Boxing body grants heavyweight Povetkin an exception for doping with meldonium

The WBC has decided not to ban Russian heavyweight title contender Alexander Povetkin after he tested positive for the banned substance meldonium and has ordered him to fight Canada's Bermane Stiverne for an interim title.

The decision highlights the concerns about bans caused by meldonium, a heart drug that was widely used as a supplement in Eastern Europe until it was banned this year.

Povetkin was to face WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder of the United States in May before it was revealed he had failed a drug test in the buildup. The fight was called off, and Wilder has since stopped training because of injury.

The WBC said in a statement that Povetkin must undergo extra drug testing at his own expense for a year. But he won't be banned given "the impossibility to scientifically prove that Mr. Povetkin ingested meldonium after January 1 2016," when it became illegal in sport. If Povetkin tests positive again over the next year, he will be suspended from WBC events "indefinitely."

"We won," Povetkin promoter Andrei Ryabinsky said on Twitter. "Povetkin has been vindicated."

The Los Angeles Lakers and Chinese star Yi Jianlian are in the final stages of completing a deal for the forward to return to the NBA, said league officials who asked to remain anonymous.

Yi's contract would be for the veteran's minimum of $1.139 million. Yi, 28, was drafted sixth overall by Milwaukee in 2007. He last played in the NBA during the 2011-12 season with Dallas.

A former member of Shaun White's band is suing the Olympic snowboarding champion, claiming he sexually harassed her.

In a lawsuit filed in California Superior Court, Lena Zawaideh says White forced her to watch pornography, asked her to cut her hair a certain way and suggested she wear a provocative outfit.

The Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed forward Matt Cullen to a one-year, $1 million contract for his 20th NHL season.

Cullen, 39, a Virginia, Minn., native who played at St. Cloud State and for the Wild for three seasons starting in 2010, helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup last season. He had 16 goals and 16 assists in 82 games and added four goals and two assists in 24 playoff games.

Tennis: Andy Murray followed his second Olympic singles title with a second-round victory in the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio. Murray beat Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-2. Rafael Nadal, who won doubles gold in Rio, beat Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 6-1, 7-6 (4).

College baseball: The NCAA approved a proposal to expand video review to cover regular-season games starting in 2017.