Sports
Napoli probed over suspected Osimhen transfer fraud

AFP
Napoli are being investigated for potential false accounting in the transfer deal which brought Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen to the Serie A club, prosecutors confirmed on Tuesday.
Prosecutors in Naples said in a statement that Italian finance police searched Napoli’s Castel Volturno and Rome offices to collect documents regarding Osimhen’s 70 million euros ($73.9 million) move from Lille in 2020.
They added that the searches come following requests from both Italian and French judicial authorities, with Lille having been also been the subject of a search in last month.
Italian media report that club owner Aurelio de Laurentiis was also under investigation.
Osimhen’s transfer was one of dozens of suspicious deals looks by Italian Football Federation (FIGC) investigators in a probe into allegedly inflated transfer values designed to artificially boost clubs’ balance sheets.
The deal stood out as it involved four players valued at just over 20 million euros moving to Lille as part of the deal.
Three of them never played for the French club and are now in Italy’s lower divisions.
One of the latter trio, Luigi Liguori, told Italian daily La Repubblica in December that he “never went to Lille” — not even to sign the contract — after being sold for four millions euros.
Movie mogul De Laurentiis was one of 61 people, including a raft of Juventus directors, who were acquitted of any wrong doing by the FIGC’s own tribunal in April.
The defendants successfully argued there was no objective way to gauge a player’s worth after prosecutors had based their own valuations on data from popular website Transfermarkt.
International
Arsenal stun Real Madrid at the Bernabéu to reach Champions League semifinals

Arsenal enjoyed a “historic night” on Wednesday after defeating Real Madrid 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu, knocking them out of the Champions League quarterfinals, midfielder Declan Rice said.
“It’s such a special night for this club, a historic night for this club,” said Rice, who scored twice in the first leg in London, speaking to TNT Sports.
The English international was named Man of the Match in both legs — the 3-0 win in London and the second leg in Madrid.
“It’s amazing. I knew we were on an upward trajectory and we’ve done incredibly well in this competition. We deserve it and we have full confidence in our coach. Reaching the semifinals is unbelievable,” Rice added.
International
Two fans killed in gate collapse outside Chile’s Estadio Monumental

Two people lost their lives near the Estadio Monumental in Santiago, Chile, following a chaotic incident that occurred before the Copa Libertadores match between Colo Colo and Brazil’s Fortaleza on April 10. According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the victims were crushed after a fence on the stadium perimeter collapsed, though authorities are investigating whether a police armored vehicle may have played a role.
It was a black Thursday at Chile’s Estadio Monumental. Two local fans died outside the stadium after a yet-unclarified incident caused a metal gate to fall on them, leading to fatal asphyxiation.
Local media reports indicate that a group of fans attempted to force their way into the stadium before kickoff. In response, local police allegedly deployed armored vehicles to block the breach.
Preliminary reports cited by local newspapers and news agencies like EFE identify the victims as two young individuals—one 18 years old and the other just 13.
Sports
Neymar Returns to Santos Training After Month-Long Injury Layoff

Neymar returned to full training on Tuesday with the Santos squad after spending a month recovering from a left thigh injury, the Brazilian club reported.
The number 10 joined warm-up activities with the team and later took part in a ball control and passing drill. According to the sports outlet Ge, he “did not show any discomfort from the injury” during the 30-minute session that was open to the press.
The Brazilian star had spent the past month undergoing physiotherapy, recovery work, and muscle strengthening due to the injury that had kept him out of Santos matches and even from the Brazilian national team. He had initially been called up, but was later withdrawn from the squad ahead of the World Cup qualifying matches against Colombia and Argentina.
Santos will continue daily training sessions this week ahead of their upcoming match against Fluminense on Sunday in the Brazilian Championship.
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