Ruud Gullit has resigned as coach of the slumping Los Angeles Galaxy for personal reasons, and president/general manager Alexi Lalas also is out of a job.
“We are stepping up and doing what we need to do to straighten this thing out,” Galaxy investor/operator Tim Leiweke said Monday.
The Galaxy, led by English star David Beckham and Landon Donovan, is on a seven-match winless streak entering Thursday night’s match against Chivas USA.
“There are two good people that for different reasons aren’t part of this organization today, and that’s a shame,” Leiweke said.
Gullit will be succeeded on an interim basis by 37-year-old Cobi Jones, a first-year assistant who retired following last season after spending his entire pro career with the Galaxy.
• A former member of Manchester United’s youth squad was awarded $8.2 million by a court over a tackle that ended his career.
Ben Collett had an “outstanding chance” to succeed in soccer, according to United manager Alex Ferguson, but never returned after a 2003 tackle by Middlesbrough’s Gary Smith that broke his right leg in two places during a reserve match. Middlesbrough and Smith admitted liability for the “negligent” tackle and Collett, who is now 23, was awarded the damages by London’s High Court. The amount will be paid by the Premier League club’s insurers.
Settlement will aid athletes
A settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought by former college athletes who alleged the NCAA failed to cover the full cost of their education has been formally approved by a Los Angeles federal judge.
Under the settlement, approved Aug. 5, the NCAA will create a $10 million fund during the next three years to reimburse former student athletes for educational costs they previously incurred. The NCAA will also make an additional $218 million available to current Division I schools to pay for benefits given to college athletes enrolled between the 2007 and 2013 academic years.
NCAA Division I schools may also provide basic accident insurance coverage for injuries students suffered while participating in college athletics. But under the settlement, the schools are not required to do so.
• Western Kentucky basketball star Arnika Brown is facing more than a dozen criminal charges after police said she used counterfeit money to shop at a store in her southern Kentucky hometown.
Brown was arrested Saturday and charged with 11 felony counts of possession of a forged instrument and five counts of theft by deception. Police said the 21-year-old from Hopkinsville admitted using the counterfeit money to make several purchases.
Brown is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.
Footnotes.
The New Orleans Hornets re-signed forward Ryan Bowen, who averaged 2.2 points and 1.9 rebounds last season.
• The Los Angeles Kings agreed to terms on a three-year, entry-level contract with defenseman Drew Doughty, the second overall pick in the 2008 draft.
The Associated Press
