Thieves steal Wimbledon hawk

Tennis: A hawk being used to patrol skies and deter pigeons from the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships has been stolen, police said Saturday.

Rufus, a Harris hawk, was stolen with its cage between Thursday night and Friday morning from a car parked on a private driveway in the southwestern suburb of Wimbledon, said London’s Metropolitan police.

The company that owns the hawk had left a rear window of the car open for ventilation, according to a police report.

The hawk, a family pet, flies above the tennis lawns every day, scaring away smaller birds such as pigeons that could distract the players and bother the audience.

Police said the family is “very distressed” about the theft of the 4 1/2-year-old hawk, which is trained not to attack but to circle the courts to scare off smaller birds.

See Wimbledon story, Page C2.

Associated Press

UEFA supports current system

Men’s soccer: UEFA wants soccer’s lawmaking panel to delay a decision next week on approving goal-line technology.

The European soccer body pledged full support for its rival five-officials method of refereeing, despite an error that denied Ukraine a goal in a decisive European Championship group match against England.

Hours after the match, which England won 1-0 to eliminate the co-host, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said goal-line technology was “no longer an alternative but a necessity” at the 2014 World Cup.

The panel, known as IFAB and featuring representatives of FIFA and the four British governing bodies, will meet Thursday and could approve either or both of two goal-line systems being tested, plus the five-officials project.

See European final, Page C3.

Associated Press