Withe to coach Thailand for another year
Withe to coach Thailand for another year
BANGKOK: Former Aston Villa and England striker Peter Withe has agreed a new one-year deal to coach Thailand's national team.
Following months of salary negotiations with the Football Association of Thailand, Withe told Reuters on Friday he was ready to put pen to paper to extend his three-year tenure.
Withe's salary was previously paid by the English Football Association. When his contract ran out in October, Withe rejected a new offer from the cash-strapped Thai soccer authorities, believed to be half his previous wages.
But Withe said he was happy with an improved offer after International Management Group (IMG) and Thailand's Channel 7 stepped in as sponsors for the national team. -- Reuters
;REUTERS; ANPAs..r.. Putbrief-tennis-Davenport Davenport withdraws from Sydney international JP/18/BRIEF
Davenport withdraws from Sydney international
SYDNEY, Australia: World number one Lindsay Davenport has withdrawn from the Sydney international tennis tournament, the main warm-up event for the Australian Open, because of a knee injury, organizers said on Friday.
Sydney international tournament director Craig Watson said Davenport's knee injury, suffered three months ago, had not fully healed.
Watson said although Davenport would miss the Jan. 6-12 Sydney event, the American was confident of being fit for the Australian Open -- the first Grand Slam of the year -- starting in Melbourne on Jan. 14.
Davenport, 25, was a semifinalist at last year's Open and is a former Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion. -- Reuters
;REUTERS; ANPAs..r.. Putbrief-soccer-Kirch Kirch sells World Cup U.S. TV rights to Anschutz JP/18/BRIEF
Kirch sells World Cup U.S. TV rights to Anschutz
FRANKFURT, Germany: The World Cup U.S. English-language television rights have been sold to Anschutz Soccer Inc, German media group KirchMedia said on Thursday.
Anschutz Soccer is part of Denver billionaire soccer fan Philip Anschutz's privately held Anschutz Entertainment Group.
The package also includes the rights to the 2006 tournament in Germany and the women's soccer World Cup in 2003. Anschutz, which is to license the rights to TV networks ABC and ESPN, is paying US$40 million, according to industry sources.
Kirch bought the worldwide rights for the next two World Cups for a total of SFr2.8 billion ($1.70 billion) from FIFA. -- Reuters ;REUTERS; ANPAs..r.. Putbrief-soccer-Senegal Senegal tries to head off players' strike JP/18/BRIEF
Senegal tries to head off players' strike
DAKAR: Senegal's soccer chief is heading to France to try to convince the country's internationals to drop a strike over bonuses for their first ever World Cup qualification.
Players have threatened to boycott the African Nations Cup later this month in neighboring Mali if their bonuses for qualifying for the World Cup are not raised from 10 million CFA francs (US$13,730) to 40 million CFA francs each.
"I will be going to France with other officials of the federation to meet the players there and have a serious discussions with them," El hadj Malick Sy, president of Senegal's Football Federation, told reporters on Thursday.
Sy said he was surprised by the strike call from Senegalese internationals, most of whom are based in France, the West African country's former colonial ruler. -- Reuters
;REUTERS; ANPAs..r.. Putbrief-Alpine-Beltrametti Paralyzed Beltrametti fighting on JP/18/BRIEF
Paralyzed Beltrametti fighting on
GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters): Swiss skier Silvano Beltrametti, paralyzed after an horrific fall in a World Cup downhill race last month, is fighting on as he comes to terms with the accident which has left him in a wheelchair.
"I was a fighter on skis and I will remain so. I am the same," the 22-year-old said on Thursday.
"I accepted my destiny very soon. It could have been worse. I thank God I'm still here, that I'm still able to talk and think," he told a news conference hosted by the Swiss Center for Paraplegics (CSP) in the central town of Nottwil.
Beltrametti, who broke his back and lost the use of his legs after slashing through safety netting and landing on a rock in the race at Val d'Isere in France, said he could not yet face watching skiing on television. -- Reuters
;AP; ANPAs..r.. Putbrief-golf-Tryon Teen to open season in Phoenix Open JP/18/BRIEF
Teen to open season in Phoenix Open
KAPALUA, Hawaii: Seventeen-year-old Ty Tryon, the high school student who became the youngest player to earn his PGA Tour card, will open the season in the Phoenix Open, his agent said Thursday.
The Phoenix Open is Jan. 24-27 on the TPC at Scottsdale, and traditionally has one of the strongest fields during the West Coast Swing.
Tryon played three times on the PGA Tour last year, two as an amateur and once as a pro.
As a 16-year-old at the Honda Classic, he became the youngest player in 44 years to make the cut at a PGA Tour event, eventually tying for 39th. He was tied for the lead after one round of the B.C. Open, and wound up tied for 37th. He missed the cut in the Michelob Championship in early October as a pro. -- AP
;AP; ANPAs..r.. Putbrief-soccer-Mercosur Copa Mercosur final second-leg to be held Jan. 24 JP/18/BRIEF
Copa Mercosur final second-leg to be held Jan. 24
ASUNCION, Paraguay: The second leg of the Mercosur Cup final between Argentina's San Lorenzo and Brazil's Flamengo will take place on Jan. 24, South America's soccer association CONMEBOL announced.
The game was originally scheduled for Dec. 19 at San Lorenzo's stadium but was suspended because of anti-government rioting that left 28 dead. A statement on the CONMEBOL website announced the date of the new game, but said the start time had not been decided.
Flamengo and San Lorenzo tied 0-0 in the first-leg on Dec. 12 in the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
San Lorenzo, which won last season's Clausura Argentine league title, is chasing its first ever international club trophy. Flamengo is seeking to win the Copa Mercosur for the second time. -- AP