Ex-Big leaguers Valbuena, Castillo killed in Venezuela

Four people have been arrested in Venezuela in connection with the deaths of former American big league baseball players Luis Valbuena and Jose Castillo in a crash caused when thieves put a stone in the highway to disable their van.

Julio Leon Heredia, the governor of Yaracuy state, where the incident took place, disclosed the arrests on Friday, a day after 33 year old Valbuena and 37 year old Castillo were killed on their way back to Barquisimeto after playing for Cardenales de Lara against Caracas' Los Leones. Castillo is among the only eight players with 1,000 hits in the history of the Venezuelan league. He played with Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, the San Francisco Giants and the Houston Astros between 2004 and 2008, and played in the Mexican Baseball League (LMB) between 2011 and 2016. Valbuena played 11 seasons in the major leagues and became a free agent after his contract with the Los Angeles Angels ended this year.

CAS reject Boca’s Copa Libertadores appeal

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Saturday rejected an appeal by Boca Juniors to be handed victory from the Copa Libertadores final ahead of Sunday's decisive second-leg against bitter rivals River Plate in Madrid, Spain. Boca appealed to the CAS claiming it deserved to be handed the win following violent attacks by River fans on Boca's team bus following the first-leg in Buenos Aires last month, which forced the postponement of the second leg and its eventual transfer to Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

But the Lausanne-based body dismissed the urgent request in which Boca sought to suspend the second-leg of the Copa final. The secondleg is scheduled for 1930 GMT (11.30, Oman time).