IOC medical commission chairman Arne Ljungqvist said researchers have made significant advances in devising a test, leaving officials hopeful a method can be approved soon for use at the Olympics and other events.

"Quite some progress has been made in terms of outlining the scientific basis for analysis of gene doping," Ljungqvist told The Associated Press. "We are moving. It's promising."

Up to 40 experts from around the world will meet in Beijing on June 5-6 to discuss recent findings and how to move forward in combatting the threat of athletes manipulating their genes to boost sports performance.

The meeting is being organized by the World Anti-Doping Agency in conjunction with China's national anti-doping agency. It will be the Olympic movement's fourth symposium on gene doping, following previous conferences in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, in 2002; Stockholm in 2005; and St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2008.

"There have been scientific studies which are quite promising," said Ljungqvist, also a WADA vice president. "We feel it's time to review this within the context of a small symposium of specialists."

Gene doping, which is prohibited by the IOC and WADA, involves transferring genes directly into human cells to blend into an athlete's own DNA to enhance muscle growth and increase strength or endurance. It is an illegal offshoot of gene therapy, which typically alters a person's DNA to fight diseases like muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis.

"We want to continue the momentum that we've got so we can get to a scenario where the detection methods can be approved," WADA director general David Howman told the AP. "It's close."

In 2010, two groups of scientists one in Germany and a U.S.-French research team said they developed gene doping tests in what WADA described at the time as a major breakthrough. One was a blood test that would detect doping as far back as 56 days, while the other was for detecting genetic doping in muscles.

However, the tests have not been validated and hopes they could be used at the 2012 London Olympics were not realized.

"When you have a scientific method, that is one thing, but you need to develop a technique and make good use of it," Ljungqvist said. "We have a reasonably good scientific basis and we'll have to discuss how to develop this further now."

How soon could a test be ready for use?

"You can never predict when," Ljungqvist said. "Science is full of surprises and obstacles."

The IOC and WADA say there is no evidence that athletes are gene doping, but warn that it may be only a matter of time. Scientists working on potential genetic cures for muscle diseases and blood disorders have been contacted by sports figures asking about enhancing performance.

"We know that those who wish to take a chance and cheat are ready to do anything," Ljungqvist said. "We've had people who are researching into this and they have been approached by coaches and the like. But we don't have any evidence suggesting this is yet in place."

Howman said WADA has received information about people looking on the black market for access to gene doping methods.

"Nothing has amounted that is sufficient to be able to put together a case," he said. "We don't discount the fact that people are fiddling around with it. Certainly, that possibility exists."

The prospect of genetic manipulation comes as drug cheats continue to turn to more traditional forms of doping, including steroids, EPO and blood transfusions.

Ljungqvist said the Lance Armstrong scandal, in which the American cyclist acknowledged doping during his seven Tour de France victories, shows that cheaters may not be as far ahead of the scientists as feared.

"The Armstrong case is very informative, that such an advanced doping cheat was using usual stuff," Ljungqvist said. "The wonder drugs are not there. It is still the same ones. That is interesting to us."

___

Follow Stephen Wilson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stevewilsonap

MIAMI (Reuters) - They're big, they're tough, and, presumably, some of them are gay, but so far not a single active NFL player has come out and said so. After NBA player Jason Collins broke that barrier this week, the National Football League is making sure it will be ready for any coming out party.

Earlier this year, at least three college football players said they had been asked about their sexual orientation during NFL recruitment interviews, sparking calls for the NFL to do more to fight discrimination.

Just hours before Collins' coming out statement was published by Sports Illustrated on Tuesday, the NFL - America's most popular sport, with $9 billion a year in revenue - released a workplace conduct statement' regarding sexual orientation.

"The NFL has a long history of valuing diversity and inclusion. Discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation is not consistent with our values and is unacceptable in the National Football League," league commissioner Roger Goodell says in the document.

League spokesman Greg Aiello told Reuters that the timing of the release was purely coincidental and that the document had been worked on for several weeks with no advance notice given to the NFL about Collins's impending statement.

