Sports briefs for September 23, 2004

Thursday, Sept. 23, 2004 | 10:31 a.m.

Players could get fifth year of eligibility contract for 2006

NCAA football players could have five seasons of eligibility and would be allowed to transfer once without penalty if two new proposals are approved next year.

The NCAA's Championships/Competition Cabinet forwarded both measures for consideration during a 2-day meeting that ended Wednesday in Indianapolis. The committee also approved a proposal that would permit Division I-A schools to again add a 12th football game starting in 2006.

"We didn't have a significant discussion about it because the football issues committee said athletes wanted to play," said Linda Bruno, the committee chairwoman and commissioner of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

If passed by the Board of Directors, schools would receive an annual exemption for one game. Schools were awarded those exemptions each of the past two seasons. They were not available to most schools this year.

Bruno said that proposal had the full support of her committee.

The cabinet also sent along legislation that would give football players one extra season to compete instead of the four they are now permitted,

Final votes on the measures cannot occur before April.

Another La Salle charge

A third La Salle basketball player, 22-year-old Dzaflo Larkai, has been charged with rape over an alleged 2003 sexual encounter with a female player from the school that was reported to coaches at the time but not to police. Larkai surrenderded to Philadelphia police.

No strike in Japan

Japanese players averted a second strike this weekend after agreeing that a new team will be allowed to join Japanese professional baseball next season. The players agreed today not to stage a strike this weekend after representatives of Japan's professional teams softened their stance on the entry of new teams into Japan's pro leagues.

Hamilton suspended

Olympic cycling champion Tyler Hamilton was suspended by his pro team, which threatened to fire him if he can't prove he's innocent of blood doping. Hamilton could lose his time-trial gold medal from the Athens Games if backup tests confirm results from earlier tests at the Olympics and the Spanish Vuelta showing another person's blood in his system.

Wizards are champs

Igor Simutenkov scored on a free kick five minutes into the first overtime period, leading the Kansas City Wizards to a 1-0 victory against the Chicago Fire at Kansas City in the championship match of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.