Newsmakers
Upheld Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch’s three-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy will stand. The league announced that Lynch’s appeal was denied in a statement released Monday afternoon. Lynch’s suspension begins Sept. 5 and ends Sept. 28, a day after the Bills play the New Orleans Saints in their third regular-season game. Lynch pleaded guilty in March to a misdemeanor gun charge in Los Angeles. He was sentenced to 80 hours of community service and three years probation. Lynch will be allowed to participate in all preseason practices and games before Sept. 5.
Increased Florida head football coach Urban Meyer has two national championships in the past three seasons and the same number of raises. Meyer signed a six-year contract worth $4 million annually, up from $3.25 million, after leading the Gators to the national title in January. The new deal makes Meyer the highest-paid coach in the Southeastern Conference.
Reprimanded The Western Athletic Conference is reprimanding Hawaii coach Greg McMackin for his derogatory comment while describing Notre Dame’s chant before last year’s Hawaii Bowl. The university already has suspended McMackin for 30 days without pay. He’s volunteered to take an additional 7 percent pay cut from his $1.1 million salary. The Warriors’ coach also has apologized for using the gay slur during a media briefing last week at the WAC football preview in Salt Lake City. The WAC reprimanded McMackin for violating the conference’s sportsmanship code and said any further violations will result in a minimum one-game suspension.
Banned The International Equestrian Federation has banned its president’s husband from riding in endurance races for six months after his horse twice failed doping tests. Dubai ruler Sheik Mohammed accepted that his horse Tahhan tested positive for a hypertension drug and the steroid stanozolol, the governing body said. His ban runs through Oct. 3, and he was assessed $4,200 in fines and legal costs. The sheik’s horse trainer, Abdullah bin Huzaim, admitted giving the horse drugs before the 74.5-mile desert races at Bahrain and Dubai. He was banned for a year. Sheik Mohammed’s wife, Princess Haya of Jordan, is president of the FEI but took no part in the process.