Slaney Barred From Nationals After USA Track Reverses Itself

The latest saga in the Mary Slaney mystery took another weird turn Wednesday when USA Track & Field suspended her from the national championships but couldn’t tell her attorney why.

Slaney’s attorney, Jim Coleman, said by telephone from Durham, N.C., that a letter he had received from USATF saying she had tested positive for high levels of testosterone was incorrect.

“They haven’t come up with a decision,” he said. “I sent a letter to their lawyer asking what she did. We’ve said all along the evidence was clear that she did not take testosterone.”

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Chris Huffins, who grew up five minutes from Indianapolis, where the USA Track & Field Championships are being held, held the lead after five events of the decathlon with 4,499 points. Kym Carter, a 1992 Olympian, leads the heptathlon after four events with 3,854 points.

Soccer

Marie-George Buffet, France’s new communist sports minister, said she will defend a law that forbids advertising cigarettes or alcohol at sports events, even though U.S.-based Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser, will be a major sponsor at next year’s World Cup in France.

Spanish referee Manuel Diaz Vega was cleared of any wrongdoing in the face of bribery allegations in a World Cup qualifying match between Norway and Switzerland. . . . Nigeria’s star goalie, Joseph Dosu, feared paralyzed after a car crash hours after his team beat Kenya, 3-0, in a World Cup qualifier, is out of danger, doctors at a Lagos hospital said. . . . El Salvador Coach Milovan D’Joric was suspended for two games as punishment for the behavior of violent fans during a World Cup qualifying loss to Mexico last weekend.

Tennis

Pete Sampras, playing his first match on grass this year, defeated Javier Frana of Argentina, 6-3, 6-2, to move into the third round of the Queen’s Club tournament at London. Second-seeded Michael Chang was ousted by Australia’s Scott Draper, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6).

Boris Becker defeated fellow German Hendrik Dreekmann, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals of the Gerry Weber Open at Halle, Germany. . . . French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil made a successful debut at the Carisbo clay-court tournament at Bologna, Italy, breezing past Marcelo Charpentier of Argentina, 6-1, 6-3. . . . Lisa Raymond rallied past British wild card Samantha Smith, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, to advance to the third round of the DFS Classic at Birmingham, England.

Pro Football

Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones expressed confidence that receiver Michael Irvin, who announced last week he was evaluating his future in football, will be at training camp. “We expect Michael to be a part of this football team,” Jones said.

The Washington Redskins signed wide receiver Alvin Harper, a free-agent bust with Tampa Bay,to a three-year deal that could pay him $3.5 million. . . . A massive advertising blitz appears to be persuading voters to support billionaire Paul Allen’s plan to build a publicly financed football stadium in downtown Seattle. In a poll published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer less than a week before Tuesday’s special election, 48% of likely voters supported the project.

Miscellany

A reputed gambler linked to Fresno State’s basketball point-shaving investigation placed bets both locally and through a Costa Rica-based operation, the Fresno Bee reported. Krikor Vartanian placed between $5,000 and $20,000 in bets on at least five games near the end of last season, the newspaper said.

The U.S. Auto Club will meet today with Indy Racing League teams in a bid to quell the controversy over the disputed finish of the True Value 500K on Saturday night at Fort Worth.

Norman Cleaveland, who won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the 1924 U.S. rugby team, has died at 96. . . . Thornton Lee, 90, a left-hander who pitched 16 years in the major leagues, died of complications related to Parkinson’s disease. . . . Edward Nathanson, 72, a sports director and producer for NBC, died from complications related to lung cancer.