The memo, sent to chief executives, club presidents, head coaches and general managers, highlights a tough policy on reporting acts of discrimination or harassment and makes clear that questions about sexuality are not permitted during recruitment interviews.

Collins' statement, and the reaction to it, has raised expectations that other gay athletes will feel the time is right to come out. Leading players in the NBA, including LeBron James and Kobe Bryant and top coaches such as Boston Celtics' Doc Rivers, expressed support for Collins.

Several reports have indicated that one or more NFL players may be close to coming out.

Earlier this month, Brendon Ayanbadejo, who played in the Super Bowl-winning Baltimore Ravens team last season, said up to four players were considering jointly revealing their sexuality.

"I think it will happen sooner than you think," Ayanbadejo told the Baltimore Sun.

"We're in talks with a handful of players who are considering it. There are up to four players being talked to right now and they're trying to be organized so they can come out on the same day together. It would make a major splash and take the pressure off one guy.

"The NFL and organizations are already being proactive," he said.

Ayanbadejo is a leading member of Athlete Ally, a group which brings together straight athletes in support of gay rights, and one of several gay rights groups that have been involved in behind-the-scenes talks with the NFL.

Former NFL player Wade Davis, who came out as gay after his career in the sport, believes that an American football locker-room is essentially no different than any other workplace.

"You are always going to have a smattering of players who aren't going to be comfortable with it but that's the same in any part of society, sports or otherwise," Davis told Reuters.

But Davis, who left the NFL in 2003 after trying his luck with Tennessee, Seattle and the Washington Redskins, believes there has been a real change in the attitude of players in the past decade.

"When I was playing there were really no conversations about what it means to be a gay athlete. I think the climate has definitely changed and I think also in society you have more people who are gay and lesbian who are coming out, so everyone pretty much knows another person who is gay."

But not everyone is convinced the NFL is ready.

"I don't think football is ready, there are too many guys in the locker-room and, you know, guys play around too much," former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, now a television analyst with NBC, told NBC Sports Radio on Tuesday.

"Hopefully one guy comes out of the closet and (will) be comfortable with himself," Ward said.

"I don't have anything against a gay football player or a gay person period, so if he does, he has support from me. I want people to live their lives for who they are and (they) don't have to hide behind closed doors to do that."

Shortly after the Collins announcement, Mike Wallace, a wide receiver Miami Dolphins, was criticized for a tweet that said: "All these beautiful women in the world and guys wanna mess with other guys, SMH (Shaking My Head)." He later deleted the message and apologized for any offense caused.

Wallace's reaction was not quite on the scale of San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver who made headlines before this year's Super Bowl by saying he would not welcome a gay player into the team's locker-room.

Culliver spent a pre-Super Bowl media session with scores of television cameras pointed in his face as he repeated his apology for an hour.

Gay rights groups say that making the locker room ready requires more than just stamping down on homophobic comments on the field or in social media and involves a process of education.

Aaron McQuade, of gay rights group GLAAD, says the NFL has responded well to the group's suggestions that proscribing discrimination isn't enough on its own.

"We are part of a coalition that has been meeting with the NFL and speaking with them for almost a year now about ways to stop coming down hard on guys for saying something that they didn't think about and start educating them," McQuade told Reuters.

"We are still very early in the process but it's moving along fairly quickly," he added. "The NFL is absolutely committed to not just punishing the players that misbehave but actually educating the players about these issues."

(Reporting By Simon Evans; Editing by Claudia Parsons)

But that's still a big improvement over its previous showing at the worlds in La Molina, Spain, two years ago when the team returned home with a just one podium finish.

Robert Joncas, Canada's high performance director, says he's satisfied with the results.

Joncas says the team will be aiming for five medals again next year at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

On the men's side, Spencer O'Brien and Mark McMorris won gold and silver, respectively, in the slopestyle event during the first weekend of competition.

For the women, Maelle Ricker won gold and Dominique Maltais took silver in the snowboard cross competition on Saturday.

Ricker, a 34-year-old from Squamish, B.C., is the only Canadian snowboarder guaranteed a spot in Sochi.

Joncas says there's room for improvement as the group gears up for the Olympics, but the building blocks are there.

