FOOTBALL

NFL TOUGHENS STEROID POLICY

The NFL is tripling the number of off-season steroid tests each player can face, part of several changes to the league’s drug policy that officials will tell members of Congress about today.

Players now will be subject to a maximum of six random drug tests during each offseason, up from two, NFL spokesman Joe Browne said yesterday. The league and union also had recently agreed to add new substances to the list of banned performance enhancers, to put in writing previously agreed-to policies to test for designer steroids, and to lower the testosterone ratio threshold. The change in the testosterone ratio threshold mirrors the practices of the International Olympic Committee and World Anti-Doping Agency.

Today’s hearing is a follow-up to last month’s session in which lawmakers questioned baseball players and officials about that sport’s steroids policy. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and players’ association executive director Gene Upshaw are among 10 witnesses scheduled to appear, including one former player, Steve Courson, an offensive lineman who has spoken out against steroid use.

BASEBALL

WELLS OUT AT LEAST A MONTH WITH FOOT SPRAIN

Red Sox left-hander David Wells could be sidelined for more than a month after spraining his right foot, Boston manager Terry Francona said yesterday. Wells will go on the 15-day disabled list because of the injury, sustained during Monday’s 8-4 loss to Baltimore. The 41-year-old left-hander was hurt as he tried to field Javier Lopez’s slow roller in the fourth inning.

Left-hander John Halama is to take Wells’s spot in the rotation and start next Tuesday at Detroit.

GOLF

BRITISH OPEN TO ALLOW WOMEN

The British Open will allow women to compete starting in 2006, and might even accept Michelle Wie this summer if she qualifies.

The Royal & Ancient Club said yesterday it has agreed to alter the wording of entry regulations – a change that could put a woman in one of golf’s four majors for the first time.

R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said the men-only restriction will be removed in time for next year’s Open at Royal Hoylake. The three majors in the United States – the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA – have no policy barring women. British Open officials would probably allow Wie to compete this year if the 15-year-old from Hawaii earns an exemption at the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic in Illinois from July 7-10.

HOCKEY

BERTUZZI ASKS BETTMAN TO REINSTATE HIM

Todd Bertuzzi had his long-awaited reinstatement hearing with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman yesterday. Bertuzzi got his chance to tell the NHL why it should allow him to play hockey again. Bertuzzi was suspended indefinitely following a hit on Steven Moore on March 8, 2004. Moore, who was playing with the Colorado Avalanche, was left with a broken neck, a concussion, and no guarantee that he’ll be able to play professional hockey again. Bertuzzi first asked for his hearing in December around the time he pleaded guilty in a Vancouver court to criminal assault and was given a conditional discharge. He faced up to 18 months in prison.

SOCCER

AC MILAN TOPS PSV IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMIFINAL

Andriy Shevchenko and Jon Dahl Tomasson scored to lead AC Milan over PSV Eindhoven 2-0 last night in the first leg of the European Champions League semifinals.

DaMarcus Beasley started and played until the 61st minute for PSV Eindhoven, becoming the first American to appear in a semifinal of European’s top club competition.

The second leg is scheduled for May 4 in Eindhoven, Netherlands, with the winner of the total-goals series advancing to the final on May 25 at Istanbul, Turkey.

– Associated Press