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Sports Briefs

■ Cricket
ICC suspends US federation
The US cricket federation has been suspended by the sport's world governing body for failing to set up a proper administration. In addition to the ban, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has relegated the US team from the World Cricket League division three series of games which take place in Darwin, Australia, in May. The ICC said the ban has been enacted on the basis of USA Cricket's failure to meet the agreed and subsequently extended deadlines for the adoption of its new constitution and the holding of elections.

■ Soccer
Visa snags hit Sydney FC
Sydney FC's preparations for next week's Asian Champions League opener against Shanghai Shenhua have been disrupted by visa problems for two of their players, reports said yesterday. Utility player Mark Milligan and defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley, who played in Australia's 0-0 Olympic qualifier against Iran in Tehran on Wednesday, were originally due to travel straight to China from Dubai. But difficulties in arranging visas in Dubai mean both will have to make a big detour via Australia before joining their team-mates on Tuesday, the day before the match. "There was no guarantee Mark and Nik were going to be able to obtain visas in time to make it from Dubai for the game," coach Branko Culina said.

■ Tennis
Mirza ruled out for a month
India's top female tennis player Sania Mirza will be unable to play for at least four weeks after tearing a ligament in her right knee, a doctor said yesterday. Mirza, 20, suffered the injury during her first match in the Qatar Open earlier this week. She pulled out of the tournament after her victory over Italy's Romina Oprandi. "We have suggested an intense physiotherapy and rehabilitation program for her, and it will be reviewed after four weeks," said a senior orthopedic surgeon at the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad.

■ Soccer
Hijab ban stirs passions
A young girl's expulsion from a Quebec soccer tournament this week for wearing a head scarf has split lawmakers, according to reports on Friday. Asmahan Mansour, 11, was ousted from a tournament on Sunday in Montreal after refusing to take off her hijab, a head scarf some Muslim women wear. Brigitte Frot, executive director of the Quebec Soccer Federation, said she was not allowed on the field for safety reasons, not religious objections. "You can't hide a bomb under a hijab," protested Conservative MP Wajid Khan, an advisor to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen. "I think an 11-year-old girl, all she wants to do is play soccer. Let her play the game," he told the Ottawa Citizen. Earlier, Quebec Premier Jean Charest expressed support for the referee's decision, indicating that as a child playing soccer he was once asked to "tuck in his shirt."

■ Soccer
Lille mull CAS appeal
Lille have said they will wait to hear UEFA's reasons for rejecting their appeal to have their Champions League last 16 first leg match against Manchester United replayed, before deciding whether or not to take their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). UEFA on Friday threw out Lille's appeal against the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body's veto of the French club's original claim there was a technical refereeing error in the match which led to United's goal in a 1-0 win.

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