O’Neal Might Not Be Olympian

It appears that Shaquille O’Neal, the superstar center for the Orlando Magic, will not be a member of the next U.S. Olympic basketball team because of a conflict between sponsors.

O’Neal’s refusal to sign a standard player contract has excluded him from a chance to play on the U.S. national team, which will play next summer in Toronto in the World Championships.

Members of the team are required to sign an agreement that allows the NBA and sponsors to market the team. One of the prime sponsors is McDonald’s, a fast-food chain that sells Coca-Cola. O’Neal has an exclusive contract with Pepsi-Cola.

“We’re told that unless we waive our rights, he (O’Neal) can’t be on the team,” Pepsi said Friday in what it called an open letter to its customers. “We’re not going to be a pawn for the NBA’s promotional partners.”

The first 10 players chosen were Derrick Coleman of New Jersey, Joe Dumars of Detroit, Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning of Charlotte, Dominique Wilkins of Atlanta, Tim Hardaway of Golden State, Shawn Kemp of Seattle, Mark Price of Cleveland, Steve Smith from Miami and Dan Majerle of Phoenix. The final two players will be selected in the spring.

The team will compete Aug. 4-14 at Toronto in a 16-team field, for which the United States qualified by winning the Olympic gold medal last summer. Golden State Warrior Coach Don Nelson is the coach.

Chris Webber, top pick in the NBA draft, was released from Henry Ford Hospital on Saturday, three days after undergoing an appendectomy. Webber, who has yet to sign a contract, skipped the start of training camp for the Golden State Warriors.

Tennis

Top-seeded Martina Navratilova moved a step closer toward one of the few titles that have eluded her when she advanced to the European Indoors final at Zurich, Switzerland. She beat Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-4, 6-4. Maleeva’s sister, Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere, won the other semifinal, beating Stephanie Rottier, 6-2, 7-5.

Cedric Pioline and Arnaud Boetsch set up an all-French final by winning semifinal matches at a Grand Prix tournament at Toulouse, France. Pioline beat Andrei Chesnokov of Russia, 6-4, 6-2. Boetsch defeated Christian Bergstroem of Sweden, 6-1, 6-2.

Jaime Yzaga of Peru beat defending champion Goran Ivanisevic, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the final of the Australian Indoor championships at Sydney. The unseeded Yzaga defeated Ivanisevic in only 54 minutes and will play Petr Korda of the Czech Republic. Korda defeated Wayne Ferreira, 6-3, 6-2, in the other semifinal.

The team of Ashok Amritraj and Kathy Lee Crosby won the fifth annual Nancy Reagan Tennis Tournament at Riviera Country Club. Tournament officials estimated that $400,000 had been raised to be used in the campaign against alcohol and drug abuse, bringing the total raised in five years to $4.4 million.

Boxing

World Boxing Council super-middleweight champion Nigel Benn and World Boxing Organization champion Chris Eubank held on to their titles when they fought to a draw at Manchester United’s Old Trafford soccer stadium in Manchester, England. One judge scored it for Benn and another gave it to Eubank while the third had it even. Eubank is 36-0-2; Benn is 37-2-1.

Also on the card, Crisanto Espana knocked down Donovan Boucher three times before the referee stopped the fight in the 10th round. It was Espana’s second defense of his World Boxing Assn. welterweight title.

John John Molina knocked out Bernard Taylor in the eighth round at San Juan, Puerto Rico, to retain his International Boxing Federation junior-lightweight title.

Auto Racing

Mark Martin overcame a mid-race mistake and won another Busch Grand National stock car race, the All Pro Auto Parts 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. It was the sixth victory--and fourth in a row--in 12 Grand National starts this season for Martin, whose full-time ride is on NASCAR’s Winston Cup circuit. Martin, who now has 13 Grand National victories, has won all the Busch races he has finished this season.

Miscellany

Bill Barron, football coach at Odessa High in Texas, has barred the Odessa American from the dressing rooms and practices for what he called “negative coverage” of the fact that players, including both backup quarterbacks, had left the team.

Freedoms Friend, the even-money favorite driven by John Campbell, won the $382,900 Three Diamonds Final for 2-year-old filly pacers by a nose over Hardie Hanover at Garden State Park in Cherry Hill, N.J.

Freedoms Friend, who covered the mile in 1:54 1/5, earned $191,450 and boosted her earnings to $600,412.

Freedoms Friend paid $4.40, $2.80 and $2.40. Hardie Hanover returned $3 and $3.20. Miss Nadia returned $9.

San Jose has been selected as the site of the 1996 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the U.S. Figure Skating Assn. said in Colorado Springs, Colo.