NEWSWIRE

A day after their ugly spat over sponsorships, the boss of the Sydney Olympics and the IOC’s top marketing official literally kissed and made up.

IOC Vice President Dick Pound blasted Sydney organizing chief Michael Knight on Thursday for having a “dysfunctional relationship” with sponsors of the 2000 Sydney Games. He chided organizers for treating sponsorship dollars as a “milk cow that could be returned to again, again and again.”

Today, the two sought each other out at the IOC executive board meetings and, with television cameras rolling, Knight planted a kiss on Pound’s cheek.

Pro Football

Three-time Pro Bowl safety Mark Carrier signed a five-year, $15.9-million contract with the Washington Redskins.

Carrier, who received a $3-million signing bonus, said he had also been considering Tennessee and Chicago, the team he spent seven seasons with after leaving USC. He had been playing with the Detroit Lions.

Carrier replaces Leomont Evans, a fourth-round draft pick in 1996 and the starter at free safety for the last two seasons. Evans’ last big play for the Redskins was a negative one: His 31-yard pass interference penalty led to Tampa Bay’s first touchdown in the Buccaneers’ 14-13 victory over Washington in the playoffs.

Evans became a free agent this month, and the Redskins indicated they did not plan to re-sign him.

The Miami Dolphins signed quarterback Jay Fiedler, giving them four quarterbacks and little room for Dan Marino. The Dolphins also signed St. Louis Ram center Ryan Tucker to an offer sheet. St. Louis has until Feb. 24 to match Miami’s offer for a three-year contract. . . . The San Francisco 49ers re-signed defensive lineman Junior Bryant.

Roman Fortin, the San Diego center who started all 32 games the last two seasons, agreed to a two-year contract with the Chargers. . . . Quarterback Jim Miller agreed to terms on a contract with the Bears. . . . Jumbo Elliott, the New York Jets’ left tackle, agreed to have his salary slashed by $2 million to save the team salary-cap room. The 34-year-old Elliott’s pay drops from $2.5 million to $500,000. . . . Snubbed by James Stewart and still looking for a feature running back, the Cleveland Browns were trying to finalize a contract with Baltimore free agent Errict Rhett.

Jurisprudence

Baltimore Raven linebacker Ray Lewis made his first statement since being charged with the stabbing deaths of two men outside an Atlanta nightclub after the Super Bowl.

“You’ve heard many times before from my attorneys and from a lot of other people, but now you get to hear it from me: I am innocent,” Lewis said at Owings Mills, Md. “I’m looking forward to the day all the facts come out. . . .”

With Lewis as he spoke were owner Art Modell and Coach Brian Billick.

“Ray Lewis is a member of this organization. He’s a member of this football team and will be afforded all the rights we give members of this football team,” Billick said.

Kansas City wide receiver Andre Rison was arrested at his home in Leawood, Kan., on a charge of felony theft. The charge alleges that Rison rented electronic equipment in September but never paid for it or returned it. He was released after posting a $2,000 bond and faces a court hearing Feb. 29.

Tennis

Serena Williams swept past Sabine Appelmans of Belgium, 6-1, 6-3, to reach the quarterfinals of the indoor WTA tournament at Hannover, Germany. But second-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France upset by Kristie Boogert, a Dutch qualifier, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-3. . . . Second-seeded Nicolas Kiefer of Germany needed a final-set tiebreaker to get into the quarterfinals of the ABN AMRO tournament, beating Czech Jiri Novak, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), at Rotterdam, Netherlands. . . . Top-seeded Mark Philippoussis of Australia withdrew from the St. Jude tournament in Memphis, Tenn., because of a sore left knee. Michael Chang reached the quarterfinals by defeating Hernan Gumy of Argentina, 6-2, 6-0.

Miscellany

Brian Schottenheimer, 26, an assistant at Syracuse last season and the son of former NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer, was named to coach tight ends at USC.

Switzerland’s Sonja Nef placed first in a World Cup skiing slalom at Are, Sweden.

Nef, who led after the first run, capitalized on mishaps by her two closest rivals and finished 1.01 seconds ahead of Austrian Anita Wachter.