Eagleson Will Plead Guilty to Mail Fraud

Former NHL union boss Alan Eagleson, charged in two countries with betraying the players he represented, agreed in Boston on Monday to a plea bargain that will keep him out of a U.S. prison so he can serve at least 18 months in Canada.

Eagleson, 64, is scheduled to plead guilty today to three counts of mail fraud in U.S. District Court.

According to the agreement, Eagleson will be sentenced to probation so that he can return to Toronto, where he has agreed to plead guilty Wednesday to related charges in his homeland.

Eagleson, who had been indicted on 34 charges that included racketeering, embezzlement, fraud and obstruction of justice, has also agreed to a U.S. fine of about $700,000.

Baseball

Toronto Blue Jay catcher Benito Santiago expects to recover in time for next season after a head injury in which his speeding car smashed into a tree.

Santiago is listed in fair condition at Miami’s Broward General Medical Center.

Pitcher Orlando Hernandez, offered asylum in the U.S. along with his wife and catcher Alberto Hernandez after escaping from Cuba, said he would not abandon five others who made the same escape and are detained with him in the Bahamas.

Esteban Loaiza, 11-11 with a 4.13 earned-run average for the Pittsburgh Pirates last season, agreed to a two-year contract with the Pirates worth $1,925,000.

Winter Sports

The U.S. Olympic speedskating trials ended at West Allis, Wis., with races to select three team members for both the women’s 5,000 meters and the men’s 10,000 meters.

Kirstin Holum, Jennifer Rodriguez and Becky Sundstrom made the team in the 5,000.

Making the team in the 10,000 were David Tamburrino, KC Boutiette and Jondon Trevena.

At Bormio, Italy, Ylva Nowen won her fourth consecutive slalom, defeating Germany’s Hilde Gerg and Slovenia’s Spela Pretnar, with rising U.S. slalom star Kristina Koznick sharing fourth with Switzerland’s Karin Roten.

Soccer

Goalkeeper Tony Meola returned to the U.S. national team for the first time in 3 1/2 years, and the Americans announced they will play the Netherlands in Miami on Feb. 21.

International Olympic Committee Vice President Anita DeFrantz was named to the board of directors of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

College Football

One of the NCAA’s most prestigious awards, the Award of Valor, will be presented posthumously next month to Shannon Smith of the University of Hawaii.

During an outing on the island of Kauai in March, Smith died while saving the life of Cody vonAppen, the 6-year-old son of Hawaii Coach Fred vonAppen.

Utah running back Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala intends to forgo his senior year and make himself eligible for the NFL draft, a Salt Lake City television station reported.

Tennis

Wayne Ferreira rallied to defeat Jonathan Stark, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, then teamed with Amanda Coetzer to beat Stark and Chanda Rubin, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, in mixed doubles to give South Africa a 2-1 win over the United States in the Hopman Cup at Perth, Australia.

In Monday’s other match, Spain beat Slovakia, 2-1.

Tim Henman defeated Spain’s Javier Sanchez, 7-5, 6-1, in the first round of the $1-million Qatar Open, the first tournament of the ATP season.

Henman, seeded fifth, next plays Guillaume Raoux of France, who defeated Bohdan Ulirach of the Czech Republic, 7-6, 6-4.

W. Harcourt Woods, a tennis promoter who ran the tournament later known as the U.S. Open and several Davis Cup tournaments during his 40-year career, died at age 85 in Short Hills, N.J.

Miscellany

Kick boxer Redone Bougara, 23, pummeled with four kicks to the head during a weekend middleweight martial arts bout at the Great Western Forum, remained in very critical condition, two days after surgery for bleeding in the brain.

The International Amateur Athletic Federation said it was impossible under its rules to scrap performances from East Germany’s heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, even if athletes admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Jockey Katherine Mayo was recovering after 12 hours of surgery to repair a broken pelvis and separated spine following a horse racing accident last week at Portland, Ore. . . . Mihaly Igloi, an outstanding distance runner who was also a prominent coach in Hungary, the United States and Greece, died in Budapest, Hungary. He was 89.