SPORTS DIGEST:GAA: Mayo County Board have declined Dublin's request to stage their league meeting under lights on Friday, March 18th, because of a potential under-21 championship fixture on the following day, writes Seán Moran. The match will now go ahead on Sunday, March 20th.
Former Mayo player Austin Malleys transfer to Wicklow has been approved by the Leinster Council. The forward will play for St Patrick's in Wicklow town and has joined Mick O'Dwyers county panel.
There have been reprieves for a number of players before the Central Hearings Committee (CC).
Kilkenny hurler DJ Delaney and Meath footballer Cormac McGuinness were dismissed in leagues matches for two yellow cards, but the CC decided neither player had merited his first card. Crossmaglen's Danny Tullaghan has also been cleared of a red-card offence in last week's All-Ireland club semi-final.
Kerry's Marc Ó Sé and Dublin's Eoghan O'Gara are expected to seek personal hearings from Croke Park against their proposed bans.
It's understood Ó Sé has been proposed for a four-week suspension and O'Gara an eight-week ban arising out of their injury-time flash point last Saturday at Croke Park.
Chambers has London in mind
ATHLETICS: Dwayne Chambers may consider launching a fresh bid to overturn his Olympic ban imposed for failing a drugs test – but only once this season is over.
The British sprinter is competing at the European Indoors in Paris this weekend and admitted he does “wonder” about racing at London 2012.
But the 32-year-old told BBC Sport: “All I can do is concentrate on the championships on the horizon. Then I’ll reconsider what happens at the end of this year.”
In 2003, Chambers received a a lifetime Olympics ban for using THC. He later admitted to systematic doping as one of the athletes caught up in the Balco scandal.
He made a comeback in 2008 and tried to get his Olympic ban overturned for Beijing.
Asked if the thought of not being able to compete at the London Games is hurting him, he said: “It is something I look at and I wonder. My actions have caused reactions and 2012 is not going to be a factor for me.”
Talks to avert NFL lockout continue
AMERICAN FOOTBALL:The National Football League and its players' union returned to the bargaining table yesterday for a last-ditch effort to hammer out a new labour deal and avoid a work stoppage for the first time in 24 years.
The sides agreed Thursday to a 24-hour extension for the current collective bargaining agreement, now due to expire early this morning. Speculation centred on the sides agreeing to continue the talks for another seven to 10 days.
The chief sticking point is how to distribute the league’s €6.4 billion in annual revenues.
Irish pair’s team bottom of table
BOXING:Ken Egan's and John Joe Joyce's Miami Gallos slipped to joint bottom of the table following an away loss to Memphis Force in the World Series on Thursday night.
The Gallos lost 3-2 and are now rooted to the bottom of the four-team Americas group with just one match left in the 12-match season.
Egan and Joyce weren’t in action Thursday but will be back for the St Patrick’s Day clash with Los Angeles.
Nalbandian plays through the pain
TENNIS: A groin injury reduced David Nalbandian to tears yesterday as he battled past Adrian Anger to give Argentina the lead in their Davis Cup World Group first round tie against Romania.
The world number 19 won 6-3 6-2 5-7 6-4 to hand Argentina the first point, but said afterwards he may not be fit enough to play any further part in the tie.
“It was one of the worst feelings I’ve had on a court, it’s difficult to explain it to someone who isn’t experiencing it,” Nalbandian said after beating the world number 183 on the clay court at Barque Rock.
“If it had been any (other) tournament in the world I’d have gone (retired hurt). At each changeover, I was crying with the pain.”
Murphy beats Olympic standard to win gold
SWIMMING: Barry Murphy won a sensational gold medal in the 100 metres breaststroke at the Indianapolis Grand Prix in a time which dipped below the A standard for the London 2012 Olympic Games by 0.02 seconds.
Swim Ireland and the Olympic Council of Ireland ) have yet to come to an agreement regarding their criteria for Olympic qualification, but it seems likely now that even if Murphy swims a B standard in the cycle agreed by the bodies, he should make it to London.
Murphy, swimming for the University of Michigan, won in 1:00.77, which not only shattered the Irish senior record by .99 of a second but set the second fastest time in the world this year.
Murphy’s time also qualified him for the world championships in Shanghai in July.
Murphy, who failed to make the Olympic team in 2008, was on the verge of quitting the sport, but decided to move from his Tennessee base to Michigan to pursue his Olympic dream.
