Ferrari’s Formula One Appeal Expected to Be Decided Today

The fate of the 1999 Formula One championship will be decided today by a five-man panel in Paris.

The international racing federation panel is expected to rule on Ferrari’s appeal of its controversial disqualification from Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Auto racing’s governing body is keeping the identities of the panel confidential until Saturday, when its decision will be announced.

The odds are against the Italian team. Twelve of 15 appeals to the federations’s International Court of Appeal over the past 25 years have been thrown out.

Ferraris driven by Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher finished first and second in Malaysia but were disqualified because their wind deflectors didn’t comply with federation regulations.

The decision gave victory--and the 1999 Formula One championship--to Mika Hakkinen of McLaren, who finished third in the race.

A victory for Irvine would have given the Brit a four-point lead into the final race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix Oct. 31.

Tennis

Australian Pat Rafter will have surgery on his right rotator cuff and will miss the Davis Cup final against France on Dec. 3-5, but he hopes to be ready for the Australian Open in January.

Davis Cup captain John Newcombe will now turn to youngster Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis, coming back from knee and ankle problems, for the Cup final.

Eighth-seeded Vince Spadea defeated Jim Courier, 6-4, 6-4, to move into the quarterfinals of the $750,000 Lyon Grand Prix in France.

Also moving into the quarterfinals were top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, a 7-5, 7-5 winner over Magnus Larsson of Sweden, and Jeff Tarango, who beat Nicolas Escude of France, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1.

Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France ousted Barbara Rittner of Germany, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to the quarterfinals of the $112,500 Eurotel Slovak Indoor tennis tournament at Bratislava, Slovakia.

Fourth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France struggled to beat Tatjana Panova of Russia, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, in the $1-million Kremlin Cup at Moscow. American Lisa Raymond beat Nadejda Petrova of Russia, 6-2, 6-2.

Yachting

Italy’s Prada scored a dramatic victory over San Francisco’s AmericaOne today when two of the biggest guns went head to head for the first time in the challenger series for the America’s Cup off Auckland, New Zealand.

AmericaOne skipper Paul Cayard looked to have held off Prada when, with a few hundred yards to go, its giant green spinnaker collapsed into the water. Prada powered past and won the race by 17 seconds.

Olympics

In the wake of continuing public outrage that many of the best seats at the most popular events were not included in the public offer, the board of the Sydney Organizing Committee for the 2000 Olympic Games voted to reveal exactly how many of the total of 9.6 million tickets were set aside for sale to wealthy groups and individuals.

Organizers hope to raise about $65 million from selling 325,000 of the tickets at prices inflated by up to 300%.

SOCOG will publish detailed figures Monday showing which and how many tickets were made available to the public for a range of key sessions, including opening and closing ceremonies, swimming and track and field finals.

Miscellany

Anne Donovan, a three-time Olympian and member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, was hired as interim coach of Indiana’s WNBA expansion team while Nell Fortner fulfills her obligation with the U.S. national team through the 2000 Olympic Games. Donovan will then become Fortner’s top assistant.

Arnaud Tournant earned his second gold medal at the world track cycling championship as France beat surprising Britain in the final to claim the men’s Olympic sprint title at Berlin.

Penn State wrestlers Nathaniel Parker, 20, and Jean Celestin, 20, were charged with rape and related offenses in the alleged assault of an 18-year-old woman in August.

Prince Naseem Hamed, the World Boxing Organization featherweight champion, will face World Boxing Council titleholder Cesar Soto in a unification match tonight at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

Former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali settled a $3-million lawsuit against his former attorney and former manager over control of his life story.

The opening of the civic arena in Little Rock, Ark., was further delayed after more problems were found with beams that support the $80-million building’s upper deck.