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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 November 1999 Issue No. 456 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 November 1999 Issue No. 456
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Soccer diplomacy
IRAN's soccer team will play in the United States for the first time, facing the Americans in an exhibition game at the Rose Bowl on 16 January. Iran upset the US team 2-1 in the last World Cup in June 1998, virtually eliminating the Americans from the world's most prestigious football event. The two countries are arch-enemies politically.
The Americans, resting since a 2-2 tie with Jamaica on 8 September, were scheduled to play an exhibition game against Morocco at Marrakech this week.
Meanwhile, British Sports Minister Tony Banks arrived in Qatar for a two-day visit focused on garnering support for his country's bid to host the 2006 World Cup, the official QNA news agency affirmed. Banks told the agency he would also raise the issue of strengthening bilateral sporting ties with his Qatari hosts.
Four other countries have proposed hosting the tournament -- Germany, South Africa, Brazil and Morocco. German representatives visited Qatar in February to try to win support for their country's bid.
Golden Bench Award
AC MILAN's Alberto Zaccheroni, whose job status was shaky just days ago, has won the Golden Bench Award as the top coach in Series A last season. The winner is determined by a vote of league coaches.
Zaccheroni guided Milan to the 1998-99 league title in his first year with the club. But he also oversaw Milan's startling collapse in the Champions' League this season, culminating in their 3-2 loss to Turkey's Galataseray. The defeat knocked them out of the European Cup and led to calls for Zaccheroni's removal. Zaccheroni said of his award, "I am satisfied because this is a prize that is given by my colleagues."
Tennis winners
RUSSIAN Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Swede Thomas Enqvist and American Lindsay Davenport were all winners in three different ATP and WTA tennis tournaments. Top-seed favourite Kafelnikov won his third consecutive Kremlin Cup ATP Tour event in four years beating Byron Black of Zimbabwe in straight sets in Moscow last Sunday. Kafelnikov, 25, ranked second in the world, earned his 20th career title with a 7-6, 6-4 win in one hour and 31 minutes.
Enqvist tuned up for this month's season-ender in Hannover, Germany, by beating Magnus Gustafsson 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in an all-Swedish showdown at the $800,000 Stockholm Open. Enqvist, ranked seventh in the world and heading for the ATP Tour championship the week after next, was almost untouchable in his game against Gustafsson, ranked 68th.
Second-seed American Lindsay Davenport beat number one seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland 6-3, 6-4 to capture her sixth WTA Tour title of the year. Hingis, whose Australian Open triumph in January was her only Grand Slam title of the season, saved one match point in the 10th game with a service winner.
Knockout Laila Ali
LAILA Ali, the 21-year-old daughter of boxing legend Mohamed Ali, won her second consecutive match, against Shadina Pennybaker of Pittsburgh. Laila stopped her opponent with three seconds left in their four-round bout in front of about 2,000 fans at the Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort.Olympics hit by tax bill
SYDNEY Olympics organisers could face a $7.8 million bill after the Australian government said that it would apply a 10 per cent goods and services tax on premium tickets sold for corporate entertainment. Prime Minister John Howard told New South Wales Premier Bob Carr that the premium tickets, withheld from the general public, would be subject to the tax.
The federal government signed an agreement with the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) last year promising that all tickets would be tax-free, but Howard said this could not apply to tickets sold above face value. A spokesman for NSW Olympics Minister Michael Knight said they hoped to talk the government out of the move.
