IN BRIEF (Page 24)
Soccer
British Isles teams agree to events without England
LONDON: Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have agreed to set up a series of three biennial tournaments from 2009, officials said on Monday.
However, there was no mention of any involvement for England in the joint announcement made on the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) website.
The statement said the four associations had agreed "in principle" to set up the tournaments to be played on a league basis.
"The first tournament will commence in 2009 with home and away games being rotated from one tournament to the next and each team playing three matches per tournament," the statement said.
"Commercial arrangements and fixture dates are now being finalized."
UEFA probes Bulgarian match-fixing allegations
SOFIA: Bulgarian club Cherno More Varna is facing a UEFA investigation into alleged match-fixing during an Intertoto Cup game against Macedonia's Makedonija Skopje in July.
UEFA's Disciplinary Chief Inspector Gerhard Kapl told Bulgarian media on Monday that European soccer's governing body had been alerted to heavy and unusual betting on the first leg of the second round tie.
A UEFA spokesman said an investigation had been opened with initial hearings into the bribery charge due to take place on Thursday.
Kapl told Bulgarian Darik radio that Cherno More could face a ban from European competition if the allegations proved to be true. He said no action was being planned against Makedonija.
Tennis
Report: ITF finds no proof of Haas poisoning
LONDON: Tommy Haas' claims that he was poisoned during Germany's Davis Cup semifinal against Russia in Moscow have been rejected by the sport's world governing body the ITF, according to a report on Monday.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) commissioned blood tests on Haas to find out whether the German fell victim to poisoning by a third party as he had claimed.
According to a report on the BBC, blood tests have shown no evidence that Haas was poisoned during Germany's semifinal loss to Russia in September.
A statement said: "Following inquiries, the ITF has concluded that there is no medical information or other evidence whatsoever to support recent speculation concerning the medical condition of Tommy Haas during Germany's Davis Cup semifinal tie against Russia.
Baseball
Eleven players added to Hall of Fame ballot
NEW YORK: Only 11 players were added to baseball's 2008 Hall of Fame ballot on Monday, giving new hope to former relief ace Rich "Goose" Gossage that this may be his year to win election to Cooperstown.
First-timers, who must be retired for five years, include former batting champion and leading base-stealer Tim Raines and former Rookie of the Year winners David Justice and Chuck Knoblauch.
The ballot goes to more than 575 voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. A candidate must be named on 75 percent of the ballots to win election to the Hall.
Gossage, who pitched in the 1978 and 1981 World Series for the Yankees and in the 1984 Series for San Diego, fell 21 votes shy last year when Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn were elected in their first year of eligibility.
(China Daily 11/28/2007 page24)
