Sun, Sep 05, 2010 page19

• Sport Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■BOXING

  Promoter’s son found dead

  Searchers spotted the dead body of the son of boxing promoter Bob Arum on a mountainside on Friday, five days after they began looking for him, authorities said. The body of John Arum, an experienced mountain climber, was seen from a National Park Service helicopter about 2,350m up the 2,500m Storm King mountain in North Cascades National Park in Washington state, park spokeswoman Kerry Olson said. Previous flights had been made in this area, but recent snow melt made it possible to locate the 49-year-old Seattle environmental attorney’s body on Friday, she said. It wasn’t possible to retrieve the body, but Olson said it was clear to searchers in the helicopter that Arum was dead. “There was no doubt of that,” she said, adding it appeared that Arum had fallen.

  ■FOOTBALL

  NFL cuts player’s suspension

  Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension was cut on Friday from six games to four by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who said the Steelers quarterback has lived up to a vow to “make better decisions.” Roethlisberger was suspended in April for violating the league’s personal conduct policy — the punishment coming after “Big Ben” was accused of sexually assaulting a Georgia college student following a night of drinking in a Georgia bar on March 5. Roethlisberger wasn’t charged, but Goodell decided the situation was serious enough to make him the first player suspended by Goodell under the NFL’s personal conduct policy who was not arrested, charged with or convicted of a crime. In meting out the six-game ban, Goodell said he would review Roethlisberger’s behavior and if he stayed out of trouble and followed league guidelines, he could be reinstated sooner.

  ■ICE HOCKEY

  NHL approves contract

  The NHL has signed off on Ilya Kovalchuk’s latest contract with the New Jersey Devils. Five weeks after rejecting the Russian’s landmark 17-year, US$102 million contract with the Devils, the league approved a revised 15-year, US$100 million deal on Friday after reaching an agreement with the NHL Players Association on an amendment covering long-term contracts. Jay Grossman, Kovalchuk’s agent, confirmed the agreement in an e-mail. The NHL had rejected the Devils’ initial offer because it violated the league’s salary cap. An arbiter upheld that decision after the union filed a grievance. With 338 goals and 304 assists in 642 career games, Kovalchuk was the biggest prize on the NHL free agent market this season.

  ■BASEBALL

  Many players suspended

  Washington outfielder Nyjer Morgan was handed an eight-game suspension for his role in a brawl during a game against Florida along with other recent incidents that provoked the ire of Major League Baseball. MLB officials outlined punishments on Friday for six players, both managers and a coach after reviewing the events that occurred in Wednesday’s Nationals-Marlins game. For the Marlins, pitcher Chris Volstad received a six-game suspension. Pitcher Alex Sanabia was suspended for five games, first baseman Gaby Sanchez for three, and manager Edwin Rodriguez for one game. Pitcher Jose Veras received a fine. Nationals pitcher Doug Slaten was suspended for three games. Manager Jim Riggleman was suspended for two games, and third base coach Pat Listach for three.

  ■CRICKET

  Ponting criticizes revamp

  Captain Ricky Ponting said yesterday he was concerned Australia’s revamped domestic one-day format would hamper the World Cup preparations of players on the fringe of the national team. Ponting said he would have preferred the players to have had more input from Cricket Australia (CA) before the changes were instituted. CA last month announced its domestic one-day games would be split this season into two innings of 20 and 25 overs in a break from the single innings 50-over format. Ponting said he was concerned that the new format would limit preparations for some of the players currently outside the national team ahead of next February’s World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. “We need to be playing as much 50-over cricket as we can with the World Cup just around the corner,” he told reporters in Hobart.

  ■ATHLETICS

  Farah to miss Delhi Games

  Britain’s European 5,000m and 10,000m champion, Mo Farah, withdrew from next month’s Delhi Commonwealth Games on Friday and said he will not race on the track again this year. “I had a great 2010 season and my body is telling me that it is time to take a break from training and racing,” Farah said in a statement. “Over the past few weeks I have been getting a few niggles, nothing serious, but enough to tell me to ease back. I was looking forward to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, but after the success I had this year, I am happy to call it a season.”

  ■ATHLETICS

  Hurdler Priestley suspended

  British hurdler Callum Priestley was on Friday suspended for two years and banned from the Olympics for life after testing positive for the drug clenbuterol, UK Anti-Doping announced. The punishment follows an out-of-competition test conducted on the 21-year-old in South Africa in January. UK Anti-Doping chief executive Andy Parkinson said: “One of the important aspects of the Callum Priestley case is that he was tested off season, out-of-competition and indeed outside of the UK. This is in keeping with UK Anti-Doping’s focus on targeted, out-of-competition testing across all sports in their off-season. This case should act as a warning to all athletes that there is no hiding place from their responsibilities, no matter where they are, or whether they are competing.”

  ■ATHLETICS

  Faulty clock shocks Gatlin

  Former Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin looked understandably stunned after the clock showed he had clocked 9.81 seconds at a meeting in Padua, Italy, on Friday. The 28-year-old American, who returned to action last month after a four-year ban, had predicted he might run under 10 seconds. He had not, though, expected to set the third fastest time of the year. A report on the Italian athletics federation’s Web site said Gatlin’s skepticism was justified when the time was later adjusted to a more realistic 10.15 seconds.

  ■FORMULA ONE

  FIA to probe Massa start

  The world governing body of motor sports has opened an investigation into Ferrari driver Felipe Massa’s start at last weekend’s Formula One Belgian Grand Prix. A FIA spokeswoman said on Friday it was trying to find out how Massa started the race ahead of his designated spot on the grid without the incident being noticed until amateur footage was posted on the Internet. It was unclear whether the Brazilian driver could lose his fourth-place finish.
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