IN BRIEF (Page 23)
SOCCER
AC Milan deny Ronaldo reports
LONDON: AC Milan have denied media reports that they have allowed Brazilian club Flamengo to begin talks with striker Ronaldo over a possible move.
"AC Milan denies having started negotiations with Flamengo for Ronaldo's transfer," the European champions said on their website (www.acmilan.com).
Italian and Brazilian media had earlier quoted Flamengo vice-president Kleber Leite as saying Milan had given their authorization for talks to begin.
The Brazil forward has played only once for his club this season.
Maradona's Ahmadinejad wish angers Jewish groups
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: Families of victims of a deadly 1994 bomb attack on a Jewish center have hit out at Diego Maradona after the Argentina soccer legend said he wanted to meet Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"I have already met (Venezuelan president Hugo) Chavez and (Cuba leader) Fidel (Castro). Now I want to meet your president," Maradona told an Iranian diplomat here, according to reports in the Argentina media.
Relatives of the 85 people who died in the attack on the Jewish-Argentine Mutual Association (AMIA) community center in Buenos Aires in July 1994 have fought a long battle to bring the killers to justice.
Iran has been accused of being behind the attack, which Jewish groups insist was carried out by Islamic militants. The Iranian government has vehemently denied any involvement.
Jorge selected as Iran coach
TEHERAN, Iran: Iran has chosen Portugal's Artur Jorge as the new coach to revive the fortunes of its beleaguered national football team, the student ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday, quoting an informed source.
"Artur Jorge has been chosen as the new head of the Iranian national football team," the source told the agency.
"His assistant and co-coach will be Mansour Ebrahimzadeh," it said, adding that Ebrahimzadeh would announce a 50-member national squad in the next few days.
Jorge played for top Lisbon side Benfica as well as the Portuguese national team. Moving into management in the 1980s, he enjoyed great success at FC Porto and then went on to coach sides including Paris St Germain and CSKA Moscow.
Known as "King Artur" by his fans, Jorge has also coached the Portuguese, Cameroon and Swiss national sides.
Iraqi midfielder secures ten-day Man City trial
MANCHESTER, England: Manchester City have invited Iraq international midfielder Nashat Akram for a ten-day trial, the club told AFP on Wednesday.
Akram was cleared to try out for Sven-Goran Eriksson's side by his current club Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates and will join Asian Player of the Year Yasser Al-Qhatani who has also secured a trial at Eastlands.
The 23-year-old Akram was runner-up to Saudi Arabia skipper Al-Qhatani, who arrived in Manchester last week, in this year's Asian footballing awards.
NHL
Boudreau dubbed Capitals coach on permanent basis
WASHINGTON: Bruce Boudreau was rewarded for engineering the Washington Capitals' success over the last month by being named coach on a permanent basis, the team said on Wednesday.
Washington is 7-5-3 since Boudreau took over in an interim capacity when Glen Hanlon was fired on November 22. Terms of the deal were not announced.
"By no means is there any comfortability in my situation," Boudreau told reporters.
"My job is to win and then re-evaluate everything at the end of the year."
Despite Boudreau's winning record, the Capitals are still mired in last place in the Eastern Conference with a 13-19-4 mark.
Boudreau, 52, coached more than 1,000 games in the minor leagues before getting called to the Capitals' bench.
Known as a disciplinarian, Boudreau compiled a 103-45-11-16 record with Washington's minor league affiliate, the Hershey Bears, including an American Hockey League-best 51-17-6-6 last season.
(China Daily 12/28/2007 page23)
