Kadafi Declines New Drug Test
The Italian club Perugia revealed Monday that Saadi Kadafi, the soccer-playing son of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, has declined to take a second drug test after failing the first last month.
The younger Kadafi, who was signed for $690,000 in June in what many viewed as a publicity stunt by Luciano Gaucci, Perugia’s president, has not yet played a game for the Serie A club.
He tested positive for a performance-enhancing steroid after being randomly selected off the substitute’s bench after a Perugia match in October. At the time, the club said Kadafi, 30, probably tested positive because of medicine he took to cure a back problem.
On Monday, it reiterated that stance.
“The player and the club believe that an error was made and a medication that the player was taking accounted for the [initial] positive result,” Perugia spokesman Paolo Giovagnoni said.
Kadafi, who is vice president of the Libyan soccer federation that wants to stage the 2010 World Cup, has been under suspension since the first test results were revealed and faces a worldwide ban of up to two years.
In commenting on the case recently, Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport said it had come up with two reasons why Kadafi might have tested positive.
“The first -- comforting -- is linked to Saadi’s bad company, such as his former trainer [once-banned Olympic sprinter] Ben Johnson,” the newspaper said.
“The second -- appalling -- is the prospect that doping practices have become so normal in soccer that even reserves take part.”
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Owen Pledges Loyalty
England striker Michael Owen has dismissed reports that he would leave Liverpool once his contract ends in 18 months.
“I want every supporter to know that I am as committed to Liverpool as any player at the club,” he told the News of the World. “I have been the same ever since I first came to Anfield as an 11-year-old.
“I believe my ambitions can be fulfilled at Liverpool. I find it a little insulting that, after 12 years’ service, my loyalty is being questioned.”
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Campos Resurfaces
Mexico Coach Ricardo Lavolpe has promised former Galaxy and Chicago Fire goalkeeper Jorge Campos that he will get some playing time when CONCACAF champion Mexico ends it year with a match against Iceland at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco on Wednesday.
“I hope it comes at forward because I have always dreamed of scoring a goal for the national team and hopefully I will have that chance,” Campos, 37, said on the Bay Area radio program “Deportes with Carlos Rivera.”
Campos will be honored at the match for his 114 appearances for the national team.
“It is a great gesture, but this is not my farewell match because I am not retiring as a player,” he said. “I hope to play until the age of 40 or 41.”
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Quick Passes
Dutch international winger Andy van der Meyde collapsed during a radio interview Monday and fell onto a set of speakers, injuring his head. The incident was blamed on low blood pressure caused by a lack of salt in his system. Van der Meyde recovered later but remains doubtful for Wednesday’s Euro 2004 qualifying decider against Scotland in Amsterdam.... UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, said it would view video of the Saturday incident in which Wales winger Ryan Giggs allegedly threw an elbow into the face of Russian defender Vadim Yevseyev before deciding whether to ban Giggs from playing for Wales in the Euro 2004 qualifying decider against Russia in Cardiff on Wednesday.... Two goals by Luis Gabriel Rey gave Atlante a 2-0 Mexican league victory over Queretaro on Sunday and clinched the team a place in the playoffs. Earlier, UNL, UNAM and Pachuca secured places in the quarterfinals, and four more teams will earn berths in the final round of play this weekend.
Times wire services contributed to this report.