"We're still very satisfied," he said.

On Sunday, the eight Canadians in the running in the parallel slalom finished off the podium.

In the women's competition, Russia's Ekaterina Zavialova won gold, beating out Patrizia Kummer of Switzerland in the final at the Stoneham Mountain Resort. Germany's Amelie Kober grabbed bronze.

In the men's, the Slovenian Rok Marguc won gold, Justin Reiter of the United States took silver and Roland Fischnaller of Italy got the bronze.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Tesla Motors Increported its first-ever profit that trounced Wall Street estimates on Wednesday and forecast global demand for its Model S electric car could surpass 30,000 vehicles a year.

Tesla reported adjusted earnings of 12 cents per share, triple the 4 cents per share expected by analysts, on average, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The first-quarter results sent shares up 17 percent in after-hours trading.

Tesla now expects to deliver 21,000 Model S cars worldwide, up 5 percent from its earlier target of 20,000. But Tesla said it was already receiving orders for the Model S at a rate of more than 20,000 per year.

""There's potential for next year a fairly significant increase in volume as we really test the depth of the demand that's out there," Chief Executive Elon Musk said. "It's probably quite a bit higher than we had originally thought."

More than one million people per quarter visit Tesla's stores every quarter, executives said.

The Model S, Tesla's second model after the more expensive Roadster, is Tesla's effort to reach a broader group of buyers. A Model S equipped with a 60 kilowatt battery starts at around $70,000 before a $7,500 tax credit.

Tesla has offered a financing deal that the company hopes will make electric cars more affordable, which Musk said has already spurred a "meaningful improvement in demand" for the Model S.

"If our car was chiefly available for purchase and not by financing, I think that's maybe accessible to roughly 1 million US households," Musk told analysts during a conference call.

"As financed product with the right financing, fully optimized financing, I think it's probably accessible to the top 10 million households," Musk added.

GETTING THE HANG OF THINGS

During the first quarter, Tesla reported higher-than-expected revenue of $562 million. About 12 percent of its revenue, or $68 million, came from selling its zero-emission vehicle credits to other automakers.

Revenue from credits was about two times what Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas predicted. Jonas said Tesla may be on track to get $150 million in revenue or more from this market.

Tesla said revenue from credit sales would tumble over the course of the year. Even so, the car marker reiterated that it expects to make gross margins of 25 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Over the last few months, Tesla has become more efficient at building the Model S. During the first quarter, Tesla built 400 or more cars a week.

The number of hours required to build a car fell by nearly 40 percent from December to March. Chief Financial Officer Deepak Ahuja said there was more room for improvement.

Better inventory management contributed more than $30 million to Tesla's cash and reduced its logistics costs during the quarter. Premium freight costs have also fallen.

"Increasing production by over 3000% from Roadster to Model S was extremely difficult and many mistakes were made, but now we are starting to get the hang of things," Tesla said in a statement.

Tesla said it expected operating expenses to increase moderately in the second quarter. Research and development expenses are also expected to increase as the pace of product development picks up speed.

Tesla will spend about $200 million on capital expenditures in 2013. The company expects cash flow to be breakeven in the second quarter.

Tesla shares rose to $65.50 in after-hours trading, compared with a close of $55.79. Wall Street has been split on the automaker's prospects, with many investors betting that shares will tumble even as the stock has risen more than two-thirds this year.

(Editing by Dale Hudson, Matthew Lewis)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - In adapting Neil Gordon's novel about members of the Weather Underground still on the lam decades later for their violent actions, director Robert Redford and screenwriter Lem Dobbs ("The Limey") could have tackled big ideas about dissent and protest, honed a character study about aging radicals and the young journalist chasing after them, or even dug into Redford's past as the star of "All the President's Men" and "Three Days of the Condor" and crafted a gripping thriller.

Option four was apparently to make a dull and uninvolving drama that flirts with big ideas without saying anything new or interesting about them, while offering up flat characters that feel stale and familiar. Sadly, that's what we get with "The Company You Keep," a thoroughly stodgy exploration of the ghosts of the past that has exceedingly little to say about the Vietnam era, the ethics of violent protest or the standards of what's left of the newspaper business.

