Olympic court rejects Italian curler's claim of nepotism for losing place to official's daughter

An Italian curling athlete who blamed nepotism for her non-selection for the Milan Cortina Olympics had her appeal rejected Sunday. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said its judge rejected the argument of Angela Romei that there was a “conflict of interest” when the Italian curling federation last month picked Rebecca Mariani instead. The 19-year-old Mariani is the daughter of the national federation’s technical director, Marco Mariani, who competed when Italy last hosted the Winter Games, in 2006 at Turin.