Glazer Increases Stake in Manchester United

Tampa Bay Buccaneer owner Malcolm Glazer increased his stake in Manchester United by an additional 15.8 million shares Friday, sources told Associated Press, increasing speculation he will try to take control of the world’s richest soccer club.

The move, which means that Glazer now owns more than a quarter of the club’s shares, came just hours after Manchester United confirmed that Glazer was the investor who made a preliminary approach to take over the franchise.

Glazer, who already owned 19.2% of the English Premier League club, increased his stake to 25.5%, according to Glazer’s associates in Britain, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The shares were purchased at a cost of around $81.1 million, but not from the club’s largest shareholders, Irish racehorse owners John Magnier and J.P. McManus, the associates said. Magnier and McManus own 28.89% of the club through their company, Cubic Expression.

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England national team Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson wants his embattled captain, David Beckham, to keep quiet. But the English Football Assn. wants him to explain his deliberate foul against an opponent last Saturday in a World Cup qualifier against Wales.

The yellow card in the 2-0 victory got Beckham an automatic suspension from the next game. He said he committed the foul when he realized he had suffered an injury that would force him to sit out Wednesday’s match against Azerbaijan.

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Tennis

Seventh-seeded Venus Williams was upset by Elena Bovina, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup at Moscow.

Bovina will play fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva, who beat fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1, 6-3. Second-seeded Lindsay Davenport advanced with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Francesca Schiavone and will play third-seeded Anastasia Myskina, who beat sixth-seeded Vera Zvonareva, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.

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Motor Racing

Mike Bliss used a three-wide pass to take the lead in his Chevrolet, then held off Matt Kenseth over the final few laps at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., to win his first NASCAR Busch Series race in 70 tries.

Bliss would have coasted to victory in the SpongeBob 300, but Dave Blaney crashed 14 laps from the finish to bring out a record-tying 12th caution.

Helio Castroneves tied an Indy Racing League record by winning a fourth consecutive pole in qualifying for Sunday’s Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

Castroneves, who had a fast lap of 215.996 mph in a Toyota-powered Dallara, matched Billy Boat’s record.

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Jurisprudence

A judge ruled Friday that additional documents in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case be unsealed. About one-third of approximately 1,000 pages in the Eagle County Sheriff’s Dept. file and about one-sixth of the 4,000 pages in the Eagle County Dist. Atty.’s Office were released in the last two weeks.

Bryant attorney Pamela Mackey said at the hearing in Eagle County Court that all files held by the defense should be released.

Judge Terry Ruckriegle ruled that court personnel, not prosecutors or law enforcement officers, will review the documents and determine what should be made public.