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Sports Briefs

■ BASKETBALL

Rodman admits wife battery

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman pleaded no contest to misdemeanor spousal battery on Tuesday and was ordered to undergo counseling and to perform highway or other physical labor. Two other counts were dismissed under a plea deal, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office said. Rodman was sentenced to a year of domestic violence counseling, three years of probation and 45 days of graffiti removal or road cleanup work for the California Department of Transportation or a similar program in Florida where he lives, city attorney’s spokesman Frank Mateljan said. Rodman was also warned not to intimidate or use force against his girlfriend, Gina Peterson. The 47-year-old Rodman was arrested at a Los Angeles hotel in April after Peterson reported that he struck her during an altercation.



■ OLYMPICS

Shooter axed over cocaine

Bulgaria’s Olympic Committee says shooter Antoaneta Boneva has been dropped from the country’s Olympic team after testing positive for cocaine. A committee statement says Boneva failed the test last month during a competition in Italy. The statement on Tuesday said Boneva would be replaced by another Bulgarian shooter at the Beijing Olympics. The 22-year-old Boneva was to compete in the 25m rapid fire pistol category.



■ ICE HOCKEY

NHL suspends Ducks owner

The National Hockey League (NHL) suspended Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli on Tuesday, a day after he pleaded guilty to lying to stock exchange regulators. Samueli, who pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission, is scheduled to be sentenced by the US Federal District Court on Aug. 18. His status will be reviewed by the league after sentencing. During the suspension, Samueli is not allowed to be involved in club decisions or activities.



■ SWIMMING

Thorpe files court papers

Five-time Olympic champion swimmer Ian Thorpe has started legal proceedings against a French newspaper and journalist he alleges defamed him by publishing claims he used performance-enhancing drugs. A story written by journalist Damien Ressiot and published by the daily sports newspaper L’Equipe in March last year reported that Thorpe gave a sample in 2006 which showed abnormal levels of testosterone and luteinizing hormone. It said the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) knew of the results but chose not to proceed because of a lack of evidence. Thorpe has not decided if he will continue the defamation action and Tuesday’s mention in the New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney was an “issue of intention,” lawyer Tony O’Reilly said.



■ ATHLETICS

Opiates cost Tolossa title

Ambesse Tolossa of Ethiopia was stripped of his 2007 Honolulu Marathon title and suspended from international competition after testing positive for a banned substance, race officials said on Tuesday. The US Anti-Doping Agency said the 30-year-old Tolossa tested positive for an opiate and will be banned from international competition retroactive from May 2 until April 4, 2010. In December, Tolossa won the Honolulu Marathon for the second straight year, holding off five-time winner Jimmy Muindi of Kenya. Muindi, who crossed the line 1:27 later, will be awarded his sixth title and will receive Tolossa’s US$40,000 first-place prize money.

■ SOCCER

Donadoni to be fired

Italy coach Roberto Donadoni is going to be sacked and replaced by reigning World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi, the Italian press reported on Tuesday. The fate of 44-year-old Donadoni would be decided early next week, Ansa news agency reported, following Italy’s elimination from the Euro 2008 quarter-finals by Spain, 4-2 on penalties after the match ended goalless. Italian federation president Giancarlo Abete is expected to meet Donadoni next Monday or Tuesday in Rome. Donadoni’s contract was extended until 2010 just before the tournament. Italy’s 2006 World Cup victory in Germany, with Lippi at the helm, heralded the start of Donadoni’s stint in the post. Donadoni’s record reads 13 victories, five draws and five defeats, with 35 goals scored and 22 conceded.



■ SOCCER

Romance isn’t dead for ref

The Belgian referee for today’s semi-final between Spain and Russia, Frank De Bleeckere, is clearly a romantic. Although his wife Saskia will be watching on television at home she will know she is in his thoughts even during the match. “I think of her at the start of every game. I send a coded message,” Frank explained. “When I know the cameras are on me I pinch an ear and then I scratch my nose. She then knows I am thinking of her.”



■ SOCCER

Spanish fans in bald pledge

Thousands of supporters of the Spanish national team have vowed to shave their heads if their side wins Euro 2008. Spanish sports daily Marca has been urging fans to sign an online petition promising to go bald if Spain win the title and as of Tuesday night just over 10,000 people have made the pledge, the newspaper said on its Web site. “I, an unrepentant lifelong fan, solemnly commit myself before Marca, the fans and the national team, to shave every last hair on my Spanish head if our team wins Euro 2008,” the online pledge reads. “The team needs all the support it can get from its fans,” the newspaper wrote on its Web site.



■ CRICKET

Napier sets world record

Essex all-rounder Graham Napier struck a new Twenty20 world record 16 sixes in an innings on his way to 152 not out as Sussex were thrashed by 128 runs at Chelmsford on Tuesday. Napier’s 58-ball knock, which also featured 10 fours, was a record score for England’s domestic Twenty20 Cup. It was second only to New Zealander Brendon McCullum’s unbeaten 158 in all Twenty20 cricket. The 28-year-old Essex-born Napier’s innings helped his side to 242 for three, a target which proved beyond Sussex who were bowled out for 114. “It was awesome, fantastic,” Napier told Sky Sports. “I just started to see the ball better, middled one or two and then got into a rhythm.”



■ CRICKET

Hundreds attend funeral

Former test cricketers Shane Warne and Australia captain Steve Waugh, and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd were among the mourners at the funeral for Jane McGrath on Wednesday, wife of retired fast bowler Glenn McGrath. The English-born Jane McGrath, 42, died on Sunday after a decade-long battle with breast and other cancers. Glenn McGrath and their children James and Holly were by her side when she died. Several hundred people gathered on Wednesday at the Garrison Church in Sydney’s Rocks district, where the couple married in 1999.