THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2007
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SPORTS
DISASTER
3B
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A hole in a section of stands shows the ground below the Fonte Nova soccer stadium in Salvador, northeastern Brazil, on Sunday. Seven people died after a section of stands gave way as fans cheered at the end of a game, police said.
Seven people die in collapse of Brazilian soccer stadium Sunday
BY MICHAEL ASTOR ASSOCIATED PRESS
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — A stadium collapse that killed seven people highlighted the crumbling state of Brazil's soccer arenas less than a month after the country was chosen to host the 2014 World Cup, architects said Monday.
The victims fell 49 feet through a 10-foot wide hole that opened in the concrete stands of the Fonte Nova stadium in Salvador, a coastal city of Bahia state. At least 40 people were injured in the accident Sunday night
"Unhappily, a lot of stadiums have problems, some are in better conditions than others, but I think we could see another collapse like this if something isn't done," said Eduardo de Castro Mello, an architect who helped conduct a survey of soccer stadiums for the national association of engineering and architecture companies.
The survey released Nov. 1 found that Fonte Nova, built in 1951, was the worst of 29 major soccer stadiums around the country. It featured pictures of crumbling support beams under the stands and deemed Fonte Nova in a "pitiful state."
The survey was conducted to give authorities an idea of the condition of Brazil's major sports stadiums ahead of the 2014 World Cup. It said several other stadiums were of particular concern.
Nilton Vasconcelos, Bahia's secretary of sports, said he feared the accident would hurt the state's chances of hosting the World Cup.
Federal Sports Minister Orlando Silva de Jesus Jr. visited the stadium Monday and said it would likely have to be demolished.
"Fonte Nova was a symbol of
Brazilian soccer," Silva de Jesus said.
Salvador — a major Brazilian tourism destination — would almost certainly get some of the games of the 2014 tournament. But Brazil did not include Fonte Nova as a possible venue in its preliminary list of 18 stadiums submitted to FIFA, soccer's governing body.
Instead, Brazil proposed building a new stadium for Salvador in a different location by 2011. Officials insisted Brazil would have no problem playing host to the World Cup because the government planned to build new stadiums and extensively renovate existing ones.
Mello said all but 20 percent of the Mane Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia, the nation's capital, would have to be demolished and rebuilt.
Brazil, which has won a record five World Cups, hosted the competition once before, in 1950.
CRIME
Redskins player shot at home
Sean Taylor left in critical condition after burglary attempt
BY MATT SEDENSKY ASSOCIATED PRESS
PALMETTO BAY, Fla. — Washington Redskins star safety Sean Taylor was in critical condition Monday after he was shot during what police were investigating as a possible armed robbery at his home.
The 24-year-old player was in the intensive care unit following several hours of surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital, said family friend Richard Sharpstein, his former lawyer. He remained unconscious early Monday evening.
Taylor lost a "significant" amount of blood because the bullet damaged his femoral artery, and doctors were worried about blood flow to the brain, added Sharpstein, who was at the hospital with the player's family and friends.
Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor was shot at his Florida home, according to a statement released Monday by the team. Taylor is in critical condition in a Miami hospital after losing a "significant" amount of blood.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The shooting came eight days after another invasion was reported at his home. According to police records, someone pried open a front window, rifled through drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed.
Officers were sent to Taylor's home at about 1:45 a.m. Monday after Taylor's girlfriend called 911 and said he was shot in his lower body, Miami-Dade Police Lt. Nancy Perez said. Taylor had missed the last two games because of a knee injury and was at home recuperating. He was airlifted to the hospital.
Investigators were still interviewing the girlfriend and other relatives in the home, Perez said. No arrests have been made.
"It could have been a possible burglary; it could have been a possible robbery," Perez said. "It has not been confirmed as yet."
Sharpstein said Taylor's girlfriend told him the couple was awakened by loud noises, and Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection. Someone then broke through the bedroom door and fired
two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor, the lawyer said.
The shooting happened at the house Taylor bought two years ago in the Miami suburb of Palmetto Bay. Taylor is in his fourth season with the Redskins. He was an All-American in 2003 for the University of Miami. Despite his injury, he is tied for the NFC lead for interceptions.
Redskins owner Dan Snyder arrived in Miami on his private plane
with running back Clinton Portis, vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato and trainer Bubba Tyer.
A group of Taylor's fans planned a two-hour vigil Monday evening outside Redskins Park in Ashburn, Va.
"This is not just a member of the Washington Redskins," said Redskins safety Pierson Prioleau. "But we're talking about a dad, a brother, a friend of ours, and that's where we're at with this right now."
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