■ BASKETBALL
Racism probe dropped
The head of Lithuania’s basketball federation has no case to answer over a racist outburst against two black Americans who play for a top club in the Baltic state, prosecutors said on Monday. The Lithuania prosecutor general’s office announced that after a probe, launched on Oct. 29, it had concluded that there was no criminal element in Vladas Garastas’ comments. Garastas found himself under investigation following a complaint by a local human rights group for alleged public instigation of hatred, an offense that carries up to two years in prison. In an interview published last month in a Lithuanian newspaper, Garastas had lashed out at two US players from his old team Kaunas Zalgiris, center Loren Woods and guard Willie M. Deane III. “I’d fire that nigger who plays for Zalgiris right away,” Garastas was quoted as saying, without saying which man he meant. “The next generation [of Lithuanian players] isn’t being groomed. All they have playing are some black assholes,” he said. Prosecutors said they had determined that Garastas’ interviewer had failed to warn him that the conversation was being taped and was for public consumption. He therefore may have been mistaken in believing that he was simply being asked for his private opinion, they ruled.
■SOCCER
Player fractures skull
Barnsley striker Iain Hume is being treated for a fractured skull and the Tykes have accused Sheffield United captain Chris Morgan of elbowing him in the face. The Canadian international went off the field after the incident in Barnsley’s 2-1 loss at Oakwell Stadium on Saturday and the League Championship club reported he was taken to the hospital’s high dependency unit when his condition deteriorated. “He got caught in the face with an elbow,” Barnsley manager Simon Davey said. “He couldn’t move his neck. His neck was stiff and his cheekbone’s not in the same shape it was when he started the game.” Davey said that Morgan should have been sent off. “Iain received no protection whatsoever from the referee on Saturday ... it sickens me just thinking about it,” Davey said. “He could have died.”
■CRICKET
Former ref to make history
Martin Bodenham will make a little bit of officiating history next year when he becomes the first former top-flight soccer referee to also stand in county cricket as a full first-class umpire. Bodenham’s name was among a list of full-time professional umpires unveiled on Monday. “I am absolutely delighted to be on the full list,” Bodenham said. “I began playing cricket when I was around 10 or 11 years old and love the game. When I retired as a football referee 10 years ago I took up umpiring ... Cricket is and always has been my major sporting passion.”
■HOCKEY
Capitals defeat Lightning
Tom Poti, Mike Green and Eric Fehr scored in the first period and Alex Ovechkin added his first goal in 10 games as the Washington Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Monday. Gary Roberts had two goals for Tampa Bay. At New York, Ales Hemsky scored the only goal in the shootout and goalie Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers made 40 saves for Edmonton, in a victory over the Rangers. Hemsky’s shot in the second round was blocked but not enough to keep it out of the net. The Rangers erased a 2-0 deficit on goals by Paul Mara and Chris Drury. The tying tally came 46 seconds into the third period when Drury got to a rebound of a shot and popped it over Drouin-Deslauriers, 20 seconds after New York’s power play expired.
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