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Sports Briefs

■ Soccer
Managers blast official
Rival managers Rafa Benitez and Arsene Wenger criticized referee Martin Atkinson after the Yorkshire official called off Liverpool's League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal at Anfield on Tuesday night due to heavy fog. The two clubs now face a fixture logjam with the congested Christmas fixture list looming before the scheduled semi-final date on Jan. 9. Atkinson postponed the game an hour before kick-off due to concerns over the ability of his officials to perform their duties, but both Benitez and Wenger insisted he was wrong to call off the game.

■ Athletics
Gatlin to coach boys team
Banned Olympic champion sprinter Justin Gatlin has agreed to be a volunteer coach for the boys track team at his high school this spring. The athletic director for Woodham High School said on Tuesday that Gatlin has frequently donated his time and money to the team since graduating in 2000. Gatlin, the world record-holder in the 100m, faces a suspension of up to eight years following a positive drug test for testosterone and other steroids at the Kansas Relays in April. His appeal is pending.

■ Soccer
Real Madrid reject Gago
Boca Juniors president Mauricio Macri has offered his talented young midfielder Fernando Gago to Barcelona and AC Milan after failing to reach agreement with Real Madrid, the Spanish media reported on Tuesday. Macri was negotiating with Real officials in Madrid over the weekend for the transfer of his 20-year-old player but apparently his asking price of 23 million euros (US$30 million) was too high even for the wealthy Spanish giants.

■ Cycling
Landis to go off road
Embattled Tour de France cycling champ Floyd Landis will compete in a 160km mountain bike race in Colorado in August. The Leadville Trail 100 will mark Landis' return to off-road racing, which he left in 1998 to focus on road racing. After winning the Tour de France, Landis' urine samples were tested and found to contain elevated testosterone to epitestosterone levels. Currently recovering from hip surgery, Landis said he expects his body will be ready for the rigors of off-road racing. The race is scheduled for Aug. 11.

■ NFL
Tank suspended after arrest
The Chicago Bears suspended defensive tackle Tank Johnson for one game on Tuesday, almost a week after he was arrested on misdemeanor weapons charges. The day after Johnson was arrested, his third arrest since the Bears drafted him in 2004, he was at a night club when his friend was shot to death. "I don't believe the team has to tell me it's my last chance. I know the opportunity that I have in front of me and it's great," Johnson said at a news conference. Johnson was arrested after a Thursday raid on his home in which police found six unregistered firearms. A day later, Bears general manager Jerry Angelo had issued a warning to Johnson and the player publicly apologized. That night, he went to Ice Bar in Chicago's River North area with his friend and bodyguard Willie Posey, who was shot to death.

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