Court Overturns Drug Conviction of Cyclist Pantani

Cycling star Marco Pantani’s conviction on charges he used drugs during a race was overturned Tuesday by an appeals court in Bologna, Italy.

The court did not explain its decision.

The charges against Pantani, the 1998 winner of the Tour de France, stemmed from the 1995 Milan-Turin race when his red-blood cell count tested at nearly 60% above normal.

A high red blood cell count can indicate use of EPO, a growth hormone. Defense lawyers attributed the red-blood cell surge to dehydration.

Pantani received a three-month suspended prison sentence in December and was fined $552. He has denied any wrongdoing.

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Sprinter Jon Drummond, a gold medalist in the 400-meter relay at the 2000 Olympics, was arrested Tuesday while leaving a Westchester house carrying a bag of marijuana, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said.

Drummond, 33, of Culver City, was booked on suspicion of transportation of a controlled substance. Bail was set at $20,000.

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The Indiana Court of Appeals has decided not to rule directly on whether Indiana University officials improperly fired Bob Knight as men’s basketball coach.

The 3-1 decision, announced Monday, means the lawsuit brought by a group of Indiana fans could go to trial.

A group of 46 Indiana basketball fans sued the school in April in Monroe Circuit Court, saying school President Myles Brand broke the state’s Open Door Law by holding two secret meetings with four university trustees the day before Knight was fired in September.

College Athletics

The NCAA Management Council recommended tightening requirements for membership in Division I-A football and delaying new limits on the number of initial scholarships in men’s basketball.

The football proposal would require Division I-A schools to award at least 90% of the 85-scholarship limit in football and 200 scholarships in all sports, and field at least 16 varsity sports, with a minimum of eight women’s sports.

It also would require the schools to play at least five Division I-A football games at home, and have an average football attendance of at least 15,000.

The council recommended a delay of the so-called “5/8 Rule” in men’s basketball, which would allow a school to award no more than five scholarships in one year and no more than eight in a two-year period.

Tennis

U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt withdrew from the Stockholm Open, citing a back injury.

The top-seeded Australian, who was scheduled to play his first match today against David Sanchez, could be fined $50,000, an ATP official said.

Second-seeded Tim Henman overcame a slow start and defeated Anthony Dupuis, 6-4, 6-1, in the first round of the Swiss Indoors at Basel.

The arena was closed for more than hour before play began after guards discovered a letter feared to contain anthrax. The substance turned out to be cocaine.

Russia’s Anna Kournikova ended a five-match losing streak, defeating Jana Kandarr of Germany, 6-2, 7-5, in the first round of the SEAT Open at Luxembourg.

It was Kournikova’s first victory since returning last month from a stress fracture of her left foot.

Ai Sugiyama defeated local favorite Barbara Schett, 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3, ranked 20th in the world, in the first round of the Generali Ladies tournament at Linz, Austria.

Soccer

Former German national team captain Juergen Klinsmann will play for D.C. United in a Nov. 3 exhibition match against the New York-New Jersey MetroStars at Washington to raise money for victims of the terrorist attacks. ... Rebecca Hidalgo scored twice in the second half to help Pasadena City College end visiting Long Beach’s 35-game winning streak, 3-2. Long Beach, the defending state champion, came into the game ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 2 in the nation.

Miscellany

Hut Stricklin was let go from his ride in the No. 90 Ford, with Rick Mast getting the nod to drive this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.

Car owner Junie Donlavey said it was the only way he could save his team past the end of the season.

The car’s sponsor, Hills Bros. Coffee, is leaving at the end of the season and presumably going with Stricklin to whatever new ride he takes.

Bill Christine, who has written about horse racing for the last 20 years at The Times, has won a national feature writing award named for former sportswriter Red Smith. Christine’s award was for a story on Frank Stroner, a 90-year-old, Chicago-area racing fan, who reminisced about sneaking into the 1931 Kentucky Derby.