IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Motor sports

Massa back in driver's seat

SAO PAULO: Brazilian Felipe Massa made a second sortie in a kart on Tuesday after Monday's rain-truncated first stint in a racing car since his life-threatening head injury at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Massa, who had to stop after seven laps on Monday, had a busier session in three different karts on Tuesday at the Granja Viana track near Sao Paulo where he went with his brother Eduardo.

Wearing extra protection above his left eye where he was hit by flying debris in Budapest in July, Massa made a series of maneuvers and looked well and comfortable at the wheel, completing numerous laps.

A source close to the Ferrari driver said earlier on Tuesday that Massa was accompanied by his doctor, Dino Altmann, on Monday.

Altmann told Massa to avoid driving for more than an hour to avoid back pain but light rain that became steadily worse prevented him from doing more than seven laps.

Nfl

Rams' Vobora suspended

NEW YORK: St. Louis Rams linebacker David Vobora has been suspended for four games after testing positive for a banned substance.

The NFL said Vobora had violated the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances, but provided no other details on Tuesday.

Vobora's agent, Marc Lillibridge, said on NFL.com that his client had failed a doping test after taking a supplement tainted with the banned substance.

Lillibridge said Vobora was planning to sue the company that made the supplement and that a toxicology report showed the product had been tainted.

It was unclear what the substance was and when Vobora failed the doping test. The NFL was not available to provide comment.

Soccer

Former AEK owner faces jail

ATHENS: Former AEK Athens owner Makis Psomiadis was sentenced to four years in jail by an Athens court on Tuesday for fraud.

Psomiadis, a current shareholder in rival Greek Super League (top division) club Nea Kavala where his son is chairman, and two of his cousins were given four-year jail sentences for defrauding 11 million euros ($16.03 million) from AEK's accounts.

The court ruled that Psomiadis, a former tabloid newspaper and nightclub owner, had recorded several invoices in AEK's accounts for construction work at their training ground between July 2001 and Jan 2003, which was never carried out.

The court also said that Psomiadis's sentence is not suspended and cannot be bought out. However, he has not been jailed and is free while considering an appeal to another court.

Robinho out for 2 more weeks

LONDON: Brazilian striker Robinho will not be fit to return to the Manchester City side for at least another two weeks, manager Mark Hughes said on Tuesday.

Robinho, who joined City for a British transfer record fee of 32.5 million pounds ($51.81 million) just more than a year ago, suffered a stress fracture in his right ankle when he played for Brazil against Argentina in a World Cup qualifier on Sept 5.

He has missed four City matches since then, including the 3-1 Premier League win over West Ham on Monday.

"His foot is still in plaster and he is not training, just doing work in the gym," Hughes said on Tuesday.

"I imagine it will be another two to three weeks before he is fit again."

Cricket

NZ reach Trophy semis

JOHANNESBURG: New Zealand shrugged off an injury crisis to defeat England by four wickets at the Wanderers on Tuesday and reach the Champions Trophy semifinals.

The victory completed a stirring Group B comeback by the Black Caps, who also overcame Sri Lanka after tamely surrendering to hosts South Africa in their opening match.

Bowlers Grant Elliott and Shane Bond inflicted most damage after the Kiwis won the toss and an England team that had amassed 323 against South Africa just 48 hours earlier as bundled out for 146 in 43.1 overs.

New Zealand openers Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill made a whirlwind start in pursuit of the total, garnering 66 from 60 balls, and the 147-run target was reached for the loss of six wickets after 27.1 overs.

(China Daily 10/01/2009 page11)