Redford stars as Jim Grant, a widowed lawyer in upstate New York raising a young daughter. When former Weather Underground member Sharon (Susan Sarandon) comes in from the cold after 30 years and gets taken in by the FBI for a bank robbery that led to the death of a guard, Jim turns down the opportunity to represent her.

With information from old college pal Diana (Anna Kendrick), who's now with the FBI, Albany reporter Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf) figures out that Sharon deliberately turned herself in. A little more digging makes him realize that Jim, who has been avoiding an interview, is actually Nick Sloan, a co-conspirator of Sharon's. Soon, Jim and his daughter are on the run, with Ben in pursuit. After Jim drops his child off with his brother (Chris Cooper), he heads to his old haunts in Ann Arbor, Mich., connecting with former cohorts while Ben chats up a retired police chief (Brendan Gleeson) who knows more than he initially admits. All roads lead to what's supposed to be Jim's fiery reunion with his ex Mimi (Julie Christie), who has walked out of six identities over the last three decades while still sticking it to The Man as a pot smuggler. There was a time when the pairing of Robert Redford and Julie Christie would have promised genuine cinematic fireworks, but when they finally meet up, we get a damp fizzle of questionable chemistry and uninteresting dialogue about the system, man.

Viewers would be forgiven for wondering why characters keep saying "thirty years ago" when talking about the fatal bank robbery, since the early 1980s were less known for radical activism and more for the likes of Jerry Rubin getting jobs on Wall Street. "The Company You Keep" squeaks by on a technicality - the Weathermen did carry out a 1981 armored-truck robbery - but the timing generally seems off. The 76-year-old Redford was already in his 30s when Nixon went into office, so he and most of his co-stars seem a touch long in the tooth to play 1960s radicals.

Granted, the age thing would be forgiven in a movie interesting enough to keep you from doing math in your head, but this is a singularly dreary bit of business. The film shouldn't have to come down on one side or the other when discussing the Weathermen and their abandonment of non-violent civil disobedience, but there's not a single exchange that feels remotely provocative or insightful.

Given "All the President's Men," it's sort of amusing to see Redford play a character with little love of investigative journalists, but that's about the wittiest concept "The Company You Keep" has to offer. Redford elicits a handful of memorable performances from his cast - this ranks among LaBeouf's finest work, for whatever that's worth - but it feels like a wasted opportunity to explore one of the last great moments of American dissent. We have met the enemy, and it is dull.

NYON, Switzerland (Reuters) - Noted Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil, who says that struggle has been a counterpoint to his successful musical life, takes a road trip in the film "Viramundo" to seek out his musical origins in Brazil, Africa and Australia.

The documentary by Swiss filmmaker Pierre-Yves Borgeaud, which uses the lens of indigenous communities struggling to preserve their cultural identity after colonial rule, premiered on Saturday night at the "Visions du Reel", an international documentary festival in Nyon, Switzerland.

"Through musical encounters we were looking at the links between countries and their peoples who were submitted to domination and colonization, that was the case of Brazil, Australia and South Africa," Gil told a group of reporters prior to a sold-out screening at the festival.

In the film, producer Emmanuel Getaz accompanies Gil and his faithful percussionist, Gustavo Di Dalva, across the southern hemisphere, from Brazil's Bahia to Australia's Northern Territories and South Africa before returning to the Amazon.

It opens in Salvador where the slim Gil was born, 70 years ago. Dressed in the traditional and blue costume of the Filhos de Gandhi performers, he takes part in the pulsating Carnival.

He then flies to Sydney, where he meets Peter Garrett, Australia's education minister and a former lead singer in the rock band Midnight Oil. Gil reminisces about keeping up his music while serving as culture minister under former Brazilian president Luiz Lula da Silva from 2003-2008.

The next stop is a community centre in Redfern, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, where Aboriginal Patrick Dodson says, "There was never any recognition of our unique culture. The aim of Christianity and Westernisation was so that nothing remained of who we are as Aboriginal people."

