Olympic Doping Issue Is Resolved

Soccer no longer faces the threat of being tossed out of the Athens Olympics after FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, reached an accord Friday with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over the sanctioning of athletes who fail drug tests.

Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee president, Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, FIFA’s president, and Dick Pound, WADA’s chairman, signed a cooperation agreement in Paris under which soccer will be free to impose its own sanctions on a case by case basis, with WADA retaining the right to appeal if it believes the penalties handed out are too lenient.

On another matter, FIFA pardoned Cameroon and lifted the six-point penalty it had imposed on the team for ignoring FIFA rules on uniforms during the African Nations Cup.

FIFA had docked Cameroon six points from World Cup 2006 qualifying even before the beginning of play, a move that would have hurt Cameroon’s chances of reaching Germany ’06. Cameroon still must pay the $157,100 fine that FIFA also imposed.

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First came the rich professional contract, now the high school diploma. And Freddy Adu is still only 14.

The D.C. United forward graduated Friday from the Edison Academy in Bradenton, Fla., putting on a cap and gown for a ceremony that was witnessed by his family.

Adu completed his studies in March through an accelerated program associated with Bradenton’s IMG Academy, where he lived for two years while training with U.S. national youth teams.