Page 31 - bon-dia-aruba-20220514

A31
sports Diasabra 14 Mei 2022

Detention of WNBA’s Griner in Moscow extended by 1 month

(AP) — WNBA star an unexpected prisoner ex-
Brittney Griner had her The Biden administration change last month — trading
pre-trial detention in Rus- says Griner is being wrong- former Marine Trevor Reed
sia extended by one month fully detained. The WNBA for Konstantin Yaroshenko,
Friday, her lawyer said. and U.S. officials have a Russian pilot serving a 20-
worked toward her release, year federal prison sentence
Alexander Boykov told The without visible progress. for conspiring to smuggle co-
Associated Press he thinks caine into the United States.
the relatively short exten- “Today’s news on Brittney
sion indicated that Griner’s Griner was not unexpected, While the U.S. does not
case would go to trial soon. and the WNBA continues to typically embrace such ex-
The 31-year-old American work with the U.S. govern- changes, it made the deal in
basketball player has been ment to get BG home safely part because Yaroshenko had
in custody for nearly three and as soon as possible,” the already served a long portion
months. basketball league said in a of his sentence.
statement.
Griner, a two-time Olympic The Russians may consider for negotiating for the release eral law, there are a number
gold medalist who plays for State Dept spokesman Ned Griner someone who could of hostages and Americans of factors that go into such
the Phoenix Mercury, was Price said diplomats from the figure into another such ex- considered wrongfully de- a characterization, including
detained at a Moscow airport U.S. Embassy in Moscow change. tained. if the detention is based on
in February after vape car- spoke with Griner on Friday being an American or if the
tridges containing oil derived and reported she “is doing The State Department last Also working on the case detainee has been denied due
from cannabis were allegedly as well as can be expected in week said it now regards Gri- now is a center led by Bill process
found in her luggage. She these circumstances.” ner as wrongfully detained, a Richardson, the former U.S.
faces drug smuggling charges change in classification that ambassador to the United Besides Griner, another
that carry a maximum pen- Russian officials have de- suggests the U.S. govern- Nations who helped secure American regarded as un-
alty of 10 years in prison. scribed Griner’s case as a ment will be more active in the release of multiple hos- justly detained in Russia is
criminal offense without trying to secure her release tages and detainees, includ- Paul Whelan, a corporate se-
Griner appeared for the brief making any political associa- even while the legal case ing Reed. curity executive from Michi-
hearing at a court outside tions. But Moscow’s war in plays out. gan. Whelan was arrested in
Moscow handcuffed, wear- Ukraine has brought U.S.- It’s not entirely clear why the December 2018 while visit-
ing an orange hoodie and Russia relations to the lowest The status change places her U.S. government, which for ing for a friend’s wedding
holding her face down. She level since the Cold War. case under the purview of the weeks had been more cir- and was later sentenced to 16
did not express “any com- department’s Special Presi- cumspect in its approach, re- years in prison on espionage-
plaints about the detention Despite the strain, Russia and dential Envoy for Hostage classified Griner as a wrong- related charges his family has
conditions,” Boykov said. the United States carried out Affairs, which is responsible ful detainee. But under fed- said are bogus.

Americans bet $125B on sports in 4 years since legalization

(AP) — Americans have bet more worked itself into the daily lives of media as well. For example, FanDuel
than $125 billion on sports with millions of Americans — from those is the official odds provider for The DraftKings president and co-founder
legal gambling outlets in the four who plunk down money hoping for a Associated Press. Matt Kalish said: “I got into this in-
years since a U.S. Supreme Court certain outcome to those who watch dustry because I was always the kind
ruling cleared the way for all 50 TV broadcasts with odds calculations On May 14, 2018, the Supreme of kid who liked to predict things, to
states to offer it. to those struggling with gambling Court decided a case that had begun compete with my friends and make
problems. 10 years earlier in New Jersey as the predictions. For people that like to
On Saturday’s anniversary of the longest of long shots: a bid to over- do that, sports betting has become far
decision in a case brought by New You don’t have to be a gambler — or turn a federal law, the Professional and away the No. 1 thing.”
Jersey, two-thirds of the states in the even a sports fan — to be affected: and Amateur Sports Protection Act,
country have legalized sports betting. The industry tsunami of advertising that restricted sports betting to just To comprehend just how much $125
is practically impossible to avoid, par- four states that met a 1991 deadline billion is, consider this: It’s a bit more
In just four years, the industry has ticularly on TV and radio but in other to legalize it. than the amount that was spent on
pet food, supplies and veterinary care
Ray Lesniak, the now-retired state in the entire country last year, and
senator who filed the first lawsuit more than the net income for Ameri-
against the federal government over ca’s farmers last year.
the issue, said he acted to provide
money for states, protection for con- Of course, much of that money was
sumers and to attract experienced paid out to people who won bets. Af-
European betting companies to ex- ter expenses, the sportsbooks gener-
pand to the U.S. — all of which he ally keep less than 10% of the total
said have come to pass. amount of bets they handle. Over the
first four years of legal betting, their
“I made a good bet for New Jersey revenue figure is $8.8 billion, accord-
and for America,” he said, metaphor- ing to the American Gaming Associa-
ically speaking. (Lesniak also placed tion, the gambling industry’s national
the first winning legal sports bet in trade group.
his state, correctly picking France to
win soccer’s World Cup, winning A major rationale for the push to le-
$400 on a $50 bet at 8-to-1 odds.) galize sports betting was to protect
customers from being victimized by
“When PASPA was repealed, I don’t unlicensed bookmakers, many oper-
think any of us would have expect- ating as part of organized crime. State
ed how big the (industry) would be regulations include robust consumer
just four short years later,” said Karol protections, with watchdog regula-
Corcoran, general manager of Fan- tors ready to pounce when they see
Duel’s online sportsbook. violations.