Uncertainty over support to FIFA presidential candidateKUALA LUMPUR: Asian Football Confederation (AFC) supremo Peter Velappan has said Asian delegates were split over which of the two candidates to support for the post of FIFA president."At the moment, there is a division in AFC. There is a group who support Johansson and another group for Blatter," Velappan was quoted as saying.The two-day AFC Congress ended in a deadlock over the choice of the new president, Bernama news agency said."Because of this, AFC president Sultan Ahmad Shah has ordered that a special session be convened among its members on the eve of the FIFA congress in the hope of reaching a common stand," Velappan said.System needs change, says CourtPERTH: Australian tennis probably needs to change its development system if it wants to return to its glory days, former Australian superstar Margaret Court said here today.Lamenting the country's decline in the sport in recent years, the winner of 64 Grand Slamevents said: "It is hard to believe that, while the Americans and Europeans are producing (star players), we in this nation are not now able to do that. We probably have to change our whole system to bring some talent through," she said on Perth Radio (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).Lucky to be alive, admits OliverLONDON: Former European Bantamweight champion Spencer Oliver admitted yesterday that he felt fortunate to be alive after suffering life-threatening injuries in a title fight 12 days earlier.Oliver underwent emergency surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain following his 10th-round defeat by Ukrainian Sergei Devakov at the Royal Albert Hall on May two.At first, it was feared Oliver - who was one of Britain's brightest prospects before the accident - would die but he has made a remarkable recovery and was able to walk out of hospital on Wednesday.Lifetime ban on swimmersBEIJING: The Chinese Swimming Association (CSA) said today it would impose alifetime ban on swimmers, including first time offenders, caught using steroids."We deeply regretted the series of shameful drug scandals that involved Chinese swimmers in the 1994 Asian Games and the World Swimming Championships in Perth this January," said Wu Shouzhang, CSA official and vice president of the Chinese Olympic Committee. "The CSA plans to increase the number of drugs tests this year to 600 and impose more severe sanctions, including a life-ban against first-time steroid offenders," he told an anti-doping conference, according to Xinhua.Monica Seles' father diesBUDAPEST: Karoly Seles, father and coach of US tennis star Monica Seles, died aged 64 following a long illness, the Hungarian news agency MTI reported today.Seles, of Hungarian origin but from the Yugoslav town of Ujvidek near the Hungarian border, died late Wednesday in Sarasota, Florida. He had been suffering for some years from cancer.Before looking after the career of his daughter, a multi-Grand Slam titlewinner, he had worked as a caricaturist for local Hungarian language newspaper Ujvideki Magyar Szo.Commandos practice ahead of GamesLOP BURI (THAILAND): Thai soldiers and police staged their first anti-terrorism exercises in 10 years today, part of security preparations for the Asian Games in December.Black-clad troops armed with submachine guns dropped from helicopters and stormed buses and houses in exercises simulating rescues of athletes taken hostage. "No country is ever suspected of being a target of terrorists," said Gen. Mongkol Ampornpisit, supreme commander of the Thai military, explaining the need for the exercises.
