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Soccer spitter accused again

English soccer's ruling body charged Bolton forward El-Hadji Diouf with improper conduct for spitting at defender Arjan De Zeeuw during Saturday's 1-0 home loss to Portsmouth.

TV replays show Diouf, who helped lead Senegal to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals, spitting in De Zeeuw's face after referee Steve Dunn ignored Bolton's appeal for a foul. Diouf, fined two weeks' pay by his team, has since apologized.

"I am a role model to many thousands of fans throughout the world," he said Sunday. "And my behavior showed a lack of moral responsibility to the public who support me."

If he admits to the charge, he will be suspended for three games. If not, his case will be heard Thursday.

It isn't the first time Diouf, 23, has been accused of spitting during a match. He pleaded guilty to assault and was fined 5,000 pounds ($9,450) by a Glasgow court last year for spitting at a Scottish fan during a UEFA Cup game. And police are investigating accusations of spitting at a fan Nov.4.

"It's very disrespectful," players union leader Gordon Taylor said. "And it's the sort of thing we have to get eradicated from the game."

HAMM NOMINATED: American Mia Hamm, German Birgit Prinz and Brazilian Marta are finalists for FIFA's player of the year. Men's finalists are Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko with winners announced Dec.20.

Area graduate named All-American: Tampa middle blocker Ericka Womack, who starred at Bayshore Christian in Tampa, was named a second-team Division II All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The junior led the Spartans in blocks (114) and hitting percentage (.345) and was second with 326 kills. Her 1.33 blocks per game were 30th nationally.

Big crowd expected for Davis Cup final: The U.S.-Spain Davis Cup final is expected to break the attendance record for a sanctioned match. The best-of-five final begins Friday with two singles matches. Saturday is doubles with reverse singles Sunday. Spain's temporary clay court setup in Seville's Olympic Stadium has been configured to seat 26,600. The record was set in 1954 in Sydney, Australia, when 25,578 watched the United States beat Australia in the Davis Cup final.

BROADCASTING: Sirius Satellite Radio bought the rights to air every game of the NCAA men's basketball tournament as well as English Premier League soccer games for three years. Financial details were not disclosed. The company is paying $220-million over seven years to air NFL games and has deals with the NBA, NHL and 23 universities through College Sports Television. Rival XM Satellite has an 11-year, $650-million deal with Major League Baseball.

TRACK: USA Track & Field named sprinter Justin Gatlin and hurdler Joanna Hayes winners of the 2004 Jesse Owens Awards. Gatlin, 22, won the 100 meters in Athens in 9.85 seconds, fastest among a record five under 10 seconds. Hayes, 27, became the second American to earn gold in the 100 hurdles. Her time of 12.37 broke a 16-year-old Olympic record.