Withe to coach Thailand till 2002
Withe to coach Thailand till 2002
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 skips 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SYDNEY, Australia: World number one Lindsay Davenport has withdrawn from the Sydney international tennis tournament, the main warm-up event for the Australian Open, because of a knee injury, organizers said on Friday.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. -- 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
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 foil 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. -- Reuters
;REUTERS; ANPAs..r.. Putbrief-Alpine-Beltrametti Paralyzed Beltrametti fighting on JP/18/BRIEF
Paralyzed Beltrametti fighting on
GENEVA, Switzerland: 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 told a news conference hosted by the Swiss Center for Paraplegics (CSP) in the central town of Nottwil on Thursday.
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
;REUTERS; ANPAs..r.. Putbrief-autoracing-McLaren McLaren to launch new car on Jan. 19 JP/
McLaren to launch new car on Jan. 19
LONDON: McLaren will launch its new MP4- 17 car in Barcelona on Jan. 19, the Formula One team announced on Thursday.
McLaren, constructors' championship runner-up for the past three seasons behind Ferrari, plans to run the car at the Circuit de Catalunya after the presentation with drivers David Coulthard and new signing Kimi Raikkonen.
McLaren will begin testing in Barcelona next Monday with an intermediate car, last year's chassis with some new additions, and has rejected suggestions that it might start the new season on March 3 with the 2001 car. -- Reuters