Nfl Court Reverses Decision; Davis Victor over Klein

Los Angeles Raiders managing general partner Al Davis emerged as the victor Wednesday in a longtime legal battle with Gene Klein, who used to own the San Diego Chargers. The 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego reversed a 1986 Superior Court decision that had ordered Davis to pay Klein $2 million in damages arising from a malicious prosecution suit. “Klein couldn’t beat Davis on the football field, so he tried in court and we beat him there too,”said Joe Alioto, Davis’ attorney. A clerk for the appellate court said the higher court has directed the Superior Court to enter judgment in favor of Davis and also ordered Klein to reimburse Davis for whatever costs he incurred in appealing the decision. The dispute stemmed from the Raiders’ 1982 move to Los Angeles from Oakland…

The NFL says its decision to permanently ban ex-Cincinnati fullback Stanley Wilson from the league doesn’t mean it has closed its investigation of Wilson’s drug relapse. NFL spokesman Joe Browne said the league wants to hear Wilson’s version — in person — of what happened Jan. 21, the night he is said to have had a drug relapse on the eve of Super Bowl XXIII at Joe Robbie Stadium. Wilson, who is said to be in a drug rehab center in Phoenix, reportedly intends to implicate as many as five teammates in an article that Penthouse magazine is said to be preparing for its September edition.

DRUG REPORT ASTAPHAN DONE TESTIFYING; JUDGE CHASTISES PHYSICIAN

Ben Johnson’s doctor, concluding six days of testimony before the Canadian inquiry into drugs and sports, said he never encouraged athletes to use steroids. But the judge presiding over the inquiry in Toronto suggested Dr. Jamie Astaphan was “leading them down the garden path of moral standards and values” in his practice. Charles Dubin also noted Astaphan at times obtained the drugs for the athletes through black market sources. “That’s going beyond merely caring for a patient,” the judge said. Astaphan denied he provided stanozolol, the substance that showed up in Johnson’s urine at the Seoul Olympics and cost the Canadian the 100-meter gold medal. The doctor said the last steroid injection he gave the sprinter was furazabol and could not have been detected at the Olympics…

European sports ministers called for strong new anti-drug legislation that would facilitate year-round testing of athletes, even though some officials expressed doubts about its legality. The proposals, which come up for a vote at the Council of Europe meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, would recommend penalties for doctors and coaches who supply athletes with banned substances.

COLLEGES TWO SOUTH CAROLINA PLAYERS INELIGIBLE FOR ’89 SEASON

South Carolina split end Anthony Parlor and tailback Gerald Williams were ruled academically ineligible for the 1989 football season. Coach Sparky Woods said he’s trying to put together a plan to bring both players back next spring. Neither can attend South Carolina this summer or fall, although they can re-enroll for the 1990 spring semester…

Art Tolis, who led the University of New Orleans basketball team to a 21-11 in 1988, sued the school for $200,000, claiming the money was part of his resignation terms. He said the school promised to pay the settlement money on or before March 15, 1989. He was fired in March 1988 after completing one year of a three-year contract. According to a school official, he was fired for “a number of actions that were detrimental to the university.”..

Bob Dukiet, who led Marquette to a 13-15 mark last year and then was fired, was named basketball coach at NCAA Division II Gannon. He replaces Tom Chapman, who is now St. Bonaventure’s coach.

NHL WEBSTER NEW KINGS COACH; KLIMA’S FUTURE UNCERTAIN

As expected, Tom Webster was named coach of the Los Angeles Kings. Webster, who briefly coached the New York Rangers in 1986-87 before an ear infection that kept him from flying led him to resign, succeeds Robbie Ftorek. Although he led the Kings to one of their best seasons, Ftorek was fired May 2. Team officials mentioned that Ftorek had some difficulty relating to the club’s veterans. Webster and Colin Campbell, an assistant with Detroit, were the top candidates for the job…

Detroit General Manager Jimmy Devellano said he’ll wait for the courts to get through with Petr Klima before determining the left wing’s future. Klima was arraigned Tuesday to a drunken-driving charge and three other misdemeanors stemming from his arrest Monday after he was stopped for speeding. He faces a June 9 preliminary examination. It was his third such arrest since he defected from his native Czechoslovakia in 1985…

Donald G. Conrad will resign as Hartford Whalers managing general partner. He will receive $8 million from Benjamin Sisti and Colonial Realty Co. for selling his 37 percent share of the club.

