A federal appeals court Monday upheld Miami University's decision in 1999 to eliminate three men's sports teams in order to free up money for women's athletics.

        University officials have said they cut the sports — men's soccer, tennis and wrestling — because the federal Title IX law requires universities to equalize money spent on men's and women's athletics.

        Officials at Miami have said they had no choice but to cut men's sports teams because their budgets wouldn't allow them to add enough women's teams to satisfy the federal requirements.

        A group of athletes and sports clubs sued after the sports were cut, arguing that Miami's decision was discriminatory.

        A federal judge threw out the lawsuit two years ago, and the appeals court upheld that decision Monday.

        In its ruling, a three-member panel of the U.S.Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati found that Miami was justified in cutting the sports because the university was attempting to comply with federal law.

        Attorneys for the athletes who sued the university had argued that the government has no right to impose gender quotas on spending for college athletics.

        But in their ruling, the appeals judges noted that other courts had deemed the law constitutional. They said Miami's decision to cut the three men's sports simply allowed the school to comply with the law.

        The issue first arose at Miami in 1984 when the federal Office of Civil Rights received a complaint stating that Miami didn't provide women with an equal opportunity to participate in college athletics.

        In 1994, a university task force found that women constituted 54 percent of the student population but only 29 percent of student athletes. The task force also found that Miami spent proportionally more on recruiting and financial aid for men's sports.

        In 1999, university officials cut some men's sports to make room for new women's sports.

        The appeals court's ruling Monday will be the final word on the case, unless the decision is appealed to the U.S.Supreme Court.

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