Sports in brief: Police say Gatti’s wife acted alone

Boxing: Police in Brazil investigating the death of former boxing champion Arturo Gatti are working on the assumption his wife strangled him with her purse strap while he drunkenly slept.

While cautioning that nothing is being ruled out, lead investigator Moises Teixeira said Monday he is certain the woman acted alone.

“It was technically impossible for a third person to have been in the flat,” where Gatti was found dead early Saturday, Teixeira said.

Gatti’s 23-year-old Brazilian wife, Amanda Rodrigues, told investigators she awoke Saturday about 6 a.m. to find her husband’s body in the apartment they rented in Porto de Galinhas, a seaside resort in northeastern Pernambuco state.

Teixeira said police do not think anyone else entered the apartment and killed Gatti – he said there were no signs of forced entry and electronic locks indicated nobody else had entered the room aside from Rodrigues and Gatti.

Associated Press

Two Sounders MLS All-Stars

Soccer: Midfielder Freddie Ljungberg and hometown goalkeeper Kasey Keller of the expansion Seattle Sounders FC are Major League Soccer All-Stars.

The league announced Ljungberg and Keller are among seven first-time All-Stars in voting by fans, players and reporters.

The 11-man team will play Everton FC of the English Premier League on July 29 in Sandy, Utah.

Keller, from Lacey, Wash., returned home to retire after 17 seasons in Europe. He is 7-1-7 as Seattle’s starting keeper.

The 32-year-old Ljungberg has two goals and five assists for Seattle.

Associated Press

Bivens quits as LPGA commish

Golf: Carolyn Bivens resigned as LPGA Tour commissioner, bowing to pressure from players who were upset about the organization’s economic woes and her leadership.

Marsha Evans, a retired rear admiral in the Navy who also has led the American Red Cross and Girl Scouts of the USA, will take over as interim commissioner. She’ll serve until the LPGA board finds a replacement, which it hopes to do by the end of the year.

Bivens’ departure seemed increasingly likely after a group of players wrote a letter last week to the LPGA Tour’s board of directors calling for her to quit. Her uncertain status created a distraction over the weekend during the U.S. Women’s Open.

“We reached a point which made it difficult for Carolyn herself to see herself going forward and being able to lead in this environment,” board chairwoman Dawn Hudson said. “We had to change something.”

Associated Press