Times wires
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
soccer
gay fans want separate euro seating
WARSAW, Poland — A group of gay Polish fans has called on the organizers of the 2012 European Championships in Poland and neighboring Ukraine to set aside separate seating for gays and lesbians to protect them from harassment and violence. Other activists criticized the proposal Wednesday, saying it would single out gay fans out and put them at greater risk.
Teczowa Trybuna 2012, or Rainbow Stand 2012, calls itself the first gay fan club for Poland's team. One match venue, Gdansk, Poland, rejected the request, saying it would stigmatize gays.
UEFA champions league: Bayern Munich won 1-0 at Inter Milan in a rematch of last year's final. In the other match on the final day of the second round's first leg, Manchester United was held to a 0-0 tie at Marseille.
MLS: The league is expanding its playoff field this year by two teams, to 10, because of its expansion to 18 teams. The top three teams in each of the two conferences will be joined by the next four with the best point totals.
tennis
Federer, Djokovic reach Dubai quarters
Roger Federer and third-ranked Novak Djokovic reached the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships. Federer defeated Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-4, and Australian Open champion Djokovic defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
more tennis: Qualifier Ryan Sweeting upset third-seed Sam Querrey 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in the second round of the Delray Beach International Championships.
et cetera
autos: NASCAR penalized the team Michael Waltrip drove for in winning the trucks race last weekend at Daytona. It found the spoiler on the Vision Aviation Racing truck had broken over the final laps. Crew chief Doug Howe was fined $25,000 and put on probation until Dec. 31. Owner Billy Ballew was docked 25 points. Waltrip didn't get points for the event.
drugs: Olympic judo champion Tong Wen won her appeal of a two-year ban for a positive clenbuterol test at the 2009 world championships. She blamed it on eating contaminated meat. The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the International Judo Federation suspension, citing a "procedural failure" in the tests. Her defense is the one Tour de France champ Alberto Contador used in avoiding a Spanish cycling federation ban.
Greyhounds: Odd Inspector remained unbeaten and Aerial Battle, Hi Noon Renegade and M's Free Hand also won second-round qualifying races in the $64,000 Sprint Classic at Derby Lane in St. Petersburg.
Speed skating: Spurred by new allegations of corporal punishment and under pressure from the U.S. Olympic Committee, U.S. Speedskating said it would re-open its investigation into a Virginia short-track coach accused of using hockey sticks and other implements to hit skaters. Kim Dong-Sung, an Olympic champion, has denied the allegations.
Don Jensen, Times correspondent; Times wires