Agassi Will Rest Rather Than Play Australian Open

Andre Agassi, saying he needs rest, has decided to skip the 1997 Australian Open, tournament director Paul McNamee announced.

Agassi, who won the Open in 1995, plans to play in the Compaq Grand Slam Cup next week before taking a two-month break from tennis, McNamee said.

Soccer

Nigerian soccer star Nwankwo Kanu had successful heart surgery in Cleveland, and his Italian club says it is too early to tell if he will be able to play again.

Leicester City has asked the U.S. national team to release goalkeeper Kasey Keller from Sunday’s World Cup qualifying game against Costa Rica so he can play for the English club against Manchester United.

Dutch soccer star Patrick Kluivert has withdrawn an appeal against his vehicular homicide sentence to avoid the intense publicity surrounding the case, lawyer Manfred Nan said.

AC Milan star George Weah was banned for at least one Champions Cup game for head-butting FC Porto’s Jorge Costa after a match last week.

Weah broke Costas’ nose after AC Milan and Porto played to a 1-1 tie in the Nov. 20 Champions League game in Oporto.

Olympics

The nation’s largest sports federation has refused to pay a $1.3 million bill from Atlanta organizers for pre-Olympic events held at the city’s games stadium.

In return, the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games is withholding almost $500,000 in marketing payments it owes USA Track and Field.

USA Track has claimed that ACOG has inflated the bill for use of the stadium, while ACOG has accused the federation of deliberately stalling to leave the bill unsettled until ACOG goes out of business.

“We thought we agreed to a budget, and it should have been paid,” said Pat Glisson, ACOG’s chief financial officer.

Miscellany

The first round of South African golf’s Million Dollar Challenge got a wet start on the Gary Player Country Club course when play was washed out with none of the 12 contestants having completed more than five holes.

When play was called off, three players, American Steve Stricker, Germany’s Bernhard Langer and Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie topped the leader board at one under par.

Weather permitting, the first round will be completed this morning with round two in the afternoon.

A state appeals court has ruled that a female jockey paralyzed from the waist down in a 1992 racing accident can sue the track operators for negligence.

Jockey Sidney Underwood, 33, was injured June 19, 1992, while riding in a race at Atlantic City Race Course. Her mount fell on the backstretch, slamming her to the track.

Floods caused a British team seeking to break the world’s land-speed record in Jordan to postpone its attempt until next year.