■ Cricket
Death probe `inconclusive'
The probe into the death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer is "inconclusive" and has not proved that he was murdered, a Pakistani investigator said on Monday. The comments by Mir Zubair Mahmood, a senior Karachi detective who was sent to Jamaica to help in the investigation into the death of the former England test player, casts doubt over earlier assertions by police there that Woolmer was murdered. Jamaican police have said that Woolmer was found strangled in his room in an upscale hotel in Kingston on March 18, a day after his Pakistan squad was eliminated from the World Cup by minnows Ireland in an upset defeat. But Mahmood said that the cause of the coach's death has yet to be determined.
■ Cricket
Cancel tour, says Downer
The Australian government has called on the national cricket team to cancel their planned tour of Zimbabwe for later this year. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he would meet Cricket Australia officials this week in the hope of persuading them to scrap the three one-dayers scheduled for September. "My view is that the tour shouldn't go ahead," Downer told reporters on Monday. "If it were to go ahead then Australia, which is after all the world championship team, would give Zimbabwe's regime and its president a propaganda victory," Downer said. "We shouldn't do that -- this is a horrific regime in Zimbabwe and we should take a stand."
■ Soccer
Blatter backs SA over Cup
FIFA president Sepp Blatter said yesterday that South Africa will "definitely" host the 2010 World Cup, dismissing concerns about the country's ability to hold the event. "I can tell you that if there is no catastrophe which is a natural catastrophe, then the World Cup 2010 will definitely be organized and played in South Africa. This is my last statement on that," Blatter told reporters in Malaysia. South Africa won the rights to host the tournament in 2004, but it faces logistical problems in overhauling its transport system, updating infrastructure and boosting hotel capacity to cope with the expected influx of visitors. Local organizing chief Danny Jordaan has repeatedly said that South Africa is on, if not ahead of, schedule. South African officials also say they will tighten security to fight crime and protect visitors.
RSS