Soccer / Daily Report

Mexican businessman Jorge Vergara, who has said he hoped to own an expansion team in Major League Soccer as early as next season, apparently is closing in on a deal to buy Atletico Madrid of the Spanish league.

Vergara owns Chivas of Guadalajara in the Mexican league and is majority owner of Saprissa in the Costa Rican league. “I will be [in Madrid] the third week of September to continue [negotiations] with them,” Vergara told Reuters on Thursday in Mexico City. “We’re hoping [for a deal] by the end of September.”

Vergara declined to say how much he would pay for the Spanish team but said that it could be similar to the $120 million he paid for Chivas.

As for his plans for MLS, Vergara has said he wanted to bring the “Chivas” brand to the United States. San Diego, Houston and San Antonio appear to be the leading contenders to land the franchise.

Vergara, 48, earned his fortune as owner of Grupo Omnilife, a company that sells nutritional supplements.

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Violence in Peru

More than 20 people were injured, including 13 players and two referees, when fans in Peru stormed the field after a disputed call, police said.

The violence broke out Sunday when the referee ejected a player with three minutes left in the second-division game in the Andean town of Tarma, about 100 miles from Lima. Dos de Mayo was losing, 1-0, to visiting Union San Agustin.

“The public came in with knives, metal rods, sticks and rocks,” injured referee Jorge Javier Anascohe told a Tarma cable channel from his hospital bed. “The people of Tarma don’t deserve soccer.”

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Gottardi Dead at 27

Bolivian striker Jefferson Gottardi, who played part of the 1999 MLS season for the now-defunct Tampa Bay Mutiny, has died after a two-year battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Gottardi, 27, scored two goals in his MLS debut against D.C. United but had only two more over the next five months before being waived by the Mutiny in August 1999.

“His death has moved the whole Bolivian squad,” said Gottardi’s former teammate Luis Cristaldo, who is preparing to play in Bolivia’s 2006 World Cup qualifier Sunday in Uruguay. “We’ll do everything we can to dedicate a victory to him.”

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Euro 2004

French midfielder Zinedine Zidane said he probably would sit out Saturday’s Euro 2004 qualifier against Cyprus because of a left thigh injury. Zidane, who suffered the injury during Real Madrid’s 1-1 tie against Villareal on Tuesday, said he hoped to be ready for Wednesday’s game against Slovenia.... Turkey striker Hasan Sas strained knee ligaments in practice this week and could sit out Saturday’s Euro 2004 qualifier against Liechtenstein.

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Quick Passes

The U.S. Open Cup semifinal between D.C. United and the New York/New Jersey MetroStars will be played Oct. 1 at Piscataway, N.J. Earlier, it was announced the Galaxy would play the Chicago Fire in the other semifinal on Sept. 23 at Naperville, Ill.

Liverpool’s El Hadji Diouf, the African player of the year from Senegal, pleaded guilty to spitting on a fan in March during a UEFA Cup quarterfinal game and was fined $7,850 by a Scottish court. Diouf already had been docked two weeks’ pay by his English club.

Chelsea midfielder Geremi will sit out his team’s next three games after the club decided not to appeal a ban imposed on the Cameroon international for a two-footed tackle against Leicester that earned him a red card.

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Times wire services contributed to this report.