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Sports Briefs

■ Water polo
Italians bite, Aussies say
Australia's women's water polo team are to make an official complaint alleging an Italian opponent bit their star player Kate Gynther. The incident happened in Australia's 12-8 victory over the Olympic champions at the world championships in Melbourne on Tuesday and is not isolated, coach Greg McFadden said. "We love beating them because it's been happening for years like that, so the girls have never got any worries about firing up against Italy," McFadden said, adding that Gynther was bitten on the forearm and the skin was broken. "They just fall over the top and they bite. There are three girls in the team who do it all the time," he said.

■ NASCAR
Burnt feet won't stop Vickers
Brian Vickers suffered second degree burns to his feet when an exhaust pipe broke midway through the 800km race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina, last weekend. He was walking gingerly on Tuesday during an appearance at Team Red Bull headquarters, but team officials said he would be prepared to race this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. "We think that a piece of the tail pipe came off halfway through the race, so heat was blowing directly onto the floor board," Vickers said. Vickers finished 15th in Sunday's Food City 500, despite the smoke and carbon monoxide fumes that filled his cockpit for the final 200 laps. He needed immediate medical attention and received oxygen while still in the car. He went for a long bicycle ride on Monday to help rid his body of the carbon monoxide, but had to do it standing up because his buttocks were also slightly burned.

■ Soccer
FA fines Arsenal, Chelsea
Arsenal and Chelsea have been slapped with a ?100,000 (US$196,000) fine each by the Football Association for the behavior of players and backroom staff near the end of the League Cup final a month ago. The melee at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on Feb. 25 was sparked following a confrontation between Chelsea's Jon Obi Mikel and Arsenal captain Kolo Toure, with players and coaches from both sides becoming involved.

■ Rugby Union
Brennan appeals life ban
Former Ireland rugby union forward Trevor Brennan has lodged an appeal against a lifetime playing ban, the European Rugby Cup (ERC) announced on Tuesday. Brennan will also appeal against a suspension from participating in any tournament organized by the ERC and a fine he received for punching a supporter during Toulouse's 28-13 European Cup victory over Ulster in January. The 33-year-old was fined 25,000 euros (US$33,200) and ordered to pay 5,000 euros compensation to the supporter and the costs of convening the hearing. The Toulouse star announced his immediate retirement from the game just days before the hearing in London on March 16.

■ NFL
Replays made permanent
National Football League (NFL) club owners voted 30-2 on Tuesday to make the video replay system that aids officiating a permanent tool. Twenty-eight of the 31 stadiums used by NFL teams will be equipped with high-definition television equipment before the upcoming American football season. The three due to be replaced in the next few years, Giants Stadium in New York, Indianapolis and Dallas, will not be refitted. The new stadiums will have the updated equipment.

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