Prosecutors probe alleged Neymar party

RIO DE JANEIRO • Brazilian prosecutors said on Wednesday that they were investigating reports that football star Neymar has organised a New Year's Eve mega-party at his luxury home near Rio de Janeiro, despite public health measures to curb rising Covid-19 deaths in Brazil.

Details of the planned party were leaked last weekend, although sources close to the striker have since denied the extravaganza will go ahead.

The Rio Prosecutor's Office has launched a probe amid claims by the Mangaratiba city council, the site of Neymar's luxury mansion, that it has no power to intervene should the party be held.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Chapecoense chief dies from coronavirus

•RIO DE JANEIRO • Chapecoense president Paulo Ricardo Magro has died from Covid-19, the Brazilian club said in the latest tragedy to hit the side after an airline crash in 2016 killed almost all of their players and backroom staff.

Magro took over at Chapecoense last August and helped guide them to the top of second-tier Serie B and financial stability this year.

REUTERS

Querrey gets fine for Covid-19 violation

LONDON • American Sam Querrey was handed a suspended US$20,000 (S$26,500) fine by the ATP Tour for breaching Covid-19 protocols at the St Petersburg Open in October, the governing body for men's tennis said on Wednesday.

He was withdrawn from the tournament after he returned a positive Covid-19 test a day before the main draw but left the country on a private plane despite being placed in quarantine by Russian authorities.

The fine will be lifted if he does not commit further breaches of Covid-19 health and safety protocols within the next six months.

REUTERS