■ SOCCER
Bangura avoids deportation
Watford midfielder Al Bangura has won his fight to avoid deportation from Britain after a government work permit hearing found in his favor on Monday. Bangura was desperate to avoid being deported to his native Sierra Leone, where he feared his life would be in danger from a witchcraft cult. The 19-year-old fled the west African country when he was 15 because he feared his father's links to a voodoo sect would put his life in danger. Bangura's appeal to stay in Britain had been rejected but he was given the chance to apply for a work permit and his plea was successful. He came to Britain after first making his way from Sierra Leone to Guinea, helped by a Frenchman who he thought wanted to help his career. When he arrived in London, two men tried to rape him, and he said he only realized then that he had fallen victim to a people trafficker.
■ FORMULA ONE
Piquet Jr in Renault debut
Rookie driver Nelson Piquet Jr made his Renault debut on Monday, a day before teammate and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso marks his return to the French team. Piquet Jr, who drove in Renault's 2007 car, went around in one minute, 21.595 seconds to finish with the ninth-fastest lap time at the 4.423km Circuito de Jerez in Spain. The nine F1 teams got off to a slow start following morning rain. Alonso, who won back-to-back world championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006, returns for the first time since leaving McLaren after a turbulent season. Alonso's former teammate, Lewis Hamilton, was expected to test for McLaren yesterday. Ferrari dominated the first of three days of testing at Jerez, with drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa finishing 1-2. Raikkonen, the defending world champion, had a best time of 1:19.845 from 59 laps in his Ferrari F2008.
■ TENNIS
Kuerten set to retire: source
Three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten was yesterday to announce that this would be his last year on the world tour. Kuerten will play only a few tournaments this year before ending his career, a person with knowledge of the announcement said on Monday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement hadn't been made yet. The 31-year-old Kuerten said on his official Web site that he was to announce his plans for the 2008 season in a press conference yesterday. Ranked 679th by the ATP tour, Kuerten was expected to play in the Brazil Open next month, and his farewell tournament could happen in Roland Garros, where he won the French Open in 1997, 2000 and 2001.
■ SOCCER
Morales complains to FIFA
Bolivian President Evo Morales on Monday accused FIFA of killing off soccer in high-altitude nations by making an adaptation period obligatory for matches played higher than 2,500m. "[It's a] way of cutting up the world ... a death sentence for the universality of soccer," Morales told the TVB television network. Bolivian Football Federation president Carols Chavez said on Friday that world soccer's governing body had set periods of adaptation for matches played at altitude, but FIFA have yet to officially confirm this. For matches above 2,750m, a period of adaptation of a week is obligatory and above 3,000m the rule will be not to play the match, except with a period of acclimatization of at least two weeks, Chavez said. The Bolivan capital La Paz is situated at 3,600m.
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