Former NBA star Rodman plans to intervene to release American Greiner

NBC News reported today that former NBA star Dennis Rodman plans to visit Russia in an effort to release American basketball player Britney Greiner, who is imprisoned there.

The network quoted Rodman as saying that he hopes to travel to Russia this week in an attempt to help Greiner, who was convicted by a Moscow court of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison.

"I got permission to travel to Russia to help this girl," Rodman told CNN. "I'll try to go this week."

Rodman, who was attending a sportswear conference, did not give any additional details, NBC News reported.

"It is well known that the administration has made an important offer to the Russians, and anything else outside of continuing to negotiate through the existing channel is likely to complicate and impede release efforts," a senior official in the US President's administration, Joe Biden, told AFP.

Rodman, 61, is a former five-time NBA champion with a record of unconventional forays into politics.

He built relations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over the past decade and made several visits to this isolated country, and he went to Singapore in 2018 when former US President Donald Trump met Kim there.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news