■ Baseball
Steroid penalties imposed
Major League Baseball will begin penalizing players for steroid use next season after learning that more than 5 percent of this year's tests came back positive. Suspicions of steroid use had run high recently as bulked-up sluggers set all sorts of home run records. Stars such as Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa denied taking the drugs. But on Thursday, the results came back and proved what many in MLB assumed -- and what former MVPs Jose Canseco and Ken Caminiti already had admitted: Some players were taking more than vitamins. "Hopefully, this will, over time, allow us to completely eradicate the use of performance enhancement substances in baseball," commissioner Bud Selig said. MLB said of 1,438 anonymous tests this season, between 5 and 7 percent were positive.
■ Olympics
Extradition moves forward
A court ruled on Thursday that the son of a high-ranking South Korean IOC member being held in a Bulgarian prison would be released and placed under house arrest as he awaits extradition to the US on charges related to the Salt Lake City Olympic bribery scandal. Judge Keti Markova annulled a lower court decision to hold the suspect, John Kim, in police custody, arguing that the charges brought against him were not serious enough to merit keeping him detained.
Markova ordered that Kim be placed under "the softer form of detention, namely -- house arrest." She acted on an appeal by Kim, who has protested being held in prison since his arrest last May. The South Korean embassy submitted written guarantees that he will not try to flee if released from prison. The US wants Kim extradited on charges of fraud and document forgery allegedly committed from 1995-1999 in New York.
■ Soccer
Ferdinand denies charge
England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand formally denied misconduct charges filed against him by the English Football Association over a missed drug test. Ferdinand waited until Thursday's deadline to respond and, as expected, requested a personal hearing on the charges. If found guilty of a serious doping offense, he faces a ban ranging from several months to a maximum of two years. "Rio Ferdinand has responded to the charge issued on Oct. 29," the English FA said in a statement. "He has denied the charge and requested a personal hearing. A date for the hearing will be scheduled in due course." Ferdinand missed a random drug test at Manchester United's training ground on Sept. 23. He said he simply "forgot" about the test. The FA charged him with "failure or refusal to submit" to the test.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was