A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Saltman's return rubs salt into . . .

GOLF:European Tour officials said last night they were powerless to prevent the competitive return of Elliot Saltman, whose exile from professional golf has ended less than two weeks after he was banned from the sport for cheating, writes Lawrence Donegan.

The Scottish player, who was banned by the tour’s tournament committee for three months, teed up yesterday at the Hacienda de Almo Open in Murcia, Spain – an event staged by the Hi5 Tour, a so-called mini-tour that operates outside the jurisdiction of the European Tour. Saltman shot a one-over 73 to finish in a tie for 19th, eight shots behind the tournament leader, his brother Lloyd Saltman.

Saltman, who has maintained his innocence, was banned two weeks ago for incorrectly replacing his ball on the greens at least five times during an event in Russia last year and was given 28 days to appeal. He is only the third professional player to be banned for cheating on the European Tour.

Tyrrell's appeal dismissed by BHA Champion

RACING:Eamon Tyrrell has had his appeal against the three-year ban handed out as a result of the Casela Park affair dismissed.

Irish trainer Tyrrell, who was represented by Brian Kennelly, appealed against the decision of the disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority and against the length of the suspension.

The BHA panel ruled that jockey Jason Behan did not allow Casela Park to run on its merits at Newcastle on August 4th.

Behan was also banned for three years but he did not appeal against the decision. On top of the three-year ban being upheld, Tyrrell was ordered to pay €8,170 in costs and lost his €933 deposit.

CRICKET:England were left with four of the bowlers from their World Cup squad on the sidelines after Ajmal Shahzad was ruled out of the ongoing one-day international series against Australia due to a hamstring injury after a scan revealed a minor tear.

Vettel is right up to speed

FORMULA ONE: Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel showed no signs of winter rust yesterday after taking the wraps off his new Red Bull and then lapping faster than anyone else in the first test of 2011.

The 23-year-old German, the sports youngest ever title-holder, completed 93 laps of the Valencia circuit in the RB7 on a cold but bright day that saw seven of the 12 teams debut cars and get to grips with new tyres and technology.

“It was a good day and I felt comfortable in the car,” he said after setting a best lap of one minute 13.769 seconds.

Red Bull, Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes GP team, Williams and Toro Rosso all unveiled their new cars at the Ricardo Tormo circuit – with the first two getting most of the publicity – while McLaren, Force India, Virgin and HRT gathered tyre data with last year’s cars.

Nadal to return for Davis Cup

TENNIS: World number one Rafael Nadal expects to have recovered in 10 days from the leg injury that scuppered his attempts to win his fourth Grand Slam title in a row at the Australian Open.

But a statement on Nadal’s official website revealed the 24-year-old’s absence should only be a short one and he is expected to be fully fit for Spain’s Davis Cup clash with Belgium at the start of March.

Giles taking it back to the streets in bid to raise funds

SOCCER: The John Giles foundation, along with the FAI and its major sponsors, 3, is organising a major fundraising initiative, the Walk of Dreams, which will take place at 14 locations around the country on Sunday, March 27th.

The aim is to encourage individuals and teams to raise money through sponsorship, half of which will be retained by participating clubs, with the other half going into a central fund which will be used by the foundation to support soccer related community development projects.

“The idea is to provide facilities for kids, many of whom can’t really play on the streets the way I would have as a kid because it just isn’t safe,” said former Republic of Ireland midfielder Giles at yesterday’s launch of the event.

“If we can get them and keep them playing the game then the evidence is that it helps to keep youngsters out of trouble.”

Further details of venues and how to get involved can be found at www.johngilesfoundation.com.