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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Thursday, August 25, 1994
3B
Argentinian star soccer captain banned
The Associated Press
ZURICH, Switzerland — World soccer's governing body banned Argentinian star Diego Maradona from playing nationally or internationally for 15 months because he took a banned stimulant during the World Cup, his lawyer said yesterday.
The FIFA disciplinary panel decided on the further punishment for Maradona's failure of a routine drug test after Argentina's second match of the World Cup against Nigeria on June 25.
- Maradona, 33, captain of the Argentine team, was 'banned June 30 from the World Cup.
A FIFA official confirmed the penalty, to run through Sept. 29, 1995, and said Maradona was also fined $15,400.
"I'm very angry and disappointed," said Maradona's lawyer, Daniel Balotincoff, after the 2
hour, 45 minute closed-door hearing. "He cannot play any football for 15 months."
The panel, whose decision is final, could have banned Maradona for life.
The hearing was called to establish whether Maradona intentionally took the stimulant ephedrine, traces of which were found in Maradona's urine.
"There is no standard penalty," said FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren before the decision was announced. "He could get a fine, a suspension, a ban ... anything is possible."
Herren said there is no doubt about the test itself, and the medical issue is no longer in question. Two analyses undertaken at UCLA confirmed the presence of five ephedrine derivatives in the urine sample.
Maradona was represented at the hearing by Julio
Grondona, president of the Argentine Football Association. His manager, Marcos Franchi, waited outside but wasn't allowed in for the beginning of the meeting, Herren said.
Maradona's case is almost unprecedented in international soccer, which has had few reported cases of doping and has refused to go along with other sports in establishing an automatic two-year suspension for serious first violations.
Grundona and Franchi claim Maradona innocently took the ephedrine cocktail because it was a replacement for a prescribed diet drug he was taking.
Maradona is currently on $40,000 bail pending a judgment on charges he shot at journalists with an air rifle in February. In 1991, he was suspended from international competition for 15 months after a drug test indicated he had taken cocaine.
By Dave Goldberg The Associated Press
Changes in NFL to have little effect
NEW YORK — The two-point conversion is the NFL rule change that is now getting the most attention. But it's likely to have less effect on the sport's attempt to increase touchdowns than several more subtle moves made in the off-season
Despite the fact that two-point conversions were tried after more than a quarter of the touchdowns in the first few weeks of the exhibition season, that percentage is unlikely to hold in the regular season.
More significant will be the change requiring that after a missed field goal, the ball is placed at the spot of the kick rather than the line of scrimmage.
"Strategically, the new rule forced us to go for it," San Diego coach Bobby Ross said after passing up a 46-yard field goal attempt and going for a first down during the an exhibition game with the New York Giants. The gamble resulted in a touchdown three plays later for the Chargers, who last
year had 31 field goals and just 33 touchdowns.
"We'll do that more during the course of the season," Ross says. "I'm not going to back away from that. I think it's a legitimate gamble."
In addition to the new rules on field-goal placement and two-point conversions, other rules are designed to upgrade offenses.
The most arcane rule gives offensive tackles an extra half-step back to line up, giving them a slight break against pass rushers.
One moves kickoffs back, from the 35 to the 30, and lowers the kicking tee from two or three inches to one. That's resulted in field position improving markedly in exhibitions from the 20 or inside to out around the 30 or 35 yard lines.
But the sexiest change involves the two-point conversion, although it
probably will be used only when absolutely necessary — when a team behind by eight or 15 points scores late in a game or gets behind early by a large margin.
In the first two weeks of exhibitions, 35 two-pointers were tried — after 26 percent of the 133 touchdowns. Eleven of the 35 attempts were successful. That percentage is liable to change when the regular season starts — exhibitions are perfect for practicing two-point plays.
"Without question, it will open the door for second-guessing," says Jimmy Johnson, the former Dallas coach taking a hiatus in television. "It will depend on the mind set of the coach, but when somebody scores a touchdown late, if they're in the race, they're going to take the one point and take their chances in overtime."
In an informal survey of coaches taken immediately after the rule was changed, only Tanpa Bay's Sam Wyche said he would consider going for two to win a game in the final minutes, rather than take the game into overtime.
NFL NOTEBOOK:
The All-Time NFL
Offense
Tight ends — Mike Ditka,
Kellen Winslow.
Quarterback back — Sammy Baugh, Otto Graham, Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas.
Running backs — Jim Brown, Marion Motley, Bronko Nagurski, Walter Payton, O.J. Simpson, Steve Van Buren.
Tackles — Roosevelt Brown, Forrest Gregg, Anthony Munoz.
Guards — John Hannah Jim Parker, Gene Upshaw.
Receivers — Lance Alworth, Raymond Berry,
Don Hutson, Jerry Rice.
Centers — Mel Hein, Mike Webster.
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