Grenada fined

ST GEORGE'S, Grenada (CMC):

Football's world governing body, FIFA, has slapped a US$ 16 000 (EC$ 42 000) fine on the Grenada Football Association for failing to send a team to participate in a qualifying round of the Under 17 World Cup competition.

Curwin explained if the GFA failed to meet a September 24 deadline to pay, the fine would be increased. The possibility also exists Grenada could be banned from FIFA competitions.

Grenada's inability to pay the fine could also throw in doubt their FIFA Under-20 World Cup match against the Dominican Republic in Santo Domingo next month.

Bridgmohan double

MIAMI, Florida (CMC):

Jamaican Jermaine Bridgmohan rode two winners on Thursday, to shine on the eight-race card at Calder racetrack. The 19-year old took handsome, back-to-back victories in race six and seven, producing similar rides to win with Heavy Date and Ikigai.

Bridgmohan kicked off his success with the bay filly Heavy Date when he dismissed the three-year old fillies and upward in a 5-1/2 furlong sprint.

In race seven over six furlongs, Bridgmohan sent Ikigai immediately to the front and showed good speed along the rails in setting early fractions of 21.93 seconds and 45.57 seconds. The three-year colt gradually increased his lead and was clear by 3-1/2 lengths in the stretch, allowing Bridgmohan to ease the favourite to the wire by four lengths.

Davydenko cleared

LONDON (AP):

Russian tennis player, Nikolay Davydenko, was cleared by the ATP yesterday after a year-long investigation into suspicious betting patterns on a match he lost to a lowly ranked opponent.

The ATP said it found "no evidence" of wrongdoing by Davydenko, Argentine player Martin Vassallo Arguello or anyone else associated with their match in Sopot, Poland, on August 2, 2007.

Davydenko, then ranked No 5, pulled out of the match against the 87th-ranked Vassallo Arguello in the third set, citing a foot injury.

Betfair, an online bookmaker, voided all bets on the match. It received about 3.4 million pounds (€5 million; US$7 million) in wagers on the match, 10 times the usual amount for a similar-level match. Most of the money was on Vassallo Arguello, even after he lost the first set.

Armstrong rides again

MONT-TREMBLANT, Quebec (AP):

Lance Armstrong says fighting cancer is the driving force in his decision to race again. The seven-time Tour de France winner shared a rain-soaked road north of Montreal yesterday with about 40 cyclists to promote awareness about the disease.

"As some of you may or may not know, I've decided to race again ... to talk about the global circumstances of this disease," said Armstrong, who wore a yellow jersey before his ride in the fund-raiser.

"It really starts here today in Quebec and in Canada. The disease doesn't discriminate. If it wants to come and get you, it will."

The 36-year-old cancer survivor told Vanity Fair this week he's certain he will compete in next year's Tour de France.