Gil empathizes due to his experience, though he notes there has been some progress.

"In my country where black people were brought as slaves, they suffered and were humiliated and separated and whatever bad thing you can think of," Gil told Dodson. "Time passed and things changed. And now we can have a black minister."

The musical journey continues to Johannesburg, South Africa, where a young black trumpet player in the slum of Soweto is juxtaposed with a white woman violinist living in a gated house.

Both young musicians play in the racially mixed Miagi orchestra, but their personal stories take a backseat to a performance with Gil and South African activist and singer Vusi Mahlasela.

The two men perform a beautiful duet of "Tempo Rei", and Mahlasela then sings "Say Africa", explaining the Zulu concept of "ubuntu", which he translates as "a person is a person because of other persons."

The last leg of the odyssey is set in heavily indigenous city of Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira, Brazil. Here, a singer who describes herself as half Brazilian and half Indian sings the final, moving song about the degradation of the Amazon's fragile environment.

Gil sees his difficulties as a driving force in his life.

"Since my adolescence, I've been an activist in politics and the social struggle," he told the film's audience. "I got involved in the movement against the military dictatorship and was imprisoned for three months and expelled. Struggle is also an essential part of my story, an element of enthusiasm and an engine."

The film will open in France and Switzerland in early May, and expand in Europe as well as Brazil, South Africa, and the United States later this year.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, editing by Andrea Burzynski and Elaine Lies)

Related:

2ND UPDATE, 8:10 AM: One day before the ,has said who from Hollywood it is bringing to the event and its a big list. While Greta Van Susteren is passing on this years dinner, Fox News stars Bill OReilly, Chris Wallace, Geraldo Rivera and Bret Baier will be in attendance, as will the likes of Oscar-winner screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and a contingent from sister studio Foxs latest X-Men movie: director Bryan Singer and producer-writer Simon Kinberg. See who will be sitting at FNCs 14 tables below. Also check back for more last-minute additions as we head into the final hours before Saturdays dinner.

UPDATE, THURSDAY PM: TV comedy king Chuck Lorre will be making his first White House Correspondents Dinner appearance this year while waiting for series-pickup news for his hot CBS pilotMom. Lorre, who is behind the CBS series The Big Bang Theory, Two And A Half MenandMike & Molly, will be sitting with former Secretary of State Madeline Albright.

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PREVIOUSLY: Hollywood is again the guest everyone seems to want at their table for this years White House Correspondents Dinner. Returning headliner is set tothatand news organizations have begun to reveal guest lists for the April 27 event. Theres a lot of Tinseltown glitter already set alongside generals and top-tier cabinet secretaries as well as power players like Harvey Weinstein. We knowand the first lady will be there; heres who else we know is going from Hollywood so far:

Fox News: The News Corp-owned cable news network will have Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen among its guests this year. X-Men: Days Of Future Past director Bryan Singer and producer/writer Simon Kinberg will be sitting at the FNCs tables too. Former Private Practice star Tim Daly will be there as will Glees Kevin McHale and Colton Haynes of The CWs The Arrow. Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who wrote Milk and J. Edgar, will be in attendance. The Social Network and G.I. Joe: Retaliation actor Joseph Mazzello is a FNC guest along with True Bloods Ryan Kwanten and Americas Best Dance Crew judge and NSync member JC Chasez. Ive heard that the news network may have a few more Hollywood and otherwise guests up their sleeve too.

CBS: Claire Danes is returning to the WHCD. The star of Homeland, reportedly one of President Obamas favorite shows, will again be a guest of Face The Nation host Bob Schieffer. Danes husband Hugh Dancy, from rival NBCsHannibal,will be there too.Also joining the CBS table is one of the faces of CBS primetime: Hawaii Five-Os Daniel Dae Kim will be at the networks table. In addition, Korean pop star Psy has landed a seat alongside various generals, committee chairs and White House aides.

Christian Broadcasting Network:Husband and wife Willie Jess and Korie Robertson of A&Es hit reality seriesare coming as guests of the network created by Pat Robertson (no relation). Theyll be joined by Dancing With The Stars alumnus and former Green Bay Packer Donald Driver and his wife Betina. Chefs and Food Network hosts Pat and Gina Neely are also coming as CBN guests.

