MILAN (AP) — The first autopsies of victims of the Bayesian super yacht sinking off Sicily show drowning as the cause of death, authorities said Monday.
U.S. lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda were among seven people who died when the Bayesian sank in a sudden, violent storm on Aug. 19. The autopsies were carried out by coroners designated by Palermo prosecutors, who confirmed the results.
Autopsies are planned Wednesday on the bodies of Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley’s London-based investment banking subsidiary, and his wife, Judy.
They are pending for the remaining three victims, British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, who had organized the yacht trip to celebrate a recent legal victory, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and the yacht’s cook, Recaldo Thomas.
Morvillo was one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers in a fraud case involving the sale in 2011 of Autonomy, a search engine company that became a symbol of British ingenuity, to Hewlett-Packard, in an $11 billion deal that quickly turned sour over allegations Lynch had cooked the books to overvalue Autonomy. He was acquitted in June.
Prosecutors are investigating the captain and two crew members for possible responsibility in connection with the sinking. The 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged luxury yacht sank during what appears to have been a sudden downburst, or localized powerful wind from a thunderstorm that spreads rapidly after hitting the surface. Fifteen people, including Lynch's wife, were rescued.
Prosecutors said raising the Bayesian and examining the yacht for evidence would provide key elements to the investigation. No timeline has been determined.
This story was first published on Sept. 2, 2024. It was updated on Sept. 3, 2024 to correct the headline to say lawyer and his wife instead of banker and his wife.
FILE - Italian firefighter divers bring ashore in a plastic bag the body of one of the victims of a shipwreck, in Porticello, Sicily, southern Italy, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli, File)
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — England and English soccer teams could be removed from UEFA competitions if a new regulator is considered to be “Government interference” in the sport.
In a letter sent by UEFA to the U.K.'s new culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, European soccer's governing body raised concerns about a proposed independent football regulator (IFR) in English soccer. The regulatory will ensure the financial sustainability of clubs and stop teams from joining breakaway competitions like the European Super League.
UEFA regulations state there should be no government interference in the running of soccer.
“We have specific rules that guard against this in order to guarantee the autonomy of sport and fairness of sporting competition; the ultimate sanction for which would be excluding the federation from UEFA and teams from competition,” UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis wrote in his letter, which has been seen by The Associated Press.
England, which has been runner-up in the last two European Championships, is co-hosting the 2028 edition of the tournament.
If UEFA imposed its ultimate sanction of excluding the English Football Association, the England team would be barred from competing in the Euros. It could also mean Premier League clubs being barred from the Champions League and other competitions.
The U.K. government’s Football Governance Bill would give an independent regulator powersto safeguard the future of clubs. It includes strengthened tests over who can run or own clubs.
In its letter, UEFA said “normally football regulation should be managed by the national federation.”
It said it was concerned by what it described as “scope creep” by a regulator into areas beyond “the long-term financial sustainability of clubs and heritage assets.”
UEFA said if all countries established regulators with wide-reaching powers it would hinder its ability to maintain effective governance across Europe. It wants England's regulator to be “strictly limited” to the long-term financial sustainability of clubs and heritage assets.
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - The UEFA Euro trophy is pictured after Britain and Ireland were elected to host the Euro 2028 football tournament during the the UEFA EURO 2028 and 2032 hosts announcement ceremony after the UEFA Executive Committee, at UEFA Headquarters, in Nyon, Switzerland, Oct. 10, 2023. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP, File)
