DeBartolo Will Be Fined and Suspended by the NFL

Eddie DeBartolo, exiled owner of the San Francisco 49ers, will pay the NFL a $1-million fine for his part in a Louisiana gambling scandal and will formally be suspended for the 1999 season, NFL sources said Monday.

The announcement will be made today by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

Tagliabue declined Monday to reveal his decision.

But league sources confirmed a report in the San Francisco Chronicle that the league will fine DeBartolo $1 million for his involvement with indicted former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards.

Last year, DeBartolo pleaded guilty to one felony charge of failing to report an alleged extortion attempt by Edwards in connection with DeBartolo’s bid for a riverboat gambling license. The judge imposed $2 million in fines.

DeBartolo and his sister, Denise DeBartolo York, have been at odds for more than a year over control of the team, in part because of Eddie’s debts to the family-held corporation.

Tagliabue said in January that DeBartolo would be suspended for the 1999 season. The league sources said he would make that formal today.

Meanwhile, John York told the San Jose Mercury News that DeBartolo York had no plans to sell the team if Eddie DeBartolo did not regain control.

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Doug Flutie reached agreement on a contract extension that will give the Buffalo Bills two $5-million quarterbacks.

Flutie was expected to sign the four-year, $22-million deal today. The extension will pay the Pro Bowl quarterback $6 million up front.

Flutie’s agent, Jack Mula, who last week called the month-long negotiations “arduous,” said the deal was all but wrapped up over the weekend, when Flutie spoke by telephone with team owner Ralph Wilson and expressed a desire to remain with the Bills.

Rob Johnson, last year’s starter until suffering a rib injury in the fifth game, signed a $25-million contract last off-season. Flutie took over and led the Bills to a 10-6 record and a wild card playoff berth after they started the season 0-3.

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The San Diego Chargers agreed to terms of a trade with the Baltimore Ravens, contingent on quarterback Jim Harbaugh reworking his contract and the Ravens acquiring Scott Mitchell from the Detroit Lions. Reports say the Lions are prepared to trade Mitchell to Baltimore in exchange for the Ravens’ third-round draft choice this spring and a fourth- or fifth-round pick in 2000. . . . The Miami Dolphins signed unrestricted free-agent defensive end Rich Owens to a two-year contract. Terms of the agreement were not released. Owens spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Washington Redskins. . . . Free safety Merton Hanks is close to an agreement with the 49ers that will cut his impact on the team’s salary cap and keep him with the club through 2002, Hanks’ agent said.

Jurisprudence

The NCAA asked a federal judge to delay enforcement of a ruling that would prevent college athletics’ national governing body from using minimum standardized test scores to determine freshman eligibility.

In asking for a stay from U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter in Philadelphia, the NCAA said that immediately taking the eligibility requirements off the books could cause chaos among its 302 Division I schools who would suddenly be without a critical recruiting guideline.

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Vincent P. Basso of Buffalo Grove, Ill., a gambler who put up some of the money and helped pay an Arizona State basketball player Stevin “Hedake” Smith in a point-shaving scheme, pleaded guilty Monday in Phoenix to a charge of conspiracy to commit sports bribery, prosecutors said.

Miscellany

Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and Sweden’s Patrik Sjoland have been extended late invitations to compete in the 1999 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club next month.

The United States will face Finland in the Algarve Cup women’s soccer tournament at Quarteira, Portugal.

Fans wanting to purchase tickets for the 2000 Sydney Olympics will have to wait.

Tickets for the games officially went on sale, but people were only able to request brochures from Cartan Tours Inc., the U.S. Olympic Committee’s official travel agent.

Janice Richard, who had a 159-34 record in six seasons at Xavier, has been named women’s head basketball coach at San Jose State. . . . Doug Swingley, from Lincoln, Mont., crossed ice-covered Norton Bay in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and arrived in Koyuk--about 170 miles from the finish line in Nome--more than nine hours in front of Martin Buser.