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SPORTS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2013 Barca’s Xavi, Tello injured IOC re-testing 2006 Tough for rookie QBs MADRID: Barcelona’s injury woes deepened yesterday when tests showed that Torino dope samples BEIJING: Highly-paid rookie quarterbacks are under increasing pressure to make an instant Spain playmaker Xavi had a muscle strain and winger Cristian Tello suffered impact in the NFL, former San Francisco 49ers great Joe Montana said. knee ligament damage in training. BERLIN: Samples stored from the 2006 Torino winter Olympics are “There’s more pressure because they’re making a lot more money. When you get paid all Both players were in doubt for Saturday’s La Liga game at home to Granada, being retested by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the that money they want you to start right away,” he told Reuters during a promotional event for the Spanish champions said on their website (www.fcbarcelona.com). eight-year statute of limitations runs out next year, an official said yes- NFL China in Beijing. “Just to stay and make it through the year, it’s pretty good. If you can do Xavi had a problem with his left hamstring, while Tello had damaged liga- terday. that and hang on to your job for that long as a rookie, then you’re doing a pretty good job.” ments in his right knee, they added. Barca are already missing World Player of The IOC is eager to root out cheats long after Olympic Games by Huge hopes have been pinned on the crop of new recruits over recent seasons, with the the Year Lionel Messi, who was ruled out for up to eight weeks after tearing a using new methods of tracing known banned substances or sub- spotlight on the likes of Heisman trophy-winning college quarterbacks Sam Bradford of the St leg muscle in this month’s 4-1 La Liga win at Real Betis. stances that were not known at the time. Louis Rams, Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III at the Washington Redskins. The IOC official said the retests were in no way connected to a Griffin set the NFL alight last year during a spectacular rookie season but fol- Defenders Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba worked apart from their German state television report about two doping labs finding hun- lowing injury has struggled in this campaign, while 2013 rookies like Geno team mates yesterday as they continued their recoveries, Barca dreds of positive tests using new methods. Smith of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills’ EJ Manuel, chosen in the first said, without specifying whether they would be available for “We are re-testing Torino Games samples as planned. This is not round of this year’s draft, are still finding their feet. Montana downplayed Saturday’s game at the Nou Camp. linked to that report,” the official told Reuters. The IOC can re-test ath- what fans should expect from new players. “It’s a tough go, no matter what, Midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who could replace Xavi in central letes’ samples from its own events up to eight years after the Games for that first year,”Montana said. “There’s a lot of things that are so much dif- midfield against eighth-placed Granada, again trained normally and can sanction them. They did so with five samples from the 2004 ferent, so much more complicated than it appears on television, than it as he works his way back from a knee problem picked up in the Athens Olympics coming back positive. According to German ARD might be.” He said it was too early to count out players like Smith, who put up Betis game. Unbeaten Barca top La Liga by three points from broadcaster labs in Cologne and Moscow found traces of anabolic impressive numbers in college at West Virginia but has been inconsistent in his steroids in hundreds of urine samples using the new testing method. debut NFL season. “Unfortunately you’ve got to wait it out sometimes for a Atletico Madrid after 13 matches, with Real Madrid a “This case is a good example of the necessity of performing retests few years. Some guys take a little longer,” he remarked. Montana was further three points adrift in third. Atletico are at on Olympic doping samples. I would certainly conduct retests here,” drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 1979 but only became the start- home to Getafe on Saturday, when Real play at pro- Arne Ljungqvist, head of the IOC’s medical commission told ARD. “We moted Almeria. —Reuters have the mandate for that, after all”.