SPORTS DIGEST || Suspension upheld for Odell Beckham Jr.

Suspension upheld for Odell Beckham Jr.

NEW YORK

Odell Beckham Jr. is going to have to serve his one-game suspension.

Hearing officer James Thrash on Wednesday upheld the suspension for multiple violations of safety-related playing rules after hearing an appeal by the New York Giants wide receiver earlier in the day.

Beckham will miss the game Sunday night at Minnesota. The second-year Pro Bowler is barred from team meetings; attending or watching practices; attending Sunday’s game; or having contact with any club personnel except to arrange off-site medical treatment or rehabilitation.

He will be reinstated next Monday.

The league suspended Beckham on Monday for his conduct last Sunday against Carolina, when he drew three personal foul penalties, including one for a diving helmet-to-helmet hit on Panthers cornerback Josh Norman.

Norman was fined $26,044 for his role in the confrontations.

Beckham also had a run-in with a Panthers’ player in the pre-game warmups.

Dirk moves ahead of Shaq on scoring list

NEW YORK

Dirk Nowitzki has moved ahead of Shaquille O’Neal into sixth place on the NBA’s career scoring list.

Nowitzki made a jumper with 9:51 left in the second quarter of Dallas’ game in Brooklyn on Wednesday night to pass O’Neal. Nowitzki finished with 22 points, making the go-ahead basket with 19.2 seconds left in overtime in Dallas’ 119-118 victory, to push his total to 28,609.

O’Neal had 28,596 in his career and is a candidate for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. Wilt Chamberlain is fifth with 31,419 points.

Nowitzki is eighth on the combined NBA-ABA list, behind No. 6 Julius Erving and No. 7 Moses Malone.

Ex-Clippers owner drops lawsuit

LOS ANGELES

A Los Angeles judge on Wednesday dismissed Donald Sterling’s lawsuit against a former female friend over the recording of his off-color remarks that cost him ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Sterling’s lawsuit against V. Stiviano was dismissed at the billionaire’s request, though it wasn’t immediately clear why he decided to drop his claims.

In the lawsuit, filed in August, Sterling accused Stiviano and celebrity website TMZ of violating his privacy and causing damage on a “scale of unparalleled and unprecedented magnitude.”

TMZ was previously dismissed from the lawsuit based on free speech.

Neither Sterling’s nor Stiviano’s attorneys immediately returned calls for comment Wednesday.

The dismissal ends one chapter in a legal soap opera that began in April 2014 after the recording drew harsh backlash when the real estate baron was heard whining to Stiviano that she shouldn’t associate with black people.

The remarks led the NBA to ban Sterling from the league for life and ultimately led his estranged wife to sell the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for a record $2 billion.

CONCACAF sues American company

LOS ANGELES

CONCACAF is suing a California company for at least $50 million in an alleged kickback scheme involving two former executives of the soccer body.

The Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean Association Football filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court in Los Angeles. It names Los Angeles area-based Cartan Tours, its owner, an executive and three related companies.

The lawsuit alleges “a clandestine, kickback-based and parasitic relationship” between Cartan and two ex-CONCACAF executives, president Jeffrey Webb and general secretary Enrique Sanz.

Cartan Tours said Wednesday that the lawsuit is baseless and it will file its own claims for damages.

Staff/wire reports