BOXING MCGUIGAN STOPPED IN 4, THEN RETIRES FROM RING

Barry McGuigan retired after super-featherweight Jim McDonnell opened a cut over his right eye in the second round and knocked him out two rounds later in Manchester, England. Referee Micky Vann stopped the ex-world featherweight champion’s comeback attempt as blood poured into McGuigan’s eyes at 1:43 of the fourth round in the scheduled 10-round bout. McGuigan (32-3) lost the WBA featherweight title to Steve Cruz in 1986. He took a year off after losing the 15-round decision but started his comeback last April. Since then, he had fought unimpressively in recording three knockouts…

Jeff Harding (14-0) agreed to challenge champion Dennis Andries for the WBC light-heavyweight title June 24 in Atlantic City, N.J. Andries had been scheduled to fight Donny Lalonde, but Lalonde earlier this week announced his retirement.

GOLF HATALSKY, KITE, STADLER HEAD KEMPER OPEN FIELD

Defending champion Morris Hatalsky and Tom Kite are among the 156 players vying for the $162,000 top prize in the Kemper Open, which begins today. Hatalsky beat Kite in a playoff last year at Potomac, Md. Also in the field is Craig Stadler, who hasn’t won a PGA Tour title since 1984 but is the No. 1 money winner at the Kemper. He won in 1981 and 1982 when it was held on the Congressional Golf Course, boycotted the event in 1987 when it moved to the 6,917-yard TPC-course at Avenel, but returned last year and finished third…

Nancy Lopez returns to the tour for the Rochester (N.Y.) International after taking a week off following her LPGA Championship win. The tournament begins today at the par-72, 6,162-yard Locust Hill Country Club, which features the toughest hole on the tour, the 376-yard, par-4 13th. Also in the field are Ayako Okamoto, who won last week’s Corning Classic, and defending champion Mei-Chi Cheng.

CYCLING VICTORY SALUTE COSTLY TO STIEDA IN MILK RACE

A victory salute cost Alex Stieda a win in the third stage of the 13-day Milk Race in Britain. He was clear of six riders as he neared the finish of the 96-mile Gloucester-to-Llandrindod Wells leg. But just before the finish line, he threw his arms in the air in salute. That gesture had him relegated to second. Nick Barnes was given the victory and took over as overall leader from Keith Reynolds. Stieda is second overall, four seconds behind. According to International Federation of Amateur Cycling rules, riders must not take their hands from the handlebars in a close sprint…

Urs Freuler won the 11th stage of the Tour of Italy, and Erik Breukink retained the overall lead at the halfway point. The 152-miler stage from Riccione to Mantua was hampered by rain and two spills. Michele Moro was hospitalized for X-rays following a fall of 20 cyclists. Greg LeMond, Acacio Da Silva and Dag-Otto Lauritzen suffered minor bruises and arrived in the pack at the finish line. Freuler covered the 152 miles in 6:19:28. Breukink and Stephen Roche were clocked in the same time. Overall Breukink leads Roche by 46 seconds.

MISCELLANEOUS WEIGHTLIFTING MEET BOOSTS S. FLORIDA’S PAN AM HOPES

The treatment of the Cuban team at last week’s Junior World Weightlifting Championships in Fort Lauderdale improved South Florida’s chances of winning a bid to host the 1995 Pan American Games, the organizer of the meet said. “There’s a lot that was riding on this, and it came out good,” Murray Levin said. “The people here had a good opportunity, and they didn’t screw it up.” Cuba’s weightlifters were the first athletes from the island nation to compete in South Florida since Fidel Castro came to power 30 years ago…

Samuel Tshabalala became the first black to win South Africa’s most prestigious distance race, the Comrades Marathon, when he covered the 55.5 miles in 5:35:51. Blacks took six of the top 10 positions in the 64th running of the ultra-marathon. Tshabalala topped Willie Mtolo by 4:06. The top woman finisher, Frith van der Merwe, placed 15th overall in 5:54:43. A record field of 13,000 entered the race, which began in the southeastern city of Pietermaritzburg and finished in the Indian Ocean city of Durban. Distance running, like almost all sports in South Africa, has been integrated at the top levels in recent years. Blacks were first allowed to compete in the Comrades in 1975.