IN BRIEF (Page 24)

ATHLETICS

Gatlin to challenge 4-year ban for doping

SALVO, North Carolina: Olympic 100-meters champion Justin Gatlin will challenge his four-year suspension for a positive doping test in 2006, his attorney said on Wednesday.

"We are going to have to continue to fight because Justin has not done anything wrong," John Collins said.

Collins said Gatlin's options included appealing to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) or filing a federal lawsuit.

"We are looking at all of them and may do all or some percentage of them," Collins said.

A three-member arbitration panel suspended the 25-year-old American until May 2010, but left open the possibility of adjusting the sanction.

Under IAAF rules Gatlin has 30 days to file a notice of appeal to CAS.

Collins said he hoped the matter could be resolved in time for Gatlin to compete in June's US Olympic trials for this year's Beijing Olympics.

Gatlin, the 2005 world 100-and 200-meters champion, tested positive for the male sex hormone testosterone at the 2006 Kansas Relays.

Soccer

Holders Sevilla scrape through after late show

MADRID: Late goals from Ernesto Chevanton and Frederic Kanoute gave holders Sevilla a place in the last 16 of the King's Cup on Wednesday with a 4-3 win over third division Denia.

The Andalucians, who were held 1-1 in the first leg, looked to be departing the Cup after they surrendered a two-goal lead to trail 3-2 against their modest opponents with eight minutes left on the clock.

But an 88th-minute strike from Chevanton and a stoppage time penalty from Kanoute earned last season's UEFA Cup winners a place in the next round.

League leaders Real Madrid also left it late to seal their place in the next round, a superbly taken strike by midfielder Guti, earning the Spanish champions a 2-1 win at home to third division Alicante.

Archrivals Barcelona went through despite being held to a 2-2 draw by third division Alcoyano at the Nou Camp.

Cameroon cancels Kenya camp due to poll violence

LONDON: Four-time African champion Cameroon has canceled its pre-Nations Cup training camp in Kenya because of post-election violence in the east African nation, coach Otto Pfister said in Yaounde.

The Indomitable Lions were due to fly to Kenya this week for high-altitude training before heading on to Ghana where the tournament kicks off on January 20.

Announcing a 28-man shortlist for the tournament, the German coach said the 10-day camp will now take place from January 4 in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, "because of the climate of insecurity that reigns" in Kenya.

Pfister said he would name a definitive 23-man squad after the 10-day training session.

Iran appoints Portugal's Jorge as national coach

TEHERAN: Iran appointed Portugal's Artur Jorge as its coach on Wednesday ahead of 2010 World Cup qualifiers starting in February, Iran's official IRNA news agency said.

Iran has been without a coach since the departure of Amir Ghalenoei after it was knocked out of the Asian Cup quarterfinals by South Korea in July last year.

Jorge, 61, has previously been in charge of the Swiss and Portuguese teams and quit as Cameroon coach after its quarterfinal exit at the 2006 African Nations Cup.

Earning his credentials by taking FC Porto to victory in the 1987 European Cup, Jorge has also worked in France, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

(China Daily 01/04/2008 page24)