NEWSWIRE

Soccer

Forward Debbie Keller, who claimed she was excluded from the U.S. women’s national team in retaliation for a sexual harassment lawsuit, lost her case against the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Arbitrators Mark Crane, Dan Burns and Herbert Channick delivered the decision orally, USSF general counsel John Collins said. “There was no finding of retaliation by the federation . . . ,” Collins said.

Keller, a two-time national player of the year, filed the $12-million suit last Aug. 25, claiming that Anson Dorrance, her coach at North Carolina, had made uninvited sexual advances and harassed her during and after her college career. That suit is awaiting trial.

A forward who played for the Tar Heels from 1993-96, Keller also named the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, school and athletic administrators and women’s assistant coaches as defendants in the suit, which is awaiting trial. Dorrance, the only women’s soccer coach North Carolina has ever had, is the former coach of the U.S. women’s team.

Keller argued that she was bypassed for the 26-player residency camp for the U.S. women’s team in retaliation for the suit.

Former Brazilian World Cup star Bebeto might be headed to Major League Soccer’s New York-New Jersey MetroStars, his agent said.

Leo Rabello said the 35-year-old forward wants a two-year contract and wants to join the team in July.

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Hein Verbruggen, the head of the International Cycling Union, was questioned by investigators in Lille, France, about examining the use of banned drugs by Tour de France riders. He testified spoke at a hearing in connection with the scandal that broke just before last year’s cycling showcase.