Global sport — Steffi Graf puts comeback plans on hold till Jan

But Graf explained she had again had to put back her schedule, meaning she will now miss further German exhibitions in Kiel, Hanover and Maqdeburg.“All these tournaments are just too early for me. I still lack match fitness and I don’t want to rush things,” explained the former world number one, now 14th in the WTA rankings, although the WTA has said she will regain the third place she had held prior to her injury when she returns.

SA unaffected by players strike

PERTH, November 21: The South African cricket team flew into Australia yesterday still in the dark as to whether their opening one-day international against the home team would proceed.

The South Africans are due to play Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on December 4 as part of a triangular limited-overs series also involving new Zealand.

But the match is in jeopardy because of a threat by Australia’s first-class players to stage an 11-day strike between December 4 and 11 because of a dispute with the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) over pay and conditions.South Africa manager Alan Jordaan said his 16-man squad has been aware of the possibility of a strike before they left home but had not let the issue affect them. Jordaan said, “our players are happy with their relationship with the United Cricket Board (of South Africa) and it’s for the Australian players to sort out their problem with their Board. We’ve divorced ourselves from their stance.”

Aside from the one-day series, South Africa will also face Australia in a three-Test series. Australia beat South Africa 2-1 in a three-match series played in South Africa earlier this year but South Africa coach Bob Woolmer believes his players can reverse that result.

Ruud Gullit attains fatherhood

LONDON, November 21: Chelsea manager Ruud Gullit admitted he was distracted playing in Wednesday’s league Cup fourth-round match against Southampton.

He had good reason.

On Tuesday his girlfriend Estelle Cruyff gave birth to their first child, a baby girl named Joelle. “I kept seeing a video of my daughter in my head,” said Gullit, who picked himself to play in the match.

“The good thing is that Estelle delivered her in two-and-half hours. You can see she’s a Cruyff — she’s very fast. But the only bad thing is she looks like me — lots of hair and a big nose.” Estelle Cruyff is the niece of Dutch soccer legend Johann Cruyff.

Coroner seeks ban on slam dunks

MELBOURNE, November 21: A coroner called for basketball slam dunks to be banned in the state of Victoria today after a teenager died attempting the maneouvre.

Ryan Maloney, 19, died on July 7, 1996, after the basketball pole and ring at the Marna Reserve in Dromana collapsed on him as he performed a slam dunk.Coroner Iain West recommended that the Victorian Basketball Association and the playground and recreation association tell their members to prohibit slam dunks, “as the stress standards and maintenance level of equipment in use will more often than not be unknown.” West recommended that warnings be posted on backboards, highlighting the dangers.

Foreman’s challenging forays continue

ATLANTIC CITY, November 21: George Foreman, seven weeks shy of his 49th birthday, continues his challenge of fighters and Father Time here tomorrow in a heavyweight bout against Shannon Briggs.

Foreman became the oldest champion in boxing history in November of 1994 with a 10th-round knockout of Michael Moorer but lost the two titles in 1995 for refusing to fight mandatory challengers.

Foreman, 76-4 with 68 knockouts, will receive $ 5 million for fighting Briggs, who was once homeless on the streets of southern Texas but is now a dreadlocked fighter who still struggles with asthma trouble. Foreman fought 32 times before Briggs, who turns 26 next week, was even born.

World Cup arena under pollution cloud

PARIS: Pollution is threatening the safety of the Stade de France Stadium where defending champions Brazil will kick-off next year’s World Cup, says an ecologist group quoted in the French press.

Organisation Robin des Bois, quoted in yesterday’s Le Monde, claim the 80,000-seat stadium, which raises the curtain on the finals on June 10, has an inadequate system to protect the pitch from pollution. The stadium is built on the site of a former gas station and needed major work to decontaminate the soil after polls, some of them secret, revealed the extent of the pollution.

However the Stade de France later yesterday made a statement denying there was any risk of pollution. It said the soil directly underneath the pitch was protected from deeper polluted soil by a waterproof membrane. And should the polluted water table rise, adequate drainage measures would be taken to avoid any contamination of the pitch, the statement added.

Australian athletics coach sacked

SYDNEY, November 21: Ekkart Arbeit was dropped as Australia’s chief athletics coach today following the release of former East German secret police files showing he had been aware athletes under his stewardship were taking drugs.

Athletics Australia (AA), which agreed the terms of a four-year contract seven weeks ago, cancelled the appointment after the German government released files confirming Arbeit’s role in the government-backed doping programme that helped East Germany dominate track and field in the 1970s and 1980s.

“It’s important that this contention now be put in the past and our athletes settle down and get their minds back on their jobs,” said federal sports minister Andrew Thomson, in announcing the decision. He stressed the importance that Australia sport “not only be drug-free but be seen to be drug-free”.