IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Pompey owner sells shares

LONDON: Portsmouth's new owner, Sulaiman al-Fahim, is to sell the majority of his holding in the Premier League club to a member of one of Saudi Arabia's wealthiest families, he said yesterday.

The Observer said Al-Fahim told the newspaper that a deal with Ali al-Faraj, a property investor with a personal holding in petro-chemical giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), would be completed within days.

Speaking from Dubai, Al-Fahim told the paper: "I think by Monday or Tuesday he will be on board. His consortium will be a major shareholder. And I will keep a minority."

Beckham close to return

LONDON: England midfielder David Beckham is close to clinching a return to AC Milan for a second loan spell, he said in an interview yesterday.

"There are other options available but none that will stop me going to Milan," the LA Galaxy player told The Mail on Sunday. "It is close to being finalized."

England manager Fabio Capello has already said Beckham must return to a top European side to have any hope making his squad for next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.

Originally overlooked by the Italian coach, the 34-year-old former England captain won back his international place during a successful loan period at Milan in the second half of last term.

Capello won't rest stars

LONDON: Fabio Capello insists he will not rest Wayne Rooney or any of England's star players for his side's final two World Cup qualifiers against the Ukraine and Belarus.

Capello, whose team has already qualified for South Africa 2010 with eight victories in its opening eight fixtures, had previously hinted that Rooney and Steven Gerrard in particular could be omitted in order to protect them from injury and to give other players an opportunity to press their cases.

But now the Italian, who expects to call up Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor to replace injured Jermain Defoe when he names his squad on Sunday, says he will put out full-strength sides in Dnipropetrovsk on Oct 10 and at Wembley four days later.

(China Daily 10/05/2009 page11)