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■ SOCCER
Clubs fined over riot
Hansa Rostock and Rot-Weiss Essen were fined on Thursday after 11 people were injured when fans rioted at their second-division match. Rostock was fined 100,000 euros (US$136,000) by the German soccer authorities, and Essen 30,000 euros. The match on Tuesday was interrupted for 15 minutes when a fire broke out in the stands after some supporters set flares alight. Police stormed the section holding about 1,500 Rostock fans and detained 75 people.

■ RUGBY UNION
Force coach signs new deal
Former All Blacks coach John Mitchell signed yesterday to coach the Australian Super 14 rugby franchise the Western Force for four more years. Mitchell, who has coached the Perth-based Force in each of its first two seasons in the Southern Hemisphere competition, said he was delighted to be asked to continue. "Our aim in year one was to be competitive; in year two, it was improvement and growth, and I think we've achieved both those aims," he said.

■ CRICKET
Aussies mull tour decision
The Australian government will meet any penalty payments incurred by Cricket Australia if its forthcoming tour to Zimbabwe is canceled, Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday. Howard said the government had yet to decide whether to ask Cricket Australia to call off the tour, scheduled for September, amid security concerns and in protest at human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. "We would indemnify Cricket Australia for any compensation that it might have to pay to the international body," Howard said. "It would not be fair to visit the cost of a foreign policy decision on a sporting body."

■ MOTORSPORT
British rally drivers arrested
Police arrested two Britons competing in the Gumball 3000 rally in Macedonia following a collision that killed an elderly driver and critically wounded his wife. Police said Nicholas Morley, 30, and Matthew McConvile, 32, were driving a Porsche 911 in the Gumball 3000 rally -- a 4,825km race across Europe -- when the crash occurred near Struga, about 190km from Skopje, on Wednesday. Following the collision, Vladimir Cepuljoski, 67, died of injuries while being transported to a hospital in Skopje. His wife, Margarita, remains in critical condition. The Britons were arrested on provisional charges of endangering traffic and abandoning an accident victim, police spokesman Ivo Kotevski said on Thursday. The offenses could lead to a one-year prison sentence if convicted.

■ SOCCER
Baros suspended, not racist
Lyon striker Milan Baros was suspended for three matches by the French league on Thursday for making a gesture toward a black opponent that was inappropriate but not racist. On April 18, Baros responded to a series of rough challenges by Stephane Mbia by turning toward the Rennes player, pinching his nose and moving his hand across his face as if repelling a bad smell. Mbia complained that the gesture -- which Baros repeated several times -- was racist. "This is an unusual affair," said Jacques Riolacci, the president of the LFP's disciplinary commission. "Milan Baros convinced us, and we concluded that his gesture did not have a racist or xenophobic connotation, otherwise the sanction would have been totally different." Baros is eligible to play in Lyon's match at Paris Saint-Germain today, and is then suspended from Monday.

■ Basketball
Artest pleads no contest
Sacramento Kings forward Ron Artest pleaded no contest on Thursday to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge stemming from a March 5 dispute with his wife, the latest in a string of off-court problems. Placer County, California, Superior Court Judge Francis Kearney sentenced Artest to 100 hours of community service and a 10-day work project through the county sheriff's department. Artest also was fined US$600 and ordered to get extensive counseling. Kearney modified the restraining order that has kept Artest away from his wife, Kimsha, and three children since the incident.

■ Boxing
Klitschko hit with lawsuit
IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko was hit with a US$5 million lawsuit on Thursday over last year's canceled fight with Shannon Briggs at Madison Square Garden in New York. The suit, filed in New York State Supreme Court, alleges breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing and fraudulent misrepresentation. Cedric Kushner, president of Gotham Boxing, filed the lawsuit against Klitschko, promoter Shelly Finkel, Shelly Finkel Management, K2 Promotions and Sport Five. "Briggs was strung along for close to two months by the Klitschko camp," Kushner said in a statement.

■ Baseball
Cepeda charged for drugs
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) will recommend prosecutors charge baseball Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda with drug possession, a spokesman said on Thursday. The department was scheduled to forward its report of Cepeda's arrest to the Solano County District Attorney's office yesterday, CHP Sgt. Wulf Corrington said. The former San Francisco Giants star was stopped on Tuesday after he was clocked driving 134kph in a 105kph zone on Interstate 80 in Cordelia, northeast of San Francisco. The 69-year-old Cepeda was arrested after the officer discovered marijuana and a white powder substance in his car.

■ Baseball
Early classic invites sent
Defending champion Japan, Cuba and the US were among the teams sent early invitations for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. "There are already several countries that were in a good position in the last Classic that have received their invitations," Major League Baseball vice president of international baseball operations Lou Melendez said on Thursday. The first invitations went to teams that reached the second round of last year's tournament: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the US and Venezuela. Another eight invitees will be announced by December.

■ Tennis
Sampras routs Korda
Pete Sampras routed Petr Korda 6-1, 6-2 in the Champions Cup on Thursday, the 14-time major winner's first tournament in nearly five years. "It was fun -- it was nice playing in the crowd," Sampras said after his first competitive match since beating Andre Agassi in the 2002 US Open final. "I felt excited walking out there with a nice ovation. This is why I decided to play." The 35-year-old Sampras, who will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July, didn't touch a racket for nearly three years before picking up the sport again last summer to get in better shape.


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