Crossword Genius

Showing arrogance, paid sportsman perhaps duly sacked (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

proudly

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'showing arrogance paid sportsman perhaps duly sacked' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'paid sportsman perhaps duly sacked' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'paid' could be 'pro' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'pro' is found in the answer.
an anagram of 'duly' is 'udly' which is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for proudly that I've seen before include "With feelings of self-respect and self-worth" , "With high self-regard" , "With haughtiness" , "Haughtily" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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