Sat, Aug 04, 2007 page18

• Sports Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ RUGBY UNION

  SRU evicts Edinburgh

  Edinburgh have been kicked out of Murrayfield and told to repay £1.4 million (US$2.8 million) to the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU). Edinburgh ended their operating agreement with the SRU on Thursday, who reacted by immediately withdrawing use of Murrayfield as a venue for matches and training. The SRU also demanded that their advance funding be handed back as a row sparked by Edinburgh's threat to take court action against the SRU over Magners League and Heineken Cup fees turned increasingly bitter. Edinburgh, one of two professional clubs in Scotland, had already withdrawn 12 players from Scotland training for a week last month. A statement from the SRU said: "Scottish Rugby has confirmed today that the operating agreement between Edinburgh Rugby and Scottish Rugby has been terminated by Edinburgh Rugby."

  ■ CRICKET

  Duo spoils Flintoff's return

  Pakistan duo Mushtaq Ahmed and Naved ul-Hasan combined to put Sussex on top of the English county championship on Thursday and spoil Andrew Flintoff's return to duty. Sussex beat Lancashire by 108 runs at Liverpool with Mushtaq Ahmed and Naved ul-Hasan taking four for 71 and three for 10 respectively. Chasing 242 to win, Lancashire were bowled out for just 133 with Flintoff making nine. Earlier, Muttiah Muralitharan took three wickets to finish with eight for the match as Sussex were bowled out for 268 in their second innings. England all-rounder Flintoff is slowly feeling his way back from ankle surgery and is hopeful of returning to the national side in time for the one-day series against India later this month.

  ■ SOCCER

  Becks may debut in Toronto

  David Beckham's much anticipated Major League Soccer debut could still come in Toronto today, a Los Angeles Galaxy spokesman said on Thursday. The former England captain has missed the Galaxy's last three games with a nagging ankle injury since his brief debut appearance for the MLS side in a friendly against Chelsea on July 21. He failed to travel with his new teammates to Texas on Tuesday as they completed their SuperLiga group campaign with a thrilling 6-5 win over FC Dallas, instead remaining in Los Angeles for continued treatment. "David will travel to Toronto with the squad on Friday," the Galaxy spokesman said. "None of the squad trained today, they all stayed inside to work on weights in a regeneration session. The decision on whether he will play against Toronto FC will be made once we arrive there."

  ■ SOCCER

  Alex receives work permit

  Brazil defender Alex has been given the green light to complete his move to Chelsea after being granted a work permit on Thursday. The Premiership club successfully appealed the British Home Office decision to refuse Alex a permit and he will now fly to England to negotiate personal terms and undergo a medical. Alex, who has spent the last three seasons at Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, had returned to Brazil earlier this week after his aborted attempt to enter the country. A Chelsea statement confirmed: "At a hearing today, Alex was granted a work permit. He still has to agree personal terms with Chelsea Football Club and have a medical."

  ■ FOOTBALL

  Player injures spine

  Denver Broncos linebacker Warrick Holdman was hospitalized on Thursday after suffering a spinal cord concussion in practice, the NFL team said. Holdman suffered the injury during a morning workout after appearing to hit the crown of his helmet on another player's helmet, according to multiple reports. A team spokesman said Holdman was transported to hospital, where he was to be kept overnight for observation. "He went numb for about 30 or 40 seconds, but he got his feeling back, which is a good sign," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "But I don't know anything for sure. Normally when someone gets that feeling back, it's usually a positive sign."

  ■ FORMULA ONE

  Team to drop Speed

  Scott Speed will not be returning soon as a Toro Rosso driver in races, but could show up in other places for the team that dropped him earlier this week. "He might still be used for testing," Gerhard Berger, co-owner of the Toro Rosso team, said on Thursday at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The only US driver in F1 since 1993, Speed was dropped this week from racing. There were reports of an altercation with team director Franz Tost after Speed crashed out of the last race, the European Grand Prix on July 22, then criticized the team. "I grabbed him on the arm and said, `Please stop,'" Tost said of a heated discussion with Speed in the pits. He added that the decision to drop Speed had already been made.

  ■ SOCCER

  Drinking claims denied

  Mario Zagallo, Brazil's assistant coach at last year's World Cup, denied claims by the president of the Brazilian soccer federation that some players returned to the hotel drunk during the tournament. "There was nothing like that," Zagallo told the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper. "We never heard anything about it because it never happened. There was no drinking." On Wednesday, CBF president Ricardo Teixeira told Estado that a group of players lacked discipline during the World Cup and some players "arrived between four and six in the morning, drunk." Teixeira did not single out any individuals. "I don't even believe the president said that," Zagallo said. "And why say it now, almost two years after [the World Cup]? For what?"

  ■ FORMULA ONE

  Driver grilled over gorilla

  Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen was grilled by his countrymen at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Thursday about dressing up as a gorilla. Finnish reporters said Ferrari's free-spirited driver and two friends took part in a powerboat race last week in the Finnish harbor city of Hanko while wearing gorilla suits. They then won a prize for the best-dressed crew. Asked about the episode, Raikkonen smiled and said: "Yeah, but was it really me? ... You don't know ... We've got the trophy already. It was just a boat race and we went for fun." Raikkonen, winner of three races already in his first season at Ferrari, is used to such escapades. Earlier in the year, the "Iceman" entered and won a snowmobile race in his homeland under the name of James Hunt, the late British Formula One champion renowned for his wild playboy lifestyle. Ferrari are involved in a bitter row with McLaren, Raikkonen's former team, about leaked information that ended up in the hands of McLaren's suspended chief designer Mike Coughlan.
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