Sports round-up

MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa will miss this weekend’s Dutch MotoGP in Assen with Repsol Honda drafting in Japan’s Hiroshi Aoyama to replace him. This is the third successive grand prix Pedrosa has missed as a result of the broken collarbone he suffered at Le Mans six weeks ago. Spanish ace Pedrosa, runner-up in last year’s championship, is hoping to return for next month’s race in Italy. He is placed fifth in the standings on 61 points, 55 points behind leader Casey Stoner.

Waterpolo: Australian waterpolo star James Stanton has competed in the last two Olympic Games but will miss a third in London after being slapped with a two-year doping ban Wednesday. Stanton, Australia’s goalkeeper at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, tested positive for the anabolic agent clenbuterol in an out-of-competition test in Perth on September 15 last year. The ban was backdated to the date of his provisional suspension, meaning he will be ineligible to participate in sport until 23 October 2012.

Basket, NBA: Miami Heat president Pat Riley expressed confidence in his coach Erik Spoelstra, saying he had no plans to return to coaching. “It doesn’t mean that I don’t have the fire,” Riley said. “But we have a great young coach here and I want to support him and hope that he can grow like I did. This is just his third year.” Riley’s vote of confidence in Spoelstra shot down speculation that he might be pondering going behind the bench again.

Rugby Union: Stade Francais face bankruptcy if they don’t find several million euros before they appear in front of the financial committee of the National Rugby League (LNR) next Monday. Stade, who have emerged from third division anonymity to win five league titles and reach two European Cup finals, had thought their financial woes were over when a Canadian Foundation FACEM said they would invest €12 million in the club. However, the deal brokered by former France coach Bernard Laporte fell apart .