Arsenal dismiss breakaway

ARSENAL have dismissed reports the club could quit the Premiership and form their own European Super League. Manager Arsene Wenger reportedly threatened a breakaway after growing tired of constant 'club-versus-country' rows and wanting his players to play less football.

But on Sunday the club "categorically" denied they were interested in such a move. A club spokesman said: "There is no truth that Arsenal has ever contemplated quitting the Premier League. We are the current champions of the best league in the world."

Wenger is reportedly angry that FIFA have given the go- ahead for the Confederations Cup in France in the summer, leaving many of his stars without a break before the start of next season. "There's going to be a split in football," Wenger was quoted as saying in the News of the World. "Clubs will end up refusing to release their players. The G-14 -- the alliance of Europe's biggest clubs -- now has 18 members and with 18 teams we could create a new league. This threat is not virtual, it is real."

Wenger believes that FIFA should help the clubs out more and stop packing the calendar with meaningless games. He added: "we have to stop these tournaments with no interest and which the players don't want to play. If we don't deal with these problems, there's going to be a split. I've no doubts about it."

Kuffour tragedy probed

POLICE in Ghana have opened an investigation into the death of international defender Samuel Osei Kuffour's daughter. The 15-month-old baby, named Godiva, drowned in a swimming pool at the Bayern Munich player's house in Accra on Friday. Police say they will carry out an autopsy as part of their inquiries.

Kuffour's cousin, Nana Bonsu, was at the house when the tragedy happened. He said the family was packing in readiness for a trip to Kuffour's home city of Kumasi when the child walked out unnoticed.

He believes the little girl was attracted by balloons floating on the water, and fell in as she tried to grab them. A distraught Kuffour arrived back in Ghana just hours after having returned to Bayern to restart training following the winter break.

The German club chartered a plane to get him home as quickly as possible. The player has been drawing on his deep religious belief to help him deal with the tragedy.

He said: "God gives and he takes. I am grateful for whatever has happened. The Lord knows best".

He described Godiva as his "little gorgeous" and said her memory would forever remain in his heart. "It's a calamity -- my baby was such a lovely girl who always gave me joy and happiness," he said. "But I pray by the grace of God I should be able to overcome it and face the future with a renewed vigour and strength." Kuffour said he would draw strength from the experience of Senegal captain Aliou Cisse at Birmingham City, who lost 14 relatives in the Joola ferry disaster last year.

Triumph in snow

DOUBLE world champion Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia destroyed a quality field to win the Great North Cross Country event on Saturday.

Bekele, the first man to win both the long and short-course cross-country world titles, crossed the line in 29 minutes 12 seconds at a snow-covered 8,800m course in Newcastle's Exhibition Park.

Commonwealth 5,000 metres gold medallist Sammy Kipketer was second, 15 seconds in his wake.

Kipketer headed off the challenge of fellow Kenyan and world half marathon champion Paul Kosgei, by eight seconds. It's great to be back on the winner's podium.

Kenya's Edith Masai produced a storming finish to win the women's short-course event. Masai held off the challenge of Ethiopia's rising star Worknesh Kidane, finishing the 6.8km course in 23 minutes, 38 seconds.

It was a repeat of the pair's confrontation in last year's IAAF World Cross Country short-course race, which Masai won.

Irish duo Maria McCambridge and Ann Keenan Buckley set the pace over the snow-covered course. But with two laps remaining, Masai pulled clear, with Widani the only one capable of matching her pace. Fatiha Baouf of Belgium came in third.

Rob Whalley powered his way to a comfortable victory in the men's short-course race. Whalley dominated the early pace of the 4.1km course and pulled away from the leading contenders on the final lap.

Julian Moorhouse outsprinted Steve Vernon for second place.

"There was no way with Michael East, John Mayock and Tom Mayo in the race that I could leave it for a sprint finish," said Whalley after the race.

Survival battle

MINARDI boss Paul Stoddart has cast doubt on the ability of teams without the support of a motor manufacturer to survive in modern Formula One. Stoddart says he would take any partnership with a car maker that came his way. But there are none looking to enter F1 at the moment, and teams like Minardi and Jordan, who have to pay for their engines, are struggling for money.

Stoddart said: "As far as equity partners and manufacturers are concerned, we are not in talks with any manufacturers. Yes, we would like to be. We run on the leanest, meanest budget in F1 and it would be an asset to any manufacturer, but that's their decision, not mine. I think really what we are looking at here is the question of can the private teams survive and to be honest I don't know.

"There are three of us left in F1 now. We have seen two go in the last 12 months. It's not easy. The world as a whole is not perhaps as easy a place to gather sponsorship from as it was in years gone by, but we are fighting as hard as we know how."

Stoddart claims to be most of the way towards a budget for 2003, while Jordan admit that they are still struggling.

Stoddart, who has given Britain's Justin Wilson his break for the new season, which gets underway in March, is excited about his contract for Ford Cosworth engines in 2003.

The aviation tycoon reckons the same-spec engine used by Jaguar last year can help his low-budget team move up the grid. "Our engine package is the most exciting that we have ever had in the 19-year history of Minardi," he said.

"It's an engine that is obviously a Ford Cosworth, it is an engine that was on the podium in Monza this year, and it gives us incredible horsepower. We are talking about a 70bhp increase over the engine we had last year and we are genuinely looking forward to using this engine. And, of course, Cosworth is a company that is near and dear to our heart, we know them, they know us, and it should be a tremendous relationship."

Davenport returns

LINDSAY Davenport eased into the second round of the Sydney International with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Nicole Pratt in Sydney. The former world No 1 was playing her first competitive match of the year after her 2002 season was severely disrupted by injury. The 26-year-old said: "I was really excited for this year to begin and happy for last year to end.

"I'm in a situation that I haven't been in for many, many years, of not being in the top 10. I feel like my ranking can only go up and I can play at a level higher than I did last year."

Pratt's defeat and Evie Dominikovic's 3-6, 7-6 (7/2) 6-2 loss to Russian Tatiana Panova removed all Australian representation from the women's draw in the mixed tournament.

South Africa's Amanda Coetzer is also through to the next stage but dropped a set to Ai Sugiyama of Japan en route to a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win.

Sibling double

JANICA Kostelic got the best birthday gift she could ask for. Jubilation swept across Croatia on Sunday as the country's most popular siblings won races at separate sites to make history in Alpine World Cup skiing. Janica dominated both runs in Italy to post victory on her 21st birthday by 2.08 seconds. Soon after, Ivica won the men's slalom in Slovenia.