CNN:Looks like the Secret Service will have someone watching their back as they protect the President at the WHCD or at least fictionally. Olympus Has Fallen star Gerard Butler will be coming as a guest of CNN this year. Butler is the second Fallen star at this years dinner Ashley Judd is sitting at the USA Today table. Another fictional political figure at the CNN table is Navid Negahban, who plays terrorist kingpin Abu Nazir on Homeland. The seriess lead Claire Danes is also attending the dinner.The New Normals Justin Bartha will be there too and Louisville Cardinal Kevin Ware, who suffered a terrible leg injury during the NCAA tournament, is also coming as a guest of the network. We knew that the Hunger Games Elizabeth Banks would be sitting at the cable news networks table but weve learned that her husband Pitch Perfect producer Max Handelman will be joining her. Also sitting at the CNN table is Paul Rudd and his wife Julie. All four have previously been WHCD guests of Jake Tappers when the former White House correspondent was at ABC. Now Tappers made the jump to CNN, they did too. Dont be surprised if new CNN boss, who will be there himself, tries to fill the seating arrangement with more Hollywood types, as well as the likes of Anthony Bourdain from his own network, in the next week. After all, he used to runToday.

Thomson Reuters: The current head of the Canadas Central Bank and the next Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney will be sitting at Thomson Reuters table as will new SEC chief Mary Jo White, Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird and Newtown Conn. First Selectwoman Pat Llodra among others. They will be joined by The Bourne Legacys Jeremy Renner, Revenges Madeline Stowe, Kathleen Turner, SNLs Fred Armisen, Steve Zahn of HBOs Treme and the almost next Lord of Downton Abbey. Thats right, the now departed Matthew Crawley himself Dan Stevens will be there.

NPR: The Force is obviously strong with the public radio broadcasters this WHCD. Theyve got Mr. Star Wars himself George Lucas as a guest this year. Also sitting at the NPR tables will be Jessica Alba and her husband Cash Warren as well as former 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan.

USA Today: Courtney Cox, Kate Walsh, Kristin Chenoweth and 1600 Penns Josh Gad are at the papers table. Although , Olympus Has Fallens First Lady Ashley Judd will also attend.

ABC/ABC News: Modern Familys Sofia Vergara, Eric Stonestreet, Julie Bowen and other cast members will be back this year. Nashvilles Hayden Panettiere and Connie Britton will also be in attendance. And the President of the United States will be at the table the fictional POTUS Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III, that is, from the DC-based political drama Scandal. Tony Goldwyn will be there with Scandal star Kerry Washington, executive producer Betsy Beers and show creator.

Huffington Post: Jon Bon Jovi will be sitting at this table, joining fellow Jerseyite Gov. Chris Christie, who many think may take a run at the White House in 2016. Scarlett Johansson, , also has a spot.

Newsweek/Daily Beast: He may have missed the inauguration because he was at Sundance, but Weinstein will be here. IAC boss and Newsweek/Daily Beast owner Barry Diller is sitting at his table, as is editor Tina Brown. The Newsrooms Olivia Munn and The Killings Joel Kinnaman will be there too. Nicole Kidman is coming, but no word yet if hubby and American Idol judge Keith Urban is attending.

NBC/NBC News: Matthew Perry plans to break bread with his network brethren. Michael J. Fox and wife Tracey Pollen will also be guests of NBC. The former Family Ties star has a new as-yet untitled series coming up on NBC. He voices the intro to the NBC News and he is the star of HBOs upcoming Behind The Candelabra: The Secret Life of Liberace andMichael Douglas will be there too. No official word if spouse Catherine Zeta-Jones is joining him but it looks likely

Bloomberg:Showtimes President of Entertainment David Nevins will be sitting at the Bloomberg table, Ive learned. Also, if you are going to star in the ultimate DC insider show, then you have to show at the Correspondents Dinner: House Of Cards stars Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright as well as other members of the cast will be there. Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos have spots here.

