion Hampton had the top rushing game with 234 yards against Appalachian State. Nebraska's 0-2 start can be blamed on turnovers. The Huskers' eight are most in the nation.

I’m not worried. Are you worried? Are you worried because through two games this Kentucky football team has not played like you thought or hoped this Kentucky football team would play? Are you worried because you know there are much tougher stress tests ahead?

The Pittsburgh Pirates host the Washington Nationals to begin a four-game series.

The Boston Red Sox host the New York Yankees to start a four-game series.