■SOCCER
Garlic shots proving costly
Japan striker Kazuki Ganaha is counting the cost of his bid to overturn a ban imposed for taking intravenous garlic infusions. The 27-year-old was suspended for six games last year for breaking the J-League’s anti-doping rules after coming down with influenza. Ganaha appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), who heard his case at a two-day hearing in Tokyo this week. CAS are expected to rule within the next few weeks but Ganaha’s legal costs are mounting and he has already paid out around US$100,000. “I don’t have any regrets,” Ganaha said. “The slate needs to be wiped clean. I’m not attempting to betray soccer. I’m doing this so other players don’t end up in the same position.” Although Ganaha did not take a banned substance, intravenous treatment is banned by Japan’s domestic league in line with world soccer’s governing body FIFA.
■SOCCER
Leeds points bid fails
English League One side Leeds United have failed in their bid to claim back the 15 points they were deducted by the Football League after an independent tribunal on Thursday upheld the penalty. Leeds officials failed to convince during the three-day hearing that the League acted unfairly when docking the points as punishment for the club’s handling of its bankruptcy last year. The hearing’s decision to rule in the League’s favor means Leeds stay in sixth place in League One and they must now hope to secure promotion via a play-off place. If Leeds had been handed back all 15 points they would have jumped from sixth to second, ousting Doncaster from an automatic promotion spot, while Swansea would not have been assured of the League One title.
■RUGBY UNION
Matfield set for Bulls return
Springbok lock Victor Matfield is to return to play for his former side the Northern Bulls this summer at the end of a one-year contract with French second division side Toulon. Widely regarded as the best second-rower in world rugby, Matfield has agreed to a new three-year contract, the South African side announced on its Web site. Matfield played for the Bulls for four years before trying his hand in France with the ambitious Toulon side, but injury has badly hampered his season.
■OLYMPICS
World champ slams protests
Two-times heptathlon and long jump world champion Eunice Barber of France says she is against any form of protest at this year’s Beijing Olympics. Barber said she disagreed with talk of a boycott of the opening ceremony and French athletes’ use of a badge during last month’s Olympic torch relay to show concern for China’s human rights record. “I am against the boycott, I am against the badge,” Barber told sports daily L’Equipe yesterday. “Boycott is not for the athletes. What we have to boycott are the people signing million of euros in business contracts.” She said athletes wanting to campaign about human rights during the Games were “hypocrites.” “France has no lesson to give to China. There are so many Blacks and Arabs who get burnt up in France and the so-called humanitarians don’t stand up [for them],” she said. “Do you understand these people who call themselves humanitarians and who are violent with those carrying the torch?” she said, referring to Chinese paralympic fencer Jin Jing, who had to shield the Olympic torch from protesters in Paris.
■BASKETBALL
Rodman arrested again
Former professional basketball player Dennis Rodman has been arrested for hitting a woman at a Los Angeles hotel, police said on Thursday. Rodman, 46, a two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, was booked on suspicion of domestic violence. “During the investigation, police found that Rodman struck a woman who suffered injuries to her arms,” Sara Fayden of the Los Angeles Police Department said. Rodman was released early on Thursday morning. Bail was set at US$50,000, and his arraignment was scheduled for May 22. Rodman has had a difficult time coping with a recent divorce, and suffered from substance abuse, his manager Steve Simon told the Los Angeles Times.
■ATHLETICS
Sprinter faces heroin charge
Disgraced sprinter Tim Montgomery has been indicted on heroin distribution charges, the Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported on Thursday. The newspaper reported that Montgomery, 33, was arrested on Wednesday on a sealed indictment that charged him with conspiracy to distribute the drug. The report said Montgomery was accused in the indictment of dealing more than 100g of heroin between last year and this year in Virginia. The newspaper said that federal authorities didn’t publicly announce the arrest, but that Montgomery was in court in Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday and a magistrate judge ordered him jailed pending a bond hearing on Monday.
■FOOTBALL
‘Pacman’ plot thickens
The tale of Adam “Pacman” Jones took another twist on Thursday as a man charged in a triple shooting at a Las Vegas strip club said the NFL player framed him. Arvin Kenti Edwards, who was arrested on April 18 and charged with three counts of attempted murder, told WTVF-TV that Jones ordered the shooting outside the Minxx Gentlemen’s Club that left a man paralyzed. Edwards, 29, is being held on US$1 million bail in Yakima, Washington, while awaiting extradition to Nevada. On the heels of that arrest, Las Vegas police charged that Jones — then with the Tennessee Titans and now with the Dallas Cowboys — paid US$15,000 in “extortion” money to Edwards, who had allegedly threatened the player and his family. Edwards on Thursday said those allegations were false. “I definitely didn’t receive no US$15,000,” Edwards said. “I definitely didn’t extort nobody out of no money.” Edwards said that instead Jones “paid somebody to shoot that club up.”
■BASKETBALL
Durant Rookie of the Year
SuperSonics guard Kevin Durant was announced as the NBA Rookie of the Year on Thursday, becoming the first Seattle player to win the award — and perhaps the last. Durant, the US college player of the year at Texas University and the second selection in last year’s National Basketball Association draft, averaged 20.3 points per game. Durant has been a bright spot during a dismal basketball season in Seattle. The Sonics won only 20 games, and the owner is scheduled to move the team to Oklahoma City for next season. Durant averaged 21.8 points and shot nearly 53 percent in March. He capped his rookie season by averaging 24.3 points in his final eight games. Durant scored the winning points in what could have been the Sonics’ final home game in Seattle, a 99-95 win over Dallas, then followed with a career-best 42 points in the Sonics’ season finale against Golden State.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and