Court Takes Botha’s IBF Title

Heavyweight champion Francois Botha of South Africa lost his International Boxing Federation belt Wednesday after a federal judge in Newark, N.J., ordered him disqualified because he tested positive for steroid use after his last fight.

The IBF’s failure to remove the champion, who eventually admitted using the banned substance, was an “egregious” violation of its own rules, the judge said.

The decision, unless overturned on appeal, would set up a fight for the vacant title between Michael Moorer and Axel Schulz, who lost to Botha in December.

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NFL players asked the Supreme Court to let athletes file antitrust lawsuits against leagues that impose salaries after reaching a bargaining impasse with players’ unions.

Football

The Maryland Board of Public Works voted to approve financing for a $200-million football stadium in Baltimore for the former Cleveland Browns and a deal for $70.5 million in road and infrastructure improvements around a planned Redskins’ stadium in Prince George’s County.

The Board of Trustees of Magnolia Elementary School District in Anaheim will meet Tuesday to discuss returning Rams Park to its original purpose, a school, now that Seahawk owner Ken Behring has decided to return the team to Seattle to practice.

Wide receiver Don Beebe, 31, a seven-year NFL veteran who played with the Carolina Panthers last season, agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the Green Bay Packers, who will use him as their third receiver. . . . Free-agent defensive lineman Dan Owens, 29, who spent six seasons with the Detroit Lions, has reached agreement on a two-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons. . . . Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti has signed a five-year contract that boosts his annual salary by $95,000 per year, to $270,000.

Drugs

A Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland has denied an appeal by the National Wheelchair Basketball Assn., whose USA Wheelchair Basketball team was ordered to return gold medals won at the 1992 Paralympic Games at Barcelona because David Kiley failed a drug test after using Darvocet, a painkiller.

Tatiana Pozdniakova of Ukraine has been stripped of her Houston Marathon title after a urine test for drugs came back positive for Pseudoephedrine and ephredrine.

Miscellany

The most likely reason two girders collapsed at the Olympic swimming arena in Atlanta were bad welds or insufficient bracing, the building’s general contractor said.

Mark Goodkey, 22, a University of Alberta hockey player, was killed by a slap shot when he was hit in the neck during a game Sunday.

Names in the News

Arizona State named Kevin White as its athletic director. . . . Named to the U.S. team for the world gymnastics championships in Puerto Rico were Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Jaycie Phelps and Kristy Powell on the women’s side and Garry Denk, Chris LaMorte, Steve McCain, Bill Roth, Mark Sohn and Chainey Umphrey on the men’s. . . . Ohio State wrestling Coach Russ Hellickson, a 1976 Olympic silver medalist, had heart surgery Wednesday and probably will remain in the hospital three to five days. . . . Darrell Robinson, a former 400-meter champion who claimed U.S. Olympic track stars in 1988 used steroids, is in a Seattle hospital in serious condition with an undisclosed ailment. . . . FIVB, volleyball’s world governing body, named Team USA’s Terry Liskevych the 1995 women’s coach of the year and Tara Cross-Battle the player of the year.