Men’s, Women’s Tournaments to Merge
Two of the biggest men’s and women’s tennis events in Southern California will be combined under a new format next year.
The Newsweek Champions Cup and the Evert Cup will become a 10-day men’s and women’s tournament, to be held at Hyatt Grand Champions resort in Indian Wells March 8-17.
The new format is the creation of Charlie Pasarell, who will be the director of the as-yet unsponsored tournament. Aside from the four Grand Slam events, the only other tournament in which the men and women compete together is the Lipton Championships at Key Biscayne, Fla.
The men’s portion of the 56-player draw tournament will still have a qualifying event, which will begin March 4. The men’s finals are scheduled for March 17. The women will open play on March 8, with the finals on March 16.
Hockey
The Florida Panthers named Doug MacLean, player development director, to succeed Roger Nielson as coach.
Nielson was fired last month after compiling a 53-56-23 record in two seasons.
MacLean, 41, was an assistant coach under Panther General Manager Bryan Murray in Detroit during the 1990-91 season.
The Mighty Ducks signed center Bob Corkum and left wing Todd Krygier to multiyear contacts. No terms were disclosed.
Corkum, 27, who has played in Anaheim the past two seasons, is the team’s all-time leading scorer with 70 points in 120 games.
Krygier, 29, was traded to the Mighty Ducks in February by the Washington Capitals for a fourth-round draft pick. He scored 22 points in 35 games.
Soccer
Diego Maradona, whose worldwide soccer ban for drug abuse expires in September, signed an $8-million, 2 1/2-year contract with his former Argentine club, Boca Juniors.
The 34-year-old soccer star, who led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title, will be eligible to play Sept. 28. He was banned from the 1994 World Cup after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
Antonio Alegre, president of Boca Juniors, plans to ask FIFA, world’s soccer governing body, to reduce the ban to allow Maradona to start the new season in August.
The club also signed Claudio Caniggia, Maradona’s former international teammate, to a $1-million, one-year deal.
English Premier League players Bruce Grobbelaar, John Fashanu and Hans Segers will be charged with conspiracy in connection with match-fixing allegations, police in Southampton, England, said.
Detective Superintendent Peter Long said the three players, along with Malaysian businessman Heng Suan Lim and Fashanu’s girlfriend, Melissa Kassampasi, are accused of receiving or paying money to influence the outcome of matches.
The investigations followed a report last fall in a British tabloid that alleged Southampton goalkeeper Grobbelaar had received $60,000 to allow goals while playing for Liverpool against Newcastle in 1993.
According to the Sun, a betting syndicate, believed to be based in Malaysia, made $4.5 million on the match, won by Newcastle, 3-0.
It was also alleged that Wimbledon goalkeeper Segers allowed goals in Everton’s 3-2 comeback victory at the end of the 1993-94 season. Fashanu, now playing for Aston Villa but a teammate of Segers at the time, was alleged to have given away a penalty in a game against Sheffield United that cost Wimbledon victory.
Friendship Cup ‘95, a tournament featuring professional teams from Armenia, El Salvador, Israel and Mexico, will begin with a doubleheader tonight at the Coliseum.
El Firpo of El Salvador will play Maccabi Haifa of Israel at 6:30, with UNAM of Mexico playing Shirag Kumri of Armenia at 8:30. The losers will meet Thursday at 6:30 p.m., followed by the championship game at 8:30.
FIFA censured the German and Portuguese soccer federations for annulling matches over referee’s decisions and warned that the countries could be banned from the World Cup if they do it again.
College Football
Notre Dame officials announced plans to expand Notre Dame Stadium to 80,990 seats from its current capacity of 59,075 fans by 1997.
The $50-million, 21,915-seat expansion program will also include a new three-level press box, new locker rooms and additional restrooms and concession facilities.
Jurisprudence
Dub Kilgo, manager of the Beloit (Wis.) Snappers, a Milwaukee Brewer minor league team, pleaded innocent to two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct in incidents at a tanning salon in Janesville, Wis.
Kilgo, 42, is accused of exposing himself on two occasions. If convicted on both misdemeanor counts, Kilgo faces a maximum penalty of nine months in jail and $10,000 in fines.
Olympics
The Olympic torch run leading to next year’s Atlanta Games will start in Los Angeles, site of the 1984 and 1932 Games.
The relay is expected to begin on April 27 and is due in Atlanta 84 days later. The Opening Ceremony is scheduled for July 19.
Names in the News
Tennessee promoted assistant Bill Webb to head track coach, replacing Doug Brown, who left Tennessee for Florida. . . . NCAA tennis champions Keri Phebus of UCLA and Sargis Sargsian of Arizona State were named 1995 Tennis magazine-Rolex college players of the year. . . . Eddie Brown, former wide receiver for the University of Miami and the Cincinnati Bengals, was shot in the shoulder in an apparent drive-by shooting outside his home in Hollywood, Fla. The injury is not life-threatening.
