■ Baseball
Steroid penalties imposed
Major League Baseball will begin penalizing players for steroid use next season after learning that more than 5 percent of this year's tests came back positive. Suspicions of steroid use had run high recently as bulked-up sluggers set all sorts of home run records. Stars such as Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa denied taking the drugs. But on Thursday, the results came back and proved what many in MLB assumed -- and what former MVPs Jose Canseco and Ken Caminiti already had admitted: Some players were taking more than vitamins. "Hopefully, this will, over time, allow us to completely eradicate the use of performance enhancement substances in baseball," commissioner Bud Selig said. MLB said of 1,438 anonymous tests this season, between 5 and 7 percent were positive.
■ Olympics
Extradition moves forward
A court ruled on Thursday that the son of a high-ranking South Korean IOC member being held in a Bulgarian prison would be released and placed under house arrest as he awaits extradition to the US on charges related to the Salt Lake City Olympic bribery scandal. Judge Keti Markova annulled a lower court decision to hold the suspect, John Kim, in police custody, arguing that the charges brought against him were not serious enough to merit keeping him detained.
Markova ordered that Kim be placed under "the softer form of detention, namely -- house arrest." She acted on an appeal by Kim, who has protested being held in prison since his arrest last May. The South Korean embassy submitted written guarantees that he will not try to flee if released from prison. The US wants Kim extradited on charges of fraud and document forgery allegedly committed from 1995-1999 in New York.
■ Soccer
Ferdinand denies charge
England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand formally denied misconduct charges filed against him by the English Football Association over a missed drug test. Ferdinand waited until Thursday's deadline to respond and, as expected, requested a personal hearing on the charges. If found guilty of a serious doping offense, he faces a ban ranging from several months to a maximum of two years. "Rio Ferdinand has responded to the charge issued on Oct. 29," the English FA said in a statement. "He has denied the charge and requested a personal hearing. A date for the hearing will be scheduled in due course." Ferdinand missed a random drug test at Manchester United's training ground on Sept. 23. He said he simply "forgot" about the test. The FA charged him with "failure or refusal to submit" to the test.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
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