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sports Diabierna 15 Juli 2022

WNBA's Griner gets support at trial from character witnesses

(AP) — Brittney Griner's offseason, told reporters af-
drug possession trial re- terward that he testified as a
sumed Thursday with the character witness.
head of the Russian club
she plays for in the offsea- "Our task today was to tell the
son and a teammate from court about her characteris-
that squad testifying in tics as an athlete, as a person
support of her character — tell about how she played
and what the WNBA star a big role in the success of the
has meant for women's Ekaterinburg club and Rus-
basketball in the country. sian women's basketball as a
whole," club director Maxim
Griner, who pleaded guilty Rybakov.
last week, did not testify as
expected at the third day of "Today is the first day when
the trial. She has been de- we have seen our basket-
tained in Russia since Febru- ball player since February.
ary, and the U.S. government Thank God, she feels well,
is under pressure at home to looks good," Rybakov said
do more to secure her free- outside the courthouse in the
dom. Her guilty plea could Moscow suburb of Khimki,
be an effort to expedite the where the airport is located.
court proceedings so any ne- prominent female athletes in spiracy to kill U.S. citizens of Griner being swapped for
gotiations about a prisoner Player Evgenia Belyakova said the U.S., a standout for the and providing aid to a terror- a Russian jailed in the U.S.,
exchange could move for- she testified that "Brittney Phoenix Mercury and a two- ist organization. Deputy Foreign Minister
ward. has always been a very good time Olympic gold medalist. Sergei Ryabkov, the senior
teammate, so my role here is U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia has agitated for Bout's Russian diplomat, has noted
Griner was arrested at the just to be with her, to support Secretary of State Antony release for years. But the that until her trial is over
Russian capital's Sherem- her." Blinken have said they were wide discrepancy in the seri- "there are no formal or pro-
etyevo Airport when customs "We miss her very much, we doing all they could to win ousness of their cases could cedural reasons to talk about
officials said they found vape miss her energy," Belyakova her release, as well as that make such a trade unpalat- any further steps."
canisters with cannabis oil in added. "I was very happy to of other Americans the U.S. able to Washington. Others Ryabkov warned that U.S.
her luggage. She acknowl- see her, and I hope this trial considers "wrongly detained" have suggested that Griner criticism, including the de-
edged in court that she pos- will be over soon and with a by Russia, including former could be traded along with scription of Griner as wrong-
sessed the canisters, but said positive outcome." Marine Paul Whelan. Whelan, who is serving 16 fully detained and dismissive
she had no criminal intent Also in court were Elizabeth Washington may have lit- years in Russia on an espio- comments about the Russian
and said their presence in Rood, charge d'affaires of the tle leverage with Moscow, nage conviction that the U.S. judicial system, "makes it dif-
her luggage was due to hasty U.S. Embassy in Moscow, though, because of strong has described as a setup. ficult to engage in detailed
packing. She is facing up to and other consular officials, animosity over its military discussion of any possible ex-
10 years in prison. and they were able to speak operation in Ukraine. The State Department's des- changes."
to Griner, who told them she ignation of Griner as wrong-
In Russia's judicial system, appreciated their presence, Russian media have specu- fully detained moves her case Griner's detention has been
admitting guilt doesn't auto- the U.S. State Department lated that Griner could be under the supervision of its authorized through Dec. 20,
matically end a trial. said. swapped for Russian arms special presidential envoy for suggesting the trial could last
Most journalists were denied trader Viktor Bout, nick- hostage affairs, effectively the months. Griner's lawyers,
access to Thursday's session, The trial's next session is set named "the Merchant of government's chief hostage however, said they expect it
but the director of UMMC for Friday. Death," who is serving a 25- negotiator. The classification to conclude around the be-
Ekaterinburg, for which she year sentence in the U.S. has irritated Russia. ginning of August.
plays during the WNBA Griner is one of the most after being convicted of con- Asked about the possibility

Italy salvages 1-1 draw against Iceland at Women's Euros

(AP) — Valentina Ber- area and Vilhjálmsdóttir un- golden chance to grab a sec- the left flank ended with her dra Sigurðardóttir tipped the
gamaschi's second-half leashed a shot that flew inside ond for Iceland but she could picking out Bergamaschi in ball onto the inside of the
goal recovered a point the post. only poke her close-range the center of the box to apply post.
for Italy against Iceland shot wide. the finish in the 62nd min-
at the Women's European The match turned on two ute. Group C concludes on
Championship, clinching chances within a minute just Italy then went down the Monday with Italy playing
a 1-1 draw on Thursday after the hour mark. Alex- other end and skillful play Bonansea almost found the Belgium and Iceland facing
that left both teams still andra Jóhannsdóttir had a from Barbara Bonansea on winner but goalkeeper San- France.
able from advance to the
quarterfinals.
Italy remains last in Group
C with only one point with
Belgium, which was playing
France in the late game.

Iceland, which has two
points, took the lead through
Karólína Lea Vilhjálmsdót-
tir inside three minutes with
the first chance of the game at
Manchester City's Academy
Stadium. Sveindís Jane Jóns-
dóttir's long throw caused
panic in the Italy penalty