—Reuters ing quaterback midway through the 1980 season and went on to win four Super Bowls and three MVP awards. —Reuters Penguins get past Ducks PITTSBURGH: Sidney Crosby capped a third- period outburst with his 10th goal of the sea- son as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 on Monday. Brian Gibbons scored on the first shot of his NHL career and Brandon Sutter chipped in his fourth goal of the season as Pittsburgh’s strug- gling offense found a rhythm late against the Pacific Division-leading Ducks. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 shots for Pittsburgh, which won for only the second time in six games. Crosby’s goal was his second in 11 games. Ryan Getzlaf scored his 11th goal for the Ducks, who earned just one point during a four-game East Coast road trip. Viktor Fasth made 24 saves but struggled in the final 20 minutes. Gibbons took a slick backhand pass from Evgeni Malkin to break a scoreless tie 3:56 into the third. The Penguins needed just 62 seconds Lance Armstrong to make it 2-0, as Sutter deflected a shot from the point by Olli Maatta. Anaheim responded Armstrong: UCI head immediately when Getzlaf scored his fifth goal in four games. Crosby pushed Pittsburgh back PITTSBURGH: Viktor Fasth No. 30 of the Anaheim Ducks makes a save against the Pittsburgh planned doping cover-up in front by two, finishing the Penguins’ three- Penguins during the game at Consol Energy Center.— AFP goal outburst in a span of 4:04. LONDON: Lance Armstrong claims former service and will complete his duties as chair- International Cycling Union president Hein man of the Olympic Broadcasting Service BRUINS 4, HURRICANES 1 NHL results/standings Verbruggen instigated a cover-up of his dop- after the Sochi Winter Games in February. The Reilly Smith and Carl Soderberg had a goal ing at the 1999 Tour de France. IOC released a statement Monday, saying, “It and an assist each in the first period as Boston Armstrong told Britain’s Daily Mail news- is hard to give any credibility to the claims of topped Carolina. Johnny Boychuk scored mid- Boston 4, Carolina 1; Pittsburgh 3, Anaheim 1; Calgary 5, Winnipeg 4 (SO). paper in an interview published Monday that a cyclist who appears to have misled the way through the third period, and Milan Lucic Western Conference Eastern Conference Verbruggen insisted “we’ve got to come up world for decades.” added an empty-net goal for Boston, which has Pacific Division Atlantic Division with something” to explain his positive tests “That said, the UCI is currently working on 11 points in its last seven games (5-1-1). WLOTLGFGAPTS Tampa Bay 14 6 0 64 50 28 Boston 13 6 1 57 37 27 for a banned corticosteroid. Cycling’s govern- plans to investigate the matter more thor- Boston killed four Carolina power plays, Anaheim 15 6 2 72 59 32 ing body, the UCI, appeared to ignore its own oughly and we await proper considered out- Toronto 12 7 1 57 47 25 including 63 seconds when the Bruins were San Jose 13 3 5 72 50 31 Detroit 9 5 7 54 60 25 anti-doping rules when it accepted comes,” the Olympic governing body added. down two skaters. They haven’t allowed a pow- Phoenix 14 4 3 73 66 31 Montreal 10 9 2 52 45 22 Armstrong’s backdated prescription for a Armstrong spoke out while the UCI is in er-play goal in 32 short-handed situations since Los Angeles 14 6 1 58 46 29 Ottawa 8 8 4 58 62 20 cream to treat saddle sores. the process of creating an independent com- giving up goals on five consecutive power Florida 5 12 4 46 70 14 That allowed Armstrong to stay in the mission that will examine alleged official col- plays in October. Vancouver 11 8 3 56 58 25 Buffalo 5 16 1 41 68 11 race, and he went on to win the first of his lusion, and he is expected to be the star wit- The Hurricanes played their first game since Calgary 7 11 3 59 79 17 Metropolitan Division seven Tours, helping revive the sport after ness. Armstrong, who is seeking a reduction Oct. 24 with Cam Ward in net. Ward, who Edmonton 5 15 2 53 83 12 Pittsburgh 13 8 0 59 48 26 doping scandals wrecked the 1998 event. in his lifetime ban, told the Daily Mail that he missed 10 games because of a leg injury, made Central Division Washington 12 8 1 69 59 25 “The real problem was, the sport was on would reveal details of how the UCI operated. NY Rangers 10 10 0 42 50 20 26 saves. He rebounded from a rough start in Chicago 14 3 4 78 61 32 Carolina 8 9 4 40 59 20 life support,” Armstrong said in the article. “I have no loyalty toward them,” he said.