Charities Fronted Terror Groups

A mosque established and funded by former basketball star Hakeem Olajuwon gave more than $80,000 to charities the government later determined to be fronts for the terror groups Al Qaeda and Hamas, according to financial records obtained by Associated Press.

Olajuwon said he had not known of any links to terrorism when the donations were made, before the government’s crackdown on the groups, and would not have given the money if he had known.

“There is no way you can go back in time,” Olajuwon said in a telephone interview from Jordan, where he is studying Arabic. “After the fact, now they have the list of organizations that are banned by the government.”

A Treasury Department spokeswoman, Molly Millerwise, declined to discuss Olajuwon’s contributions but said, “In many cases donors are being unwittingly misled by the charities.”

Federal law enforcement officials said they were not investigating Olajuwon.

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Baseball

The Chicago Cubs traded right-handed reliever Kyle Farnsworth and a player to be named to the Detroit Tigers for pitcher Roberto Novoa and two minor leaguers: third baseman Scott Moore and outfielder Bo Flowers.

The Dodgers have hired Steve Shiffman as vice president for ticket sales.

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Tennis

Serena Williams beat Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals at the Open Gaz de France at Paris.

It was Williams’ first match since she won the Australian Open. She joined fourth-seeded Nadia Petrova and No. 7 Silvia Farina Elia in the quarterfinals at the indoor tournament.

Defending champion Andy Roddick defeated Paul Goldstein, 6-3, 6-4, at the SAP Open at San Jose, in Roddick’s first match since the Australian Open. Third-seeded Tommy Haas beat qualifier Frank Dancevic, 6-1, 6-3, and Vincent Spadea also advanced, beating James Blake, 6-3, 6-0.

Third-seeded Guillermo Canas of Argentina was eliminated from the ATP Buenos Aires event, losing in the second round to Alberto Martin, 6-4, 6-3.

Top-seeded Guillermo Coria was upset by qualifier Sebastien De Chaunac, 6-4, 7-5, in the first round of the Open 13 at Marseille, France.

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College Football

Michigan defensive tackle Larry Harrison Jr. was ordered to stand trial at Ann Arbor on four felony charges of indecent exposure and sexual delinquency. The ruling came after three women testified that they saw Harrison exposing himself outside their houses.

An NCAA committee recommended that all schools and conferences be allowed to use a video replay system tested last season in the Big Ten.

The recommendation by the Football Rules Committee will be considered by an oversight panel Feb. 24.

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Miscellany

The men’s giant slalom at the Alpine World Championships at Bormio, Italy, was postponed until today when Italian TV workers went on strike.

Police are investigating threats against Malcolm Glazer and the Manchester United board by a fan group opposing the bid by the Tampa Bay Buccaneer owner to take over the world’s richest soccer team.

The group, Manchester Education Committee, said on its website it would be “ruthless in protecting” the team.

Rick Neuheisel took the stand in the trial of his lawsuit against the NCAA and University of Washington. The former Husky football coach gave jurors a biographical overview during his 45 minutes of testimony. In his suit, Neuheisel contends he was unfairly fired in June 2003.

Cal State Fullerton Athletic Director Brian Quinn will begin a four-year term on the NCAA Division I baseball committee Sept. 1. The committee is responsible for the pairings for the NCAA tournament and supervising the College World Series.