The U.S. Soccer Federation revealed Tuesday it is investigating men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter for an incident in 1991 when he kicked his future wife. Andre Penner/Associated Press
SOCCER
The U.S. Soccer Federation revealed Tuesday it is investigating men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter for a 1991 confrontation in which he kicked the woman who later became his wife.
The federation said it learned of the allegation on Dec. 11 and hired the law firm Alston & Bird to investigate. The USSF said Berhalter and his wife Rosalind had “spoken openly” about the matter, and Berhalter admitted to the kick in a statement Tuesday.
“Through this process, U.S. Soccer has learned about potential inappropriate behavior towards multiple members of our staff by individuals outside of our organization,” the USSF said, adding the investigation also includes those allegations.
The USSF said it will announce “in the coming days” who will coach the team for exhibitions against Serbia on Jan. 25 and Colombia three days later. These are the first matches for the Americans since they were eliminated by the Netherlands last month in the World Cup round of 16.
Berhalter’s statement said: “During the World Cup, an individual contacted U.S. Soccer, saying that they had information about me that would ‘take me down’ – an apparent effort to leverage something very personal from long ago to bring about the end of my relationship with U.S. Soccer.
“In the fall of 1991, I met my soulmate,” Berhalter went on. “We had been dating for four months when an incident happened between us that would shape the future of our relationship. One night, when out drinking at a local bar, Rosalind and I had a heated argument that continued outside. It became physical and I kicked her in the legs.
“There are zero excuses for my actions that night; it was a shameful moment and one that I regret to this day. At the time, I immediately apologized to Rosalind, but understandably she wanted nothing to do with me. I told my parents, family and friend what had happened because I wanted to take full responsibility for my behavior. Rosalind also informed her parents, family and friends.”
Berhalter, 51, was hired in December 2018 after the U.S. failed to qualify for that year’s World Cup. He has led the team to 37 wins, 11 losses and 12 draws, and the Americans earned the third and final automatic World Cup berth from the North and Central American and Caribbean region.
RONALDO: Cristiano Ronaldo was presented as the superstar new signing of Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr, with the team’s president saying the Portugal great deserves to be the highest paid player on the planet.
Ronaldo said he turned down “many clubs” around the world to complete one of the most surprising transfers in the sport’s history, which could reportedly earn him up to $200 million a year.
Al Nassr President Musalli Almuammar would not confirm the exact figures in the two-and-a-half-year contract.
PREMIER LEAGUE: On the day Cristiano Ronaldo was presented at his new Saudi Arabian club, his former team Manchester United again showed it is not missing the Portugal superstar.
United has won four straight matches since agreeing to terminate Ronaldo’s contract during the World Cup, the latest coming Tuesday in a 3-0 victory over Bournemouth in the Premier League.
HOCKEY
NHL: The Detroit Red Wings placed forward Jakub Vrana on waivers, two-plus weeks after he returned from the player assistance program set up by the NHL and NHL Players’ Association.
It also comes a week after he was assigned to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins on a conditioning loan. The 26-year-old from the Czech Republic has 98 goals and 91 assists in 323 career regular-season games.
The NHL and NHLPA started the player assistance program in 1996, giving players access to a confidential phone line and counselors in each city in the league. The jointly funded group assists players and their families with mental health, substance abuse and other matters.
TENNIS
ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL: Novak Djokovic maintained his winning streak in singles matches in Australia, beating Constant Lestienne of France 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the Adelaide International.
It was the top-seeded Djokovic’s 30th straight singles victory on Australian soil in a streak that goes back to 2018.
It was Djokovic’s first singles match of the season after losing in doubles the previous day, and the win keeps him on course for a possible semifinal matchup in Adelaide against seventh-ranked Daniil Medvedev, who earlier beat Lorenzo Sonego of Italy 7-6 (6), 2-1 when Sonego was forced to retire with a right arm injury.
ASB CLASSIC: Former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu overcame wind and rain in a match which stretched over almost four hours to beat Linda Fruhvirtova 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in her first singles match of 2023 at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
The match was twice interrupted by rain and the second delay in the deciding set forced the players from the court for almost an hour.
Top-seeded American Coco Gauff also had to contend with two lengthy rain delays before beating Germany’s Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-1.
The seventh-ranked Gauff had let slip a 4-0 lead in the first set and Maria was serving at 4-3 when a cloudburst forced the players from the court. Play resumed briefly and Gauff improved her lead to 5-4 when the second rain break occurred.
ACTION SPORTS
OBIT: Ken Block, a motorsports icon known for his stunt driving and for co-founding the action sports apparel brand DC Shoes, died in a snowmobiling accident near his home in Utah.
Block, 55, “was riding a snowmobile on a steep slope when the snowmobile upended, landing on top of him,” the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The incident occurred in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Block, who grew up in Southern California, was a co-founder of DC Shoes, a manufacturer of skateboarding and snowboarding shoes and apparel that in 2004 was purchased by Quicksilver for $84 million.
Afterward, he rose to fame as a rally car driver and in 2005 was awarded Rally America’s Rookie of the Year honors. He won multiple medals at the X Games and also competed in other action sports, including motocross, snowboarding and skateboarding.
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