Global sport

Setback for Salt LakeSalt Lake City: Johnson and Johnson has become the first company to abandon the Olympics in the wake of a bribery sc...

Setback for Salt Lake
Salt Lake City: Johnson and Johnson has become the first company to abandon the Olympics in the wake of a bribery scandal, backing away from an estimated $ 30 million sponsorship deal for the 2002 Winter Games.

Company spokesman John McKeegan said the decision was based on internal disagreements about how to link the company’s many brands under a sponsorship umbrella in time for the Salt Lake City games. But he acknowledged that Olympic corruption also was a factor.

Fowler hurt
London: England striker Robbie Fowler, serving a six-match ban for misconduct, suffered a suspected broken nose after being assaulted at a Liverpool hotel, police has said.

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A 41-year-old man was charged with assaulting the Liverpool player and another man on Sunday and will appear in court in the northern English city on May 25.

Lanka to defend
Colombo: Sri Lanka is to defend the island’s controversial sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe at an international arbitration hearingfollowing allegations of doping, a press report said.

The Amateur Athletic Association is sending its president Ari Kannangara and a lawyer who was a member of a panel that cleared Jayasinghe last year of taking banned steroids, the daily news said.

Morceli injured
Cherchell (Algeria): Algeria’s 1,500 metre Olympic champion Noureddine Morceli suffered minor injuries after a car accident on Sunday. The 29-year-old track star spun out of control on a bend and was taken to hospital near here but according to a medical source was subsequently allowed to return home.