Wed, Apr 02, 2008 page19

• Sport Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ ATHLETICS

  Thanou gets Jones' silver

  Greek sprinter Ekaterina Thanou, herself no stranger to doping controversy, has been awarded the 100m silver medal won by Marion Jones at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton after the disgraced US athlete was stripped of her medals after admitting using the banned steroid THG. Jones came second in Edmonton, but all her results since September 2000 have been expunged. Thanou was involved in a scandal on the eve of the 2004 Olympics in Athens when, together with compatriot Kostas Kenteris, she missed a drugs test. Thanou was banned for two years after missing what was her third test. But the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the sport's world governing body, said on Monday its hands were tied when it came to the redistribution of Jones' Edmonton silver.

  ■ SOCCER

  Capello faces prosecution

  England coach Fabio Capello could be tried for false testimony and obstructing the course of justice by Rome judicial authorities, Italian media reported on Monday. Capello is being investigated in relation to the activities of Gea World, a sports agency which represented several footballers, and their dealings with Juventus during the England boss' spell at the helm of the Italian giants. On Monday morning Capello was questioned, alongside ex-Juve directors Luciano Moggi -- who was brought down over the matchfixing scandal that saw Juventus relegated to Serie B for the 2006-2007 season -- and Antonio Giraudo, by the Rome court, but all three repeatedly answered: "I can't remember." That led prosecutor Luca Palamara to warn that they risked being charged with reticence, which effectively amounts to obstructing the course of justice, and possibly false testimony, or perjury.

  ■ ICE HOCKEY

  Watchdog clears NHL

  The National Hockey League (NHL) won a legal faceoff on Monday when Canada's antitrust watchdog ruled there was nothing improper in its handling of a failed bid for the Nashville Predators. The Competition Bureau started an investigation last year when the NHL reportedly balked at an attempt by Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie, co-chief executive of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, to buy the Nashville team with an eye to moving the club to southern Ontario. Locating the team in Hamilton, Ontario, would have put it in direct market competition with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres, but there was no evidence the NHL blocked the move for antitrust reasons, the regulators said. "The NHL was consistently of the view that the Nashville Predators franchise should not be relocated at this time, irrespective of where the franchise would be relocated," the bureau said.

  ■ SOCCER

  Stuttgart, automaker ink deal

  Bundesliga champions VfB Stuttgart have leased their stadium name for 30 years to Mercedes Benz, the German car manufacturer confirmed on Monday. The 55-seater stadium, one of the few remaining in the German top flight that does not bear the name of a business, will be inaugurated the Mercedes-Benz-Arena during a friendly against English side Arsenal on July 30. It is currently called the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium, after the founder of German vehicle manufacturer Daimler and inventor of motor fuel. Renovated for the 2006 World Cup, plans are underway to demolish the stadium next year and replace it with a new 60,000-seater without an athletics track, which hosted the 1993 world championships.
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