FIFA Says 2010 World Cup Will Be Held in Africa
The 2010 World Cup will be staged in Africa, FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, decided Thursday.
South Africa, which lost to Germany last summer in voting for the 2006 World Cup site, is the overwhelming favorite to conduct the 2010 tournament.
The next World Cup, in 2002, will be played in Japan and South Korea.
Germany was awarded the 2006 World Cup last July, outpolling South Africa, 12-11, with New Zealand’s Charles Dempsey abstaining. Dempsey had been instructed by the Oceania Football Confederation, which he represented, to vote for South Africa.
In August, FIFA agreed to rotate the event among continents. But at that time, the governing body did not guarantee Africa would be the first host under the new system.
South Africa could face a challenge from Morocco, which also was a candidate for the 2006 World Cup. Other large nations, such as Egypt, also could make bids.
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The U.S. women’s soccer team, fielding one of the youngest lineups in its history, lost to Sweden in the final game of the opening round of the Algarve Cup at Albufeira, Portugal, 2-0.
It was the second defeat in three games of the round-robin portion of the tournament. The Americans, who previously had defeated Portugal and lost to Canada, finished third in their group. They will play Norway for fifth place Saturday.
Nearly all of the United States’ best women players are preparing for the debut of the Women’s United Soccer Assn. in April.
Pro Football
Offensive lineman Ethan Brooks signed a three-year, $1.7-million contract with the Denver Broncos. With incentives, the contract could be worth up to $3.1 million. Also, the Broncos waived running back Keith Brown.
The Kansas City Chiefs signed center Casey Wiegmann, an unrestricted free agent from the Chicago Bears, to a six-year contract. The 6-foot-3, 285-pound Wiegmann started 24 of 49 games in four seasons with the Bears, 10 of their 16 games in 2000.
With little money to spend, the Washington Redskins solved their kicking problems with a familiar face, signing free agent Brett Conway, one of five kickers the team used last season, to a three-year deal worth about $2 million.
Center Eric Beverly re-signed with the Detroit Lions, who matched an offer made to the restricted free agent last week by the Miami Dolphins.
The Minnesota Vikings agreed to terms with tight end Byron Chamberlain, a six-year NFL veteran who has played his entire career with the Broncos.
Boxing
Mike Tyson will fight David Izon on May 19, most likely at the MCI Center in Washington or the USAirways Arena in Landover, Md., his advisor Shelly Finkel said.
Former World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion Greg Page, who suffered head injuries in a bout against Dale Crowe, remained in critical condition in Cincinnati.
Muhammad Ali has apologized for some of the things he said about Joe Frazier before their legendary fight 30 years ago.
Frazier, who for years was bitter about Ali’s comments, has said recently that he wanted to put that behind him.
“In a way, Joe’s right,” Ali said in an interview published in Thursday’s New York Times. “I said a lot of things in the heat of the moment that I shouldn’t have said. Called him names I shouldn’t have called him. I apologize for that. I’m sorry. It was all meant to promote the fight.”
Miscellany
A meeting between Dale Earnhardt’s widow and the Orlando Sentinel over her efforts to block the newspaper from seeing her husband’s autopsy photos ended with no resolution in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Teresa Earnhardt said before the meeting that releasing the photos of the NASCAR great would cause “permanent distress” to the family without public benefit.
She left the meeting without commenting, and lawyers for both sides are barred from discussing details. Talks are scheduled to resume today in the office of mediator John Upchurch.
Auburn’s Maggie Bowen set a meet and American record of 1 minute, 55.49 seconds in the 200-yard individual medley in the NCAA Division I women’s swimming championships at East Meadow, N.Y. Bowen beat the previous record of 1:55.54, which was set by Summer Sanders of Stanford in 1992. Auburn was the team leader after the first of three days of competition with 121.5 points. Georgia was second at 112.5.
Garrett Lowney recorded a pin to help top-ranked Minnesota retain its lead over six-time defending champion Iowa and Oklahoma State at the NCAA wrestling championships at Iowa City. The Golden Gophers, who are seeking their first national title, advanced eight of their 10 qualifiers into today’s quarterfinals. Iowa, aiming for its 10th national championship in the last 11 years, had all eight wrestlers say alive, while the Cowboys had six.
Alabama Athletic Director Mal Moore, 61, has been hospitalized after suffering from mild chest pains.
Former tennis star Steffi Graf has confirmed that she lost $600,000 in a mob-infiltrated stock fraud that bilked investors of $50 million, a German financial newspaper reported.
Prosecutors dropped rape charges against three Naval Academy football players, Arion Williams, Shaka Martin and Cordrea Brittingham, who in turn resigned from the school as part of a settlement.
Waukesha County (Wis.) District Attorney Paul Bucher said he will issue underage drinking tickets to teens who drank alcohol with former Green Bay Packer Mark Chmura and his friend Robert Gessert at a party, now that criminal cases against the two men are over, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Ski racer Picabo Street capped her comeback season with a surprising victory over Olympic-caliber downhill competition, winning a Super Series race at Snowbasin, Utah, on the course to be used during the 2002 games. Street had a run of 1 minute 41.57 seconds to defeat Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria by half a second.
The 147th Oxford-Cambridge rowing race will be held as scheduled on March 24, despite Britain’s continuing foot-and-mouth disease crisis, organizers said.
