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Sports Briefs

■ Basketball
Kemp arrested for marijuana
Shawn Kemp was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana on Friday, the latest drug-related trouble for the former NBA All-Star. Kemp, 36, was arrested following a traffic stop for driving without a license plate shortly after midnight. An officer with the Harris County Sheriff's Department pulled Kemp over and said he noticed the smell of burning marijuana coming from Kemp's vehicle. The officer later found less than 56 grams of the illegal drug in Kemp's possession. The six-time All-Star was released from the Harris County Jail after posting a US$500 cash bond and faces a court appearance on Friday. Kemp checked into a rehabilitation clinic for cocaine use in 2001. In April last year, he was arrested for possessing small amounts of cocaine and marijuana in his truck.

■ Soccer
Pull down flags: Dhaka cops
Police in the Bangladesh capital yesterday asked residents to remove the flags of foreign nations they hoisted to show their support during the soccer World Cup. Thousands of flags, mainly of Brazil and Argentina, were hoisted in Dhaka, a city of 10 million people, during the World Cup, with most yet to be removed. After the departure of two the South American teams in the quarterfinals, many even raised the flags of Germany and France to continue their support at the tournament. Bangladesh has never contested a World Cup, but most of its soccer-crazed population support either Brazil or Argentina. Authorities postponed classes and examinations at a leading university for a month after violent protests by students in Dhaka who complained that regular classes interfered with them watching World Cup matches.

■ Diving
China wins springboard gold
China's Wang Feng and He Chong took home the gold on Friday for the men's 3m synchronized springboard event, while teammates Jia Tong and Chen Ruolin won the women's 10m synchronized platform at the FINA World Cup competition. Wang and He split up last year but resumed their partnership at this year's Grand Prix, bagging three wins in a row before the World Cup. They led the competition with 446.73 points, while Americans Mitchell Richeson and Troy Dumais won the silver with 428.43 points. Germany's Tobias Schellenberg and Andreas Wels finished third with 393.30 points. They placed second in the 2004 Athens Olympics. The 14-year-old Jia took home her second gold medal with the help of Chen.

■ Soccer
Laporta to quit Barcelona
Joan Laporta, president of European champions FC Barcelona, plans to resign ahead of the club's forthcoming presidential elections. Speaking on Friday at a press conference, Laporta said he would leave his post on Wednesday. Barcelona judge Roberto Garcia Ceniceros ruled this week in favor of three club members who claimed Laporta's four-year term in office had finished at the end of last month -- and not on June 30 next year as argued by the club's management. Laporta was picked in early elections in 2003, prompted by the resignation of Joan Gaspart. One clause in the club statutes says that, in the event of early elections, the new president's first year in office runs from the date of the election to the end of the fiscal year, which for Barcelona is June 30.


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