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Sörenstam announces she’s pregnant

Swedish golf star Annika Sörenstam, who finished her last tournament just three months ago, said on Thursday she is pregnant with her first child.

Published: 20 March 2009 06:48 CET

Sörenstam announces she's pregnant

“(Husband) Mike (McGee) and I are very pleased to announce that we are expecting our first child,” the 38-year-old Sörenstam reported on her internet blog.

“We have had a lot of exciting changes in the past few months, and adding a new addition to our family later this fall will certainly be at the top of that list.”

“We are absolutely thrilled and look forward to this new chapter of our lives,” Sörenstam continued.

“We appreciate the love and support that we have received from our family, friends, and of course my fans.”

In January, Sörenstam married American Mike McGee, who is the son of former PGA Tour player Jerry McGee.

Sörenstam says she has been spending her time away from the women’s tour by designing courses, teaching golf and she recently launched a line of perfumes.

“It is very different,” Sorenstam told The Golf Channel on the weekend. “We will see what the future will bring. Right now I got some other things stored.”

Her new life also includes playing casual golf and watching the pros on TV every weekend.

Asked if she would ever play competitive golf again, Sörenstam didn’t close the door completely on a comeback.

“Being retired is a good thing. We will see if I want to change that,” she said.

“I certainly need the competitive drive. I can’t think of a tougher time to do business than now.”

The 10-time major winner called it quits after the Dubai Ladies Masters, the season-ending Ladies European Tour tournament.

She won 89 international individual titles, 72 of which came on the LPGA Tour.

She is the only women’s player to have broken the 60 barrier in tournament play, and comfortably tops the all-time career money list with earnings in excess of $22 million on the LPGA Tour.

Spain women's World Cup players demand more heads roll as Rubiales in court

Just hours after Luis Rubiales was quizzed by a judge for kissing midfielder Jenni Hermoso, all but two of Spain’s 23 World Cup players said they would not don the national shirt without deeper changes within the RFEF, demanding its current interim head also resign.

The statement came as the squad’s new coach Montse Tome was to announce the lineup for two upcoming UEFA Women’s Nations League matches against Sweden and Switzerland, which was promptly postponed, federation sources said.

“The changes put in place are not enough,” said a statement signed by 39 players, among them 21 of the 23 World Cup winners.

Demanding “fundamental changes to the RFEF’s leadership”, they called for the “resignation of the RFEF president” Pedro Rocha, who took over as interim leader when FIFA suspended Rubiales on August 26.

But the federation insisted Rocha would “lead the transition process within the RFEF until the next election”, insisting any changes would be made “gradually”.

A federation source said a leadership election could take place early next year.

“This institution is more important than individuals and it’s crucial it remains strong. We’ll work tirelessly to create stability first in order to progress later,” Rocha said in the statement.

Despite a string of recent changes, the federation remains in the hands of officials appointed by Rubiales, and the players are demanding structural changes “within the office of the president and the secretary general”.

Brought to court by a kiss

The bombshell came after days of optimism within the RFEF that the players would come round after it sacked controversial coach Jorge Vilda, appointed Tome in his stead and pledged further changes, not to mention Rubiales’ long-awaited resignation on Sunday.

On August 25, 81 Spain players, including the 23 world champions, had started a mass strike saying they would not play for the national team without significant changes at the head of the federation.

Earlier on Friday, Rubiales appeared in court where he was quizzed by Judge Francisco de Jorge who is heading up the investigation into the kiss, which sparked international outrage and saw him brought up on sexual assault charges.

At the end of the closed-door hearing, in which Rubiales repeated his claim that the kiss was consensual, the judge ordered him not to come within 200 metres of Hermoso and barred him from any contact with the player.

At the weekend, the 46-year-old had described the kiss as “a spontaneous act, a mutual act, an act that both consented to, which was… 100 percent non-sexual” in an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan.

Hermoso, 33, has insisted it was not, describing it as “an impulsive, macho act, out of place and with no type of consent on my part”.

Speaking to reporters outside court, Hermoso’s lawyer Carla Vall said they were “very satisfied” with the hearing.

“Thanks to this video, everyone can see there was no consent whatsoever and that is what we will demonstrate in court.”

Allegations of coercion

Hermoso herself will also testify before the judge at some stage, who will then have to decide whether or not to push ahead with the prosecution. No date has been given for her testimony.

The complaint against Rubiales, which was filed by the public prosecutors’ office, cites alleged offences of sexual assault and coercion.

Under a recent reform of the Spanish penal code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a category which groups all types of sexual violence.

If found guilty, Rubiales could face anything from a fine to four years in prison, sources at the public prosecutors’ office have said.

In their complaint, prosecutors explained the offence of coercion related to Hermoso’s statement saying she “and those close to her had suffered constant ongoing pressure by Luis Rubiales and his professional entourage to justify and condone” his actions.

At the hearing, Rubiales also denied coercion.

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