Jail Given in Beating of Officer
More than five years after he was involved in a brutal attack on a French police officer during the 1998 World Cup, Daniel Kohl, 28, of Germany was sentenced to three years and four months in jail Monday by a court in Bochum, Germany.
Kohl was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm to gendarme Daniel Nivel, who was accosted by a group of men who ran riot after a match in Lens, France.
The beating left Nivel in a coma for several weeks, blind in one eye and with brain damage that still causes him difficulty in moving and speaking.
Five other German men earlier were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 3 1/2 to 10 years for their part in the hooliganism.
Athens Olympics
The men’s gold medal match of the 2004 Olympic Games will kick off at 10 a.m. on Aug. 28, 2004, two hours earlier than originally scheduled, FIFA and the International Olympic Committee decided Monday, to avoid the game being played in the heat of the day at Athens Olympic Stadium.
World soccer’s ruling body and the IOC also arranged the women’s schedule to allow men’s and women’s matches to be played as doubleheaders. The women’s gold medal match will remain at 9 p.m. on Aug. 26.
Beckham Settles In
David Beckham’s new Real Madrid teammates are gradually coming to terms with the fact that changes are in store now that the famous No. 23 is playing for the Spanish champions.
World Cup winner Roberto Carlos, for instance, has said he and Beckham will share the free kicks.
“Beckham is going to take the free kicks closer to the goal and I’m going to take them a little bit farther out,” the Brazilian defender told Reuters in Kunming, China, over the weekend. “He is the most skillful free-kick taker in the world.”
Meanwhile, Portuguese international Luis Figo said Monday in the same city that he has no argument over yielding his customary right wing position to Beckham and playing on the left wing instead.
“There’s no problem,” Figo told Spain’s Efe news agency. “If I play on the left it will be because I have to adapt to the team’s needs.
“The position isn’t strange because I have played on the left with Portugal. What’s important is the team,” Figo said.
The first game on Real Madrid’s Asian tour is Saturday in Beijing. The club also announced Monday that it will play Thailand’s national team in Bangkok on Aug. 10.
Quick Passes
Hamburg claimed the first trophy of the new European season on Monday when it defeated Borussia Dortmund, 4-2, in Mainz, Germany, to win the German League Cup.... Lithuanian champion FBK Kaunas will go ahead with its European Champions League qualifying match against Celtic on Wednesday despite the death of its 28-year-old striker, Audrius Slekys, in a car accident Sunday.... FIFA has given Iraq’s soccer federation a grant of $400,000 to build new headquarters in Baghdad.... Portuguese international midfielder Sergio Conceicao, 28, has become a free agent after negotiating a deal with Inter Milan to have the final two years of his contract canceled.... World Cup-winning midfielder Kleberson, 24, of Brazil was denied a work permit by the English government and will not be able to join Manchester United unless the team wins an appeal of the decision.... Celtic forward Chris Sutton will miss the team’s Scottish season opener after being given a one-match ban for accusing Dunfermline Athletic of “lying down” in a 6-1 loss to Rangers in last season’s final match, a result that allowed Rangers to win the title on goal difference over Celtic.... Atletico Madrid acquired Argentine central defender Matias Lequi on loan from River Plate.
Times wire services contributed to this report.
