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sports Diaranson 4 Mei 2022

Cards’ Hopkins suspended 6 games for violating PED policy

(AP) - The Arizona Car- this could’ve happened,” the season.
dinals are going to have to statement said. “But even as
figure out a way to score careful as I have been, clearly Hopkins played in 10 games
points and win games I wasn’t careful enough. For last season, catching 42 passes
without their top receiver. that, I apologize to Cardinals for 572 yards and eight touch-
fans, my teammates, and the downs. He missed much of
Three-time All-Pro DeAndre entire Cardinals organiza- the last half of the season,
Hopkins has been suspended tion. I never want to let my including the team’s playoff
without pay for six games for team down.” loss to the Los Angeles Rams,
violating the NFL’s policy because of hamstring and
on performance-enhancing It’s a stunning blow for the knee injuries.
substances, the league an- Cardinals, who finished with
nounced Monday. an 11-6 record last season but The Cardinals softened the
faded down the stretch when loss of Hopkins by adding a
Hopkins issued a state- Hopkins was out of the line- receiver during last week’s
ment on social media Mon- up because of injuries. Ari- NFL draft, acquiring Mar-
day night, saying he was zona had an 8-2 record when quise Brown from the Ra- ly means a bigger role for year career, which includes
“confused and shocked” to Hopkins was in the lineup vens for the No. 23 overall Brown, veteran A.J. Green six 1,000-yard seasons. He
learn he tested positive for a and just a 3-5 mark, includ- pick. Brown was a 1,000-yard and second-year standout played his first seven seasons
banned substance. ing the playoffs, when he was receiver last season and col- Rondale Moore, along with with the Texans before being
not. lege teammates with Arizona tight end Zach Ertz, during traded in 2020 to the Cardi-
“I am very mindful of what quarterback Kyler Murray the season’s first six weeks. nals.
I put in my body and have Now they’ll be without the when the two were at Okla-
always taken a holistic ap- 29-year-old receiver — who homa. Hopkins has been one of Hopkins is allowed to partici-
proach, so I am working with turns 30 next month — for the league’s most productive pate in the team’s preseason
my team to investigate how a big chunk of the upcoming Hopkins’ suspension like- receivers during his nine- practices and games.

State Dept: Brittney Griner considered wrongfully detained

(AP) — The Biden administra- star Brittney Griner is being meaning the United States will Ogwumike added. “Having learned
tion has determined that WNBA wrongfully detained in Russia, more aggressively work to secure that the U.S. government has now
her release even as the legal case determined that BG is being wrong-
against her plays out, the State fully detained we are hopeful that
Department said Tuesday. their efforts will be significant, swift
and successful.”
“The U.S. government will continue
to undertake efforts to provide ap- It was unclear what prompted the
propriate support to Ms. Griner,” the shift in approach to Griner’s case,
department said. though President Joe Biden’s admin-
istration had been under pressure
Griner was detained at an airport from members of Congress and oth-
in February after Russian authori- ers to make her release a priority.
ties said a search of her bag revealed
vape cartridges containing oil derived The U.S. last week secured the re-
from cannabis. Since then, U.S. of- lease of Marine veteran Trevor Reed
ficials had stopped short of classify- as part of a prisoner swap that also
ing the Phoenix Mercury player as resulted in a convicted Russian drug
wrongfully detained and said instead trafficker being freed from prison in
that their focus was on ensuring that the U.S.
she had access in jail to American
consular affairs officials. Besides Griner, another American re-
garded as unjustly detained in Russia
Now, though, U.S. officials have is Paul Whelan, a corporate security
shifted supervision of her case to a executive from Michigan who was
State Department section — the Of- arrested in December 2018 while vis-
fice of the Special Presidential Envoy iting for a friend’s wedding and was
for Hostage Affairs — that is focused later sentenced to 16 years in prison
on negotiating for the release of hos- on espionage-related charges his fam-
tages and other Americans classified ily says are bogus.
as being wrongfully detained in other
countries. A consular officer did visit ESPN first reported the classification
in March. in Griner’s case.

“Brittney has been detained for 75 Meanwhile, the WNBA announced
days and our expectation is that the Tuesday that it would honor Griner
White House do whatever is neces- with a floor decal and allow the Mer-
sary to bring her home,” said Griner’s cury to pay her without it counting
agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas. against the team’s cap. The decal will
feature Griner’s initials, BG, as well
The president of the WNBA players’ as her No. 42.
union, Nneka Ogwumike, noted in a
separate statement that “it has been 75 All 12 teams will have the decal on
days that our friend, teammate, sister, their home courts starting with the
Brittney Griner, has been wrongfully season opener Friday night. The
detained in Russia.” Mercury open their season at home
that night against the Las Vegas Aces.
“It is time for her to come home,”