Al-Ahram Weekly | Sports

		14 - 20 November 2002 Issue No. 612 Sports	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Dokic boycotts Australia

TENNIS sensation Jelena Dokic has confirmed she will not play in the Australian Open in January. The young player said it was because she still did not feel welcome in the country she had lived in for six years. Dokic was Australia's top-ranked woman player until a bitter row with the Australian media drove her back to her native Yugoslavia last year.
"I don't think it's a very good idea to go back there, it would be very complicated," she said. "It's a risk to go there, you never know what can happen."
Dokic was speaking after ending her season with a 7-6, 6-0 loss to world number one Serena Williams in the quarterfinals of the WTA Tour Championships.
Dokic was born in Yugoslavia but moved with her family to Australia in 1994. The family endured a rocky relationship with the Australian public primarily because of her father Damir's repeated run-ins with authorities. They returned to Belgrade taking out Yugoslav passports in November 2000.
Closer to a showdown

MICHAEL Brodie moved closer to a lucrative showdown with Naseem Hamed after he retained his WBF featherweight title with a hard-fought points win over Luis Fuentes.
Brodie had to battle hard at the Altrincham Leisure Centre to get the better of Mexican Fuentes on points in a 12- round tussle. But following the unanimous decision in his favour, he sent out a fresh challenge to fellow Briton Hamed.
"Naz, let's get it on," he said. "The British public wants to see it, I want to do it and I know you do. It will be wicked."
Brodie had to dig deep to prevail against Fuentes, but added: "He was a tough kid, ranked number five by the WBC."
Much of the talk before the contest was of a March fight with Hamed, who has been inactive since his disappointing points success over Spain's Manuel Calvo in London last May.
The former WBO featherweight champion is rumoured to be ready to return against Brodie, who did his cause no harm at all with a gutsy performance.
Fuentes made a positive start, catching Brodie with crisp left-hand jabs. Brodie unleashed some of his trademark body shots in the third round and the South American had to backtrack after being tagged a couple of times. Fuentes had more success in the fifth as a number of straight shots found their target, stopping Brodie in his tracks.
In the latter stages of the fight Brodie started to stalk his opponent, chipping away with neat uppercuts and switching from head to body. Both men stepped up a gear during the last round of an enthralling contest, but it was Brodie who raised his arm aloft at the end.
Freeman's husband beats cancer

OLYMPIC 400m champion Cathy Freeman said her husband Sandy Bodecker is now clear of the throat cancer that was diagnosed in May.
"We're obviously really happy with the news," the Australian athlete said. "It has been a difficult time, particularly for Alexander (Sandy), and we are happy that he's able to put it behind him. He will still require regular scans over the coming months and years, and with cancer there is always a risk of recurrence, but we are told they have successfully treated the cancer."
Freeman won a 4x400m relay gold at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in July, her first major competition since taking an extended break from the sport after winning Olympic gold at Sydney in 2000. She has said her next goal is the 2003 World Championships in Paris, followed by the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Foreign pools

BRITAIN'S Amateur Swimming Association announced that it is planning to send young swimmers to live and train in Australia. The decision has been taken because a reduction in Lottery funding means all sports will receive 15 per cent less money, as well as the fact that the ASA says it is cheaper to develop young talent abroad as pool- hire is so expensive in Britain.
A number of talented youngsters are due to fly out to Australia early next year and will stay there for up to two years.
ASA chief executive David Sparkes told the Sunday Telegraph: "We were looking to send out six youngsters, but we will see if we can increase that number. So much of the budget goes into pool hire that it would be better to send kids to Australia, where the pools are free."
Sparkes added that the Western Australian government is willing to provide assistance. He also claimed that he has been guaranteed unlimited access, free of charge, to a pool in Perth.
No intention of quitting

TERRY Venables says he has no intention of quitting as Leeds boss -- despite coming under mounting pressure from the club's fans. Leeds supporters called for Venables's head following the midweek Worthington Cup defeat by Sheffield United.
But the former England manager, whose team travel to fellow strugglers West Ham on Sunday, says he can handle the pressure.
"It's not pleasant but you've got to get on with your job," he told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.
"I believe I can handle that and I'm determined to get it right. You cannot please everyone -- I just have to do what I feel is right and that's what I'll continue to do."
But Venables admitted he had been disappointed by the lack of patience of some fans.
"I'm not saying it's all the supporters, but it concerns me because I think it gets to the players and I want them to be confident," he said. "I would much prefer the fans to be behind the players. I think it'll help us put in better performances."
The club has said that it will do everything it can to bring in two or three players. Problems mount for Venables, who confirmed he is likely to be in the market for new players when the transfer window opens again in January.
Transfer windows

THE PROFESSIONAL Footballers' Association (PFA), the FA, the Premier League, and the Football League, are to team up to oppose the system, according to an article in this week's Sunday Times newspaper.
The window means clubs can only make transfers during two transfer periods, one in January and another between the end of the season in May and 31 August.
The new system came into force in March. English football believes the rules should only apply to international moves and that transfers between clubs from the same country should not be restricted.
"FIFA is imposing the regulations regardless of the specific conditions in each country and we are now prepared to form a consortium to fight this," said PFA Chairman Gordon Taylor.
Football League clubs are already suffering from the collapse of the ITV Digital television deal and high player wages and have been hit hard by the new transfer-window system.
"Not having transfer windows domestically would benefit the national game because Premier League clubs would be able to buy new players only from the Football League, helping money filter down to smaller clubs," said Football League spokesman John Nagle.
Clubs are no longer able to sell players when they need to avert the threat of financial disaster, except during the two transfer windows. The £5m sale of Jermaine Jenas to Newcastle in February kept Nottingham Forest afloat but they will not be able to execute such a deal this season.

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