Briefs 2-Astana had to be excluded from Tour, say organisers

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Sports news in brief from around the world:

* The exclusion of 2007 winner Alberto Contador of Spain and his Astana team from this year's Tour of France was a damaging decision but had to be made, said the president of race organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO).

"It has led to a loss of prestige for the Tour and has had negative repercussions in Spain and other countries," ASO president Patrice Clerc told Spanish media. "It was a difficult decision but one that had to be made in order to preserve the image of the most important race in the world.

Astana were banned because of their implication in previous doping scandals although the Kazakh team have since overhauled their structure.

* Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio was banned for one match by his club Wasps on Thursday after being cited by the Rugby Football Union for punching Leicester's ex-England prop Julian White in last weekend's EDF Energy Cup semi-final.

"Taking into account his exemplary previous disciplinary history the club has decided it is appropriate to suspend Lawrence Dallaglio from playing for one week, effective from 25 March," the club said on its Web site (www.wasps.co.uk).

* Eritrea have withdrawn from the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, world governing body FIFA said on its Web site (www.fifa.com).