A federal judge on Friday denied a request by the NFL Players Association to put the suspensions of five players on hold while the case over the alleged use of a banned substance is being appealed.
However, NFLPA attorney Jeffrey Kessler said it didn’t necessary mean the players will miss any games at the start of this year’s season because there could be action at the appellate court level before the season starts.
Further, he said, US District Judge Paul Magnuson has sent some issues surrounding the suspensions of Minnesota Vikings defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams to the state courts.
A trial date for those claims has been set for the middle of next month.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello declined to comment about the ruling.
POSITIVE
Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, who are unrelated, and three players for the New Orleans Saints tested positive for a banned diuretic last year and were each given four-game suspensions for violating the league’s doping policy.
Those suspensions were delayed while their cases were in federal court, but last week Magnuson threw out most claims by Kevin and Pat Williams and all claims involving the Saints’ Charles Grant and Will Smith, as well as those by Deuce McAllister, who was released by New Orleans after last season but hopes to play for another team during the upcoming season.
Both the NFL and the NFLPA have told the courts they plan to appeal to the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
The union wants the appeals court to reconsider Magnuson’s dismissal of their lawsuit.
‘IRREPARABLE HARM’
Attorneys for the union had argued in court documents that the players would suffer “irreparable harm” if the NFL enforces the suspensions during the appeal process.
The league is appealing the judge’s decision to send some of Kevin and Pat Williams’ claims to state court. Those claims involve Minnesota laws on when and how employers can require employees to submit to drug testing.
They also prohibit Minnesota employers from disciplining employees for using a legal substance offsite during nonworking hours.
In his ruling last week, Magnuson said the NFL’s policy is clear: Players are responsible for what they put in their bodies and inadvertently ingesting a banned substance is not an excuse.
BUMETANIDE
The NFLPA and Kevin and Pat Williams had argued in separate lawsuits that NFL officials knew a weight-loss supplement called StarCaps contained the banned diuretic bumetanide back in 2006, despite the fact that the substance wasn’t listed on the label, and that the league should have notified players and federal regulators.
The NFL bans players from using bumetanide because the substance can be used as a masking agent for steroids.
None of the five players were accused of taking steroids.
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
Stade Rennais, four days after firing coach Habib Beye, stunned Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Friday, snapping the defending champions’ seven-match winning run in French Ligue 1. Second-placed RC Lens could leapfrog the champions and retake top spot last night after press time if they beat Paris FC in the capital. PSG started brightly, with Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue carving openings to no avail. Rennes fired Beye on Monday and promoted his assistant Sebastien Tambouret, and the same players who had lost four games on the bounce seemed transformed. Jordanian forward Mousa al-Tamari bagged the opener, unleashing a fierce strike
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
Manchester City FC halved Arsenal FC’s lead at the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 home defeat of Fulham FC, and Aston Villa FC stayed in the frame with a late 1-0 victory at home to Brighton and Hove Albion FC on Wednesday. Nottingham Forest FC squandered a chance to put some distance between themselves and the bottom three as they drew 0-0 at home to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. Second-from-bottom Burnley FC pulled off a remarkable 3-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace FC to boost their slender survival hopes. City have little margin for error in their pursuit
RSS