Time: Last year, Lincolns Daniel Day-Lewis came as a guest of the Huffington Post and Steven Spielberg came as a guest of Time. Day-Lewis isnt coming this year but Spielberg will make an encore appearance. DreamWorks CEO and co-chair Stacey Snider and big Obama donorare also going to be sitting at Times table. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (HBOs fictional VP on Veep) and husband Brad Hall will also be there are guests of Time.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia has won a U.S. Tax Court ruling that could have repercussions for famous international sports stars who cash in on corporate sponsorship deals, tax professionals said on Friday.

In a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service over a $1.7 million tax bill, the court ruled largely, though not entirely, in Garcia's favor. Lawyers said others might benefit from the ruling, depending on how their home countries tax royalties.

The tax-collecting IRS declined to comment.

Two types of sponsorship fees were at the center of the dispute. One type is service payments that sports stars, particularly golf and tennis players, get for using or wearing a sponsor's gear while playing.

The other is royalties sponsors pay for using stars' images in advertising. These are harder to value for tax purposes.

The IRS billed Garcia $1.7 million in 2010 for tax years 2003 and 2004, arguing he owed service payment taxes from an endorsement deal with TaylorMade, a golf equipment company owned by Adidas AG.

Garcia argued the money was royalty income from Switzerland, where he lived. Switzerland has a tax treaty with the United States that spares Swiss royalty income from U.S. taxes.

The Tax Court granted Garcia a 65 percent/35 percent split between royalty and service income because Garcia was TaylorMade's only "global icon" during the years at issue.

Garcia "was the centerpiece of TaylorMade's marketing," Tax Court Judge Joseph Goeke wrote in a 37-page decision.

Garcia's status as an icon was "strong evidence that his TaylorMade endorsement agreement was more heavily weighted toward image rights," the judge said.

The golfer had sought a more favorable split. "Certainly we were disappointed not to have the full 85 percent to 15 percent split," said Thomas Linguanti of law firm Baker & McKenzie, who represented Garcia, said on Friday.

Garcia's ultimate tax bill has not yet been determined.

Garcia burst onto the golf scene at the 1999 U.S. PGA Championship when he finished second behind Tiger Woods. Garcia has never won one of golf's four major tournaments.

The Tax Court's ruling means athletes will want to write contracts that pay them more in royalty fees, said Lewis Taishoff, a tax lawyer in New York.

South African Golfer Retief Goosen won in Tax Court on this issue in 2011, but was granted a 50 percent/50 percent split between service and royalty payments.

Garcia's star power helped him win a more favorable tax court ruling, Taishoff said.

"Garcia, because he's a persona ... it's not what he does on the playing field so much as it is his style," Taishoff said.

(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Andrew Hay)

MANAMA (Reuters) - Pirelli are set to give Formula One teams an extra set of tyres to use in first practice on Fridays from next month's Spanish Grand Prix to provide more action for spectators and television viewers.

Motorsport director Paul Hembery said Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone had asked the Italian company to help get more cars on track in the first half hour of the session.

Some team bosses had also asked for an extra set to help them give experience to young drivers.

Hembery said Pirelli were "up for it" and he had spoken to FIA race director Charlie Whiting. However, the top teams wanted to run their regular racers only.

"I don't think (Ferrari's) Fernando (Alonso) is going to let anyone near his car," he told Reuters at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

"I think the common agreement will probably end up being that they (teams) have to run this (extra) set within FP1 (first practice), within the first 30 minutes, which is good for the fans and television.

"We will bring the same structure (of tyre) but we want to have the right to use whatever compound we want. So maybe not the race compound but something that will allow some of the teams to do many laps so they are not tyre-limited."

Hembery said the extra set would also help top teams improve the performance of their cars by allowing them to do more laps on a Friday to test developments.

"Take McLaren ... it would help them clearly. I envisage that they will start using that first set to do a lot of setup, aero data collection, data validation," he said.

Each driver currently has 11 sets of dry weather tyres for a weekend - six of the harder 'prime' and five of a softer 'option'.

They must hand back one set of the prime tyres before second practice and one set of each before the third session and before qualifying.