The English Football League has fined 12 clubs for breaching its ‘full strength’ policy in the Checkatrade Trophy. Nike Air Force 1 07 Dam . League Two side Luton have issued an angry response after they received the maximum penalty of £15,000.Competition rule 7.3 dictates that starting line-ups must include five players that started the previous or following match, or include five of the starting 11 that has made the most appearances in all domestic competitions. Luton and Portsmouth have been fined £5,000 per match for three matches in which they have been deemed to have failed to comply with the rule, totalling at £15,000 each.Fellow fourth-tier side Blackpool as well as League One clubs Bradford City, Bristol Rovers, Fleetwood, MK Dons, Millwall, Charlton, Peterborough, Sheffield United and Southend have all been fined £3000.All 12 clubs have the right to appeal to the EFL Board, who have stated that the remaining 36 clubs complied fully, with Bradford confirming to Sky Sports News HQ that they would take up their right of appeal.Bradford were penalised for transgressions not within the spirit of the rules over the decision to substitute keeper Colin Doyle just two minutes into their game against Bury. Charlton are one of nine League Two clubs fined by the EFL The Hatters beat League One Gillingham and Premier League side West Broms U21s to qualify for the knockout stages with a game to spare, and chief executive Gary Sweet said: We are staggered that we have been fined the maximum amount for our first offence.We played nine graduates of our academy in that game at Gillingham, and seven against a West Brom side containing four players, two of whom who were internationals and had been transferred for several million pounds, and still beat both. League Two side Blackpool lost at Bolton in their second group game We acknowledge our breach of the competition rules, but does our offence make a mockery of the competition any more than a club substituting their first-choice goalkeeper after just a couple of minutes of the game to ensure they met the five-player starting rule?Which is more in keeping with the spirit of the game? Which supports the competitions ethos of promoting young talent more?That is clearly disingenuous and by fining us this amount the EFL is effectively saying that promoting young talent is only acceptable if theyre with an EPPP1 club, and they are depriving their own member clubs young players access to first-team football. Also See: EFL Cup video Fixtures Live on Sky Get Sky Sports Nike Tanjun Herr Rea . Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. Nike Tanjun Sverige . Kevin Martin and Kevin Love paced the Timberwolves like they do so often. Martin had 27 points with some key baskets down the stretch, Love had his usual double-double, and the Timberwolves snapped a three-game losing streak with a 112-106 victory Saturday night over the suddenly slipping Dallas Mavericks. http://www.airforceonesverige.com/nike-air-huarache-sverige.html . LOUIS -- St.Any NFL team that drafts Michael Sam will be taking on much more than a rookie pass-rusher. But experts say the smart approach for a team that signs the leagues first openly gay athlete -- from a marketing and public relations standpoint -- is to simply let Sams on-field play speak for him and his team. "While this is a significant announcement given the sport, the general hope is that hes just accepted as one of the other men on the roster, and therefore his marketability is still simply tied to his ability to play well on the field and ultimately make the team," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. Sam declared Sunday that he is gay in interviews with ESPN, The New York Times and Outsports. The Missouri All-American had already come out last August to his coaches and teammates, who respected his privacy. Now Sam is entering uncharted territory as he prepares for the NFL draft. The SECs co-defensive player of the year was projected to be a mid-round selection. At 6-foot-2, 255 pounds, Sam will likely have to transition to outside linebacker, which could impact where hes drafted. But announcing hes gay could also have an impact on his draft status. "Im not naive to think there arent potentially some owners or executives out there who will say, Eh, Im not so sure now." said Golden State Warriors President and Chief of Operations Rick Welts, who came out publicly in 2011. "But also, I hope, there are a lot who would say, Theres an opportunity to do something that I think our fans would actually embrace. And if were supposed to win football games, if this guy helps us win football games, thats somebody we should have on our roster." Sam, 24, joins a growing list of active athletes to publicly come out, including Robbie Rogers, a winger for Major League Soccers Los Angeles Galaxy, and Brittney Griner, who plays for the WNBAs Phoenix Mercury. Conner Mertens, a kicker for Division III Willamette University, came out as bisexual late last month, and is believed to have been the first active college football player to publicly announce his sexuality. Griner, as one of the WNBAs brightest stars, was the centerpiece of the Mercurys marketing campaign. She also made a point of supporting causes that are important to her. "There was nothing about heer that was difficult in marketing. Nike Air Force 1 07 Herr. We supported what she wanted to do with bullying and the LGBT community. We made those connecting points," said Amber Cox, president of the Mercury before leaving to go to the Big East last fall. Nike has also thrown support to LGBT athletes, signing both Griner and Jason Collins, a former NBA player who came out last year, to sponsorship deals, and launching its "Be True" campaign. Profits from the .BeTrue collection are being donated to the LGBT Sports Coalition to support the goal of ending discrimination in sport. Mark Elderkin of the Gay Ad Network, an online media platform for national advertisers, said NFL teams need only look at Sams track record. "Theyre going to make their choices based on who the best college athletes are. And theyre going to choose Michael if they deem him the best pick. So, I think they need to focus on the facts, and his performance over the years, his All-America status and everything hes done for Missouri," Elderkin said. "Also his relationships with the fans, and with the positive energy he has around his teammates and their full support, shows that hes not going to be disruptive to the team in any way, but is going to add value." But its still a reality that gay athletes face a backlash. Derogatory comments were easily found among the positive posts on social media and other online commentary following Sams announcement. A Pew Research survey last year of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults in the U.S. found that just 4 per cent saw pro sports leagues as friendly toward LGBT people, while 59 per cent saw the leagues as unfriendly and 36 per cent saw them as neutral. Still, even over the past year there have been significant overall victories in gay and lesbian rights, most notably two U.S. Supreme Court decisions in June. One ruling cleared the way for ending a ban on same-sex marriages in California; the other struck down a 1996 law passed by Congress that banned federal recognition of same-sex marriages. It remains to be seen how growing tolerance extends to the NFL playing field. "I think the point thats being made in a lot of the discussion is, Lets just move on," Swangard said. "If the guy makes a team, then he makes the team. His sexual orientation shouldnt be the story." ' ' '