FORMULA ONE: BAR have nothing to hide and will not be distracted from their Formula One campaign by doubts about the legality of their car, team boss Nick Fry has said.
"This team is owned by two blue-chip international corporations with huge integrity," he said. "Does anyone really think that we would deliberately do anything against the rules? We've hidden nothing."
But Formula One's governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), has said it will appeal against the decision of race stewards to uphold Jenson Button's third place in Sunday's San Marino Grand Prix.
The stewards inspected Button's car for six hours at Imola, weighing it with and without fuel, before giving it the all-clear.
The move prompted allegations that BAR, owned by British American Tobacco and Japanese carmaker Honda, might have used a second, concealed tank to retain fuel pumped into the car during the final pitstop.
This would allow the car to run light in the middle section of the race before returning to a legal weight.
CYCLING: Previous champion Julian Winn will attempt to repeat his 2000 victory when he leads a solid Wales Stena Line team in the FBD Insurance Rás next month, reports Shane Stokes.
Winn, who competed as a professional with the Fakta team in 2001, riding the Giro d'Italia and winning the Grand Prix Villers-Cotterêts in France, will have the support of experienced duo Jamie Norfolk and Paul Sheppard.
This year's contest takes the riders 1,100km around the country. It begins on May 22nd.
HOCKEY: Portrane, one of Leinster's most steadfast clubs and winners of the Neville Davin Cup this season, are to amalgamate with St Brendan's-Phoenix Park, reports Dermot Ashmore.
It has been anticipated that Annadale v Cork Harlequins (men) and Pegasus v Hermes (women) will be the decisive matches in the All-Ireland Club Championships in Cork next weekend, so they have been arranged as the final games on Monday.
TENNIS: Belgium's Xavier Malisse has been suspended for four weeks by the ATP Tour for "aggravated behaviour" after being kicked out of a tournament in Miami last month.
Malisse, ranked 36th in the world, was stripped of his prizemoney from the event, $10,350, and also fined $6,000. He has accepted his punishment.
Malisse was leading 6-3, 5-5 in Miami when he was defaulted from his match against Spain's David Ferrer. Malisse then threw a ball at the line judge, hitting her on the arm. He had also verbally abused an official, kicked over a chair and smashed his racket.
GOLF: Peter Dawson, chief executive of the Royal and Ancient Club, has admitted golf faces a "tough challenge" to become an Olympic sport.
The International Olympic Committee meet in Singapore in July to decide the venue for the 2012 Games and will also vote on when any existing sports drop out.
Only if a sport receives less than 50 per cent support will a vacancy arise and golf would then compete with rugby, squash, karate and roller sports.
The main problem for golf lies in the fact that there can be no guarantees that all the leading players will want to play.
"It makes it a tough challenge," Dawson said.
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