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■SOCCER

Zico to manage Uzbek club

Former Brazil great Zico has agreed terms to take over at Uzbek club Bunyodkor, he said on Monday. “There is a verbal agreement with the directors of the club and I am leaving today [Monday] to sign the contract,” Zico said on his Web site. Zico, regarded as one of Brazil’s greatest players, coached Japan at the 2006 World Cup where they were knocked out in the group stage, and took Turkish club Fenerbahce to last season’s Champions League quarter-finals. Bunyodkor signed Brazilian 2002 World Cup winner Rivaldo from AEK Athens last month. Bunyodkor, second in the Uzbek championship, have reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League and host Iran’s Saipa today in the second leg, having drawn 2-2 in the first match.



■CYCLING

Italian falls under truck

Italian Marco Coledan was ruled out of yesterday’s under-23 men’s time trial at the world road championships after skidding in training and falling under a truck. Coledan, who was trying out the route ahead of the first race of the championships in the Italian town of Varese, suffered a knee injury and may require surgery. “I’m sorry for the lad because has been preparing for this race since July,” Italy coach Rosario Fina said on Monday.



■EQUESTRIAN

US team disqualified

The US was disqualified on Monday from its fourth-place finish in the Olympic team dressage event for a positive drug test. The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) said US rider Courtney King’s horse Mythilus tested positive for the banned substance felbinac. The medication is used as an anti-inflammatory pain reliever. King also lost her 13th place in the individual dressage class and received a one-month ban already served since she was suspended during the Beijing Games. King argued before the tribunal that she gained no competitive advantage and, because of the nature and small amount of the substance found, had not mistreated her horse. The FEI classes felbinac as a banned medication, not a doping product. While noting King’s “impeccable record and reputation,” the FEI said she had not explained how the substance entered her horse’s system. The tribunal repeated FEI policy of ensuring that horses compete only when physically fit. “This requires doping and medication rule violations to be strict liability or no fault offenses,” the governing body said. The FEI said it believed neither King “nor anyone on her behalf or related to the USEF had knowingly administered the medication to the horse.”



■CRICKET

Darren Gough bows out

Former England fast bowler Darren Gough’s first-class cricket career came to an end on Monday after he was left out of the Yorkshire squad for their final County Championship match of the season. Gough, 38, was omitted from the 13-man party for their match against Sussex, which could determine the relegation-threatened county’s status. Gough had already announced this would be his final season, after suffering a series of niggling injuries this summer. Following Monday’s announcement, he told the BBC: “I wasn’t disappointed because I picked the team! Some people said I should go for the romantic ending but it’s not about me, it’s about Yorkshire staying up. I really went back to the old times in my first spell against Somerset last week ... That really took it out of me and I was struggling. When I look back I’m glad my last wicket was Justin Langer.” In 58 Tests Gough took 229 wickets at 28.39, placing him ninth in England’s all-time list.


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