Global sport — Muster, Capriati pull out

Capriati’s place will be filled by an additional player from the qualifying tournament after she pulled out still suffering from a right leg injury incurred at the Italian Open.

Brian Lara fined for late arrival

BRIDGETOWN: West Indies star batsman Brian Lara was fined half his match fee for arriving late in preparation for the first Test against Sri Lanka last week, a local radio station reported yesterday.

Cricket commentator Reds Perreira quoted “reliable sources” as reporting that Lara arrived in Antigua last Thursday, two days after the rest of the team for the Test that started Friday in Antigua.

West Indies cricket board secretary Andrew Sealy would not comment on the report, broadcast on the Voice of Barbados.

Australians are air-travel champs

LONDON: Australia’s status as the unofficial world champions of cricket may be in doubt after their defeat in the first Ashes Test but they remain a class apart when it comes to air-miles.

A survey in the July issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly (WCM) magazine puts the Australians at the top of the first official WCM frequent flyer table with the Aussies having flown 69,204 miles since the start of the 1996-97 season. The survey tracked the movements of all nine Test playing teams since last August, placed India second with 66,471 miles.

THE FREQUENT FLIERS TABLE: 1. Australia 69,204 miles; 2. India 66,471; 3. Pakistan 60,412; 4. Sri Lanka 59,266; 5. West Indies 46,872; 6. New Zealand 38,548; 7. Zimbabwe 30,952; 8. South Africa 30,848; 9. England 28,315

Tiger Woods sues Franklyn Mint

LOS ANGELES: Masters champion Tiger Woods sued the Franklin Mint claiming it is selling his likeness on a medal without his permission. He filed a complaint in US district court against the Pennsylvania-based Mint and its owners.

According to the complaint, Franklin Mint officials approached Woods in February about getting a license to use his likeness on a medal. He refused. Woods’ lawyers say the Franklin Mint stole the young golfer’s likeness and went ahead marketing medals worth $ 37.50 prominently featuring Woods’ name and likeness.

French soccer star’s indecent exposure

PARIS: A State prosecutor today asked a court to give French soccer international Patrice Loko a suspended eight-month sentence on charges of indecent exposure and damaging property.

The 27-year-old Paris-Saint-Germain forward ran amok two years ago, kicking cars outside a Paris nightclub, insulting and spitting at police who arrested him and repeatedly exposing his genitals to a policewoman.

An embarrassed Loko told the Paris court he did not remember anything from what French media called his “crazy night”. “I still cannot understand how this happened. I want to apologise," he said.