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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

FIFA head calls South African stadium ‘jewel’

FIFA president Sepp Blatter greets people in Cape Town, South Africa. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
From staff and wire reports

FIFA president Sepp Blatter says he danced for joy after arriving in South Africa to check on preparations for the 2010 World Cup.

Glossing over concerns about delays, rising costs, rampant crime and lack of transportation, Blatter visited Cape Town’s new “jewel” of a stadium Monday. The project has been beset by political wrangling but now is slightly ahead of schedule.

He was less flattering about the national soccer team, which failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup and seems likely to miss the 2010 African Nations Cup.

Blatter said South Africa should have taken advantage of the four years since it was awarded the tournament to build up a strong team.

“In 1996 they were African Champions … and where are they now? It’s incredible and I cannot understand that,” he said.

Blatter said he would raise his concerns with the South African Football Association today when he tours the venue for the opening and final match at Johannesburg’s Soccer City and meets anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, whose lobbying helped bring the tournament to South Africa.

Witchcraft rumor sparked riot: Accusations that a soccer player was using witchcraft during a match in eastern Congo sparked a riot that killed 13 people, a U.N.-funded radio station reported.

Most of the victims were between the ages of 11 and 16, Radio Okapi said. They were suffocated as panicked crowds ran for the exits during the mayhem Sunday in Butembo in eastern Congo’s North Kivu province.

Radio Okapi said police tried to control the violence at Matokeo stadium by firing into the air. The shooting prompted panic instead.

Swimming

Hoelzer discusses alleged sexual abuse by neighbor

In an extensive interview with the Associated Press, Margaret Hoelzer, a swimmer who won three medals at the Beijing Olympics, shared her story of being sexually abused as a child and said she wants to work to make sure what she says happened to her doesn’t happen to other kids.

“It’s nerve-wracking,” Hoelzer said. “Some days I feel great about it, and I’m completely at peace with it, completely calm and ready to do this. Then, there are other days where I’m like, ‘Oh my God, do I really want to do this?’ ”

Hoelzer, 25, says she was 5 years old and living in her home town of Huntsville, Ala., when the abuse by a playmate’s father started.

Although the timeline is a bit fuzzy due to her young age, Hoelzer and her mother believe the abuse went on for at least two years, ending when that family moved away.

The alleged molester was arrested, but no formal charges were ever brought.

Miscellany

New harness racing rules

Kentucky racing regulators are preparing to impose new restrictions this month on the use of whips in harness racing, and changes could follow at thoroughbred meets.

A safety and welfare panel voted to outlaw certain kinds of whips and riding crops that have a snapper – strands of material at the end that can leave welts on horses.

It also recommended restrictions on the way in which a driver can hit a horse. One-handed whipping would be banned, and a rule would require drivers to keep both hands in front of the body during a race.

Homan gets even: Korie Homan had to wait a day, but she finally got even with Esther Vergeer.

Homan and Sharon Walraven won gold in wheelchair tennis at the Paralympics in Beijing, defeating Dutch compatriots Jiske Griffioen and Vergeer 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Vergeer beat Homan in Sunday’s singles final.

The Paralympics wind up Wednesday.