■ SWIMMING
Ian Thorpe cleared of doping
Australia's sports doping agency has cleared champion swimmer Ian Thorpe of doping charges fueled in March when urine tests showed elevated levels of two banned substances. "The evidence available does not indicate the use of performance enhancing substances by Mr Thorpe. He has no case to answer," the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority said in a statement. Thorpe became embroiled in the doping investigation when a urine sample taken in May last year showed elevated levels of testosterone and epitestosterone.
■ SOCCER
Sparta Nazi salutes probed
The Czech soccer federation has begun investigating alleged Nazi salutes by Sparta Prague midfielder Pavel Horvath during a league match. Federation spokesman Vit Pavlusek said Horvath's conduct was judged "unsportsmanlike," according to initial findings on Thursday by the federation's disciplinary committee. Horvath allegedly twice saluted Sparta fans with his right arm outstretched seconds before the end of the match against Viktoria Zizkov on Saturday, which Sparta won 4-1. The committee resumes its investigation next Thursday. Pavlusek said the federation also asked for TV footage of the incident. "It is a big misunderstanding," Horvath was quoted as saying by the Lidove Noviny daily newspaper Thursday. "I am really not a fascist." Sparta backed Horvath, saying he was trying to calm fans down.
■ GOLF
US tour finishing dope policy
The US tour's comprehensive anti-doping policy is nearing completion, and testing could start as early as next year, commissioner Tim Finchem said on Thursday. He updated the Player Advisory Council in Norton, Massachusetts, on Monday about the tour's progress. "We believe now that we'll complete work on a policy this year, and the elements of the policy could very well be executed during '08," he said at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Finchem said testing would be only one part of the policy. Still to be determined are exemptions for therapeutic use.
■ SOCCER
Dein sells stake in Arsenal
Former Arsenal chairman David Dein has sold his 14.58 percent stake in Arsenal to a consortium led by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov. Red and White Holdings Ltd said in a statement Thursday that it had paid ?75 million (US$151.1 million) for the stake and appointed Dein as the company's chairman. Red and White said it had "committed funds" to enable it to increase its stake in Arsenal. "However, Red and White confirms that it has no current intention to make a takeover offer for Arsenal," the statement said. Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman was not concerned. "David's free to do what he wants to do," Edelman said at the Champions League group stage draw in Monte Carlo, Monaco. "Clearly it's not a change in shareholding structure."
■ SOCCER
Everton signs up Gravesen
Everton signed Thomas Gravesen on loan from Celtic for the rest of the season on Thursday. The move returns the Danish midfielder to the Premier League club where played from 2000 to 2005. "I really look forward to coming back to Everton and to once again play at the top level," he said. The 31-year-old Gravesen had been at Celtic since August last year. He spent the previous season at Real Madrid.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier