Kia ora, Talofa, Ma’lelei, Bula, Aloha and Welcome to Season 09 Episode 33 of Breakfast Bites, by TEIVOVOdigital.com – a wrap of Pasifika people’s sports news, on a sunny and bright Thursday morning 09 May 2024.
 
Coming to you with tons of hanisi from the 180th meridian, in the middle of the blue continent.
                                                                  
In rugby union: England back-row Billy Vunipola was arrested in Mallorca, Spain, on Sunday for resisting arrest and has been fined €240 for the incident.
 
In a statement shared by his club Saracens, Vunipola denied reports that he had acted violently to cause the arrest, though Spanish police claimed he slapped an officer.
 
"I can confirm I was involved in an unfortunate misunderstanding when I was leaving a club in Mallorca on Sunday, which got out of hand," his statement read.

"Contrary to media reports, there was no violence, no fight and I did not threaten anybody at any stage, with bottles or chairs or anything else.

"I was charged with resisting arrest and, following an 'express trial,' I have paid a fine of €240. The Spanish police investigation is now closed and I am flying back to the UK today."

But, according to a report in a Spanish newspaper, Vunipola was tasered twice by police after threatening customers and security personnel and removing his shirt in a bar named Epic in Palma early on Sunday.
 
The report added that the 31-year-old was handcuffed by the police and taken to a hospital in Palma, where he was sedated, before being taken to court on Sunday afternoon.

"In the early hours of yesterday morning, at 4.30am, the National Police proceeded to arrest a 31-year-old foreign man, for a crime of disobedience and attacking a police officer," a spokesperson for the National Police in Mallorca said.

Saracens had earlier issued their own statement saying they would deal with the incident "internally."
 
Vunipola has made 75 appearances for England, most recently featuring in the narrow Rugby World Cup semifinal defeat to South Africa in October.

He played for Saracens against Bath in their 15-12 win on Friday.

In rugby league: Wayne Bennett believes a Club based in Perth should be next in line for an NRL expansion licence.

“They have had a lot of NRL and Origin games over there.

“There are a lot of Australians, English people and New Zealanders who know about rugby league.
“It is a huge area of income. They have got some of the biggest companies in Australia in Perth and Western Australia. It all makes sense, and they have got great facilities.”

In Football: Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Paul Izzo was the hero as his side progressed to the next round of the A-League finals series after he saved three penalties in a penalty shootout and drilled one home himself as the Victory won it 3-2 over Melbourne City at AAMI Park last weekend.
 
In combat sports: “The calls for Naoya Inoue to fight outside of Japan are ridiculous,” legendary boxing promoter Bob Arum said on Saturday in Yokohama.

Arum’s company, Top Rank, helped promote Monday’s fight. “He is the biggest attraction in boxing in Japan by far, and Japan has become the center for boxing in the lighter weight divisions.
“So in my view, it would be foolhardy for Inoue to leave Japan and to fight outside of Japan. For what?”

Finally, in SportsBiz: Disney CEO Bob Iger said Tuesday with the release of the company’s latest earnings report that subscriptions for ESPN+ retreated for the second straight quarter and third time in four quarters, and now stand at 24.8 million.
 
ESPN+ also posted a US$65Million operating loss for the quarter.

As a result, Disney shares fell 10%, rolling back a chunk of a broader gain of more than 28% so far this year.

In other developments at Disney, Iger said he was “confident” of completing a long-term rights renewal with the NBA, saying “This is a sports product with growth ahead of it, with great demographics. We feel really good about the potential package that we will end up with, basically enabling ESPN to continue to shine in the television sports business.”

And that’s a wrap!
 
Please hit the like and subscribe buttons below if you want to receive more Pasifika sports highlights on Breakfast Bites.
 
Mahalo and Ka kite; for TEIVOVOdigital.com, I’m Culden Kamea tanking you all too mass for all your love and support.
 
#TEIVOVORugby  #TEIVOVODigital #TeivovoRugby #TeivovoDigital #rugby #rugby7s #FijiRugby #rugbyunion #rugbyleague #Raka #team #rugbytraining #sports #FRU #Fiji #womensrugby #rugbygirls #wrugby #ladiesrugby #womeninsport  #woman #rugby #rugby7s #FijiRugby #rugbyunion #rugbyleague #fitness #weightlifting #training #team #rugbytraining #sports  #rakavi  #DevelopmentFiji