INDIANAPOLIS -- Representatives from Brazil and Mexico accused each other of triggering a fight at their soccer game, which Brazil won 1-0 to reach the Pan Am finals.
The incident Tuesday night included a kicking and fist fight in which Brazil Coach Carlos Alberto Silva received a blow to his nose that required four stitches.
Ricardo, a Brazilian player, claimed Mexican players dragged him to their locker room and beat him. Ricardo was X-rayed for suspected broken ribs but they were found to be only bruised.
Referee Angelo Bratsis of the United States suspended the game when Mexican trainer Gerardo 'Spencer' Albarran ran on the field and kicked Brazilian defender Nelsinho.
FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, suspended five Mexican players and one Brazilian. FIFA also warned both countries and likely will suspend Albarran for at least one year.
Brazil plays Chile Friday for the gold medal and Mexicofaces Argentina Thursday for the bronze.
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Nelson Aerts of Brazil was disqualified from the Pan Am tennis tournament after an eligibility committee determined he was a professional. The Costa Rican delegation challenged Aerts' eligibility before a match against one of its players, Fred Thome.
Aerts was ruled ineligible because he has accepted prize winnings and is a member of the Association of Tennis Professionals. Pro players will be allowed to compete at next year's Olympics but were ruled ineligibile for this year's Pan Ams.
Disc jockeys at the Pan Am village night club have found merengue music most popular with athletes, although songs such as 'Shout' and 'The Bird' have become favorites.
Top 20 Latin American mucic is also played after a DJ's mother sent copies of the songs to her son.
Movies are shown on the lounge's large-screen television. The most popular ones are 'Beverly Hills Cop' and the Spanish-language version of 'Smokey and the Bandit.'
St. Claire Soleyn and Mitchell Browne, runners from Antigua, took major steps toward making the 1988 Olympics even though they were eliminated in preliminary races.
In Antigua, Olympians are selected from points earned at international competitions, including the Pan Ams. For the immediate future, Browne will return home to continue working on a construction crew. Soleyn hopes to attend the University of Maryland as a freshman this fall.
Greg Louganis, gold-medal winner of platform and springboard diving at the past three Pan Am Games, has taken a different sort of plunge.
He has begun practicing with Dance Kaleidoscope, an Indianapolis dance company, and will make his professional debut in October in a piece titled 'Strategy.'
The dance routine depicts the struggle of a businesman climbing the corporate ladder.
The aroma of baking cookies wafts through the Pan Am athletes' village, thanks to a store owned by two Muncie, Ind., children.
J. Crumbly's, a year-old with a dozen employees, is owned by Jordan Faris, 11, and his sister, Jessica, 7. Their mother provided the recipe and Jeff Faris, the father, supplies transportation and much of the labor. The parents gave their children ownership rights.
Jeff and Jordan travel 45 minutes to the village every morning, arriving before 7 a.m. and not leaving until after 11 p.m. The family also supplies cookies to grocery stores in suburban Indianapolis.
