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Sports Briefs

■ Olympics
NATO to bear Athens costs
NATO will bear the cost for its role in helping safeguard the Olympics as Greece struggles with the growing financial burden to host the games, a top defense official said on Thursday. Deputy Defense Minister Yiannis Lambropoulos told parliament that "the cost of this assistance will burden only NATO." Plans to protect the Aug. 13 to 29 games are the most expensive in Olympic history, costing more than US$800 million -- three times higher than Sydney's security budget four years ago. On Tuesday, Olympic planners said overall costs have exceeded the US$5.6 billion budget. Some analysts predict the debt could weigh heavily on the Greek economy for years. Greece has asked for NATO's help with aerial surveillance, sea patrols and protection against "a chemical, biological and nuclear incident."

■ Soccer
Brazil in the dark
Fans joked bitterly on Thursday about the blackout that briefly suspended play in Brazil's 0-0 tie with Paraguay in a World Cup qualifier. Their team, they said, is still in the dark -- and still searching for the goal. The lights came back on and play resumed after half an hour Wednesday night. But the five-time Cup champions showed little of the flair and precision that marked their victorious campaign at the 2002 Cup in Japan. "No light and no goals," read one headline. "Where's our soccer?" said another, poking fun at a photo of a complaining Ronaldinho. It was Brazil's third straight tie and dropped the team into third place in the South American qualifying, behind Argentina and Paraguay. Brazil has nine points and a minuscule edge over Venezuela, which beat favored Uruguay 3-0 on Wednesday and also has nine. Brazil's new attack of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka, which hadn't played together before the game and had just one practice, showed the expected lack of teamwork and cohesion.

■ Rugby
Singapore Sevens kicks off
Favorite England enters the Singapore Sevens rugby tournament this weekend knowing a win here will either draw it equal or push it past New Zealand in the race for the IRB Sevens series crown. "We know we are still trailing behind New Zealand. ...We are not going to look back at previous years," said England coach Joe Lydon on Thursday, referring to his side's four-point series loss to the Kiwis last year. Lydon's team are currently four points behind New Zealand (86) in the sevens standings. A win at the Singapore Sevens is worth 20 points, while the runners-up receives 16. England won the Hong Kong Sevens last week while New Zealand only managed to reach the semifinals, losing to Argentina.

■ Soccer
Adu proves to be big draw
Freddy Adu's professional debut today is on the verge of a sellout. D.C. United announced that all of the single-game tickets had been sold for the Major League Soccer opener against San Jose. About 100 tickets were still available on Thursday, but they were to be sold as part of full-season or half-season packages. This season, United is listing 24,603 as capacity in the 53,000-seat RFK Stadium. The upper deck will not be open, even if there is a demand for walk-up sales on the day of the game. Officials are hoping the move encourages more fans to buy tickets in advance. Because of the sellout, United president Kevin Payne said the team will offer discounts for some tickets for the next home game, on April 24 against Chicago.

■ Motor Racing
Senna trial reopened
Italy's highest court has cleared the way for the reopening of a manslaughter trial over the death of Formula One champion Ayrton Senna 10 years ago. The court on Thursday published the reasons for its decision to annul the last verdict handed out in January last year, ANSA news agency reported, ruling there had been "material errors". Under Italian law, a written explanation must be published before a date can be set for the new hearing. Brazilian Senna, a three times world champion, died after crashing his Williams at Imola on May 1, 1994, during the San Marino Grand Prix. Team boss Frank Williams, technical director Patrick Head and former chief designer Adrian Newey must now face a new appeals court, ANSA said. Williams, Head and Newey, who is now at McLaren, were acquitted of manslaughter charges after a trial in Bologna in 1997 and that verdict was upheld by an appeals court in 1999.

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