Sports Briefs

■ OLYMPIC

Angry wife hijacks TV event

The wife of a top sports anchor on Chinese state television has created a buzz in the blogosphere by crashing an Olympic media event -- to publicly accuse her husband of adultery. A video clip of Zhang Bin's wife Hu Ziwei commandeering a microphone at a China Central Television (CCTV) presentation of its coverage plans was easily one of the most viewed items on Chinese video site Tudou.com yesterday. Friday's event in Beijing was meant to rebrand CCTV's sports channel as "The Olympic Channel" for the August Olympic Games hosted by the Chinese capital, but it quickly turned embarrassing for the state broadcaster. "Today is a special day for The Olympic Channel and a special day for Mr Zhang Bin, and for me too," said Hu, herself a presenter on another network. "Because just two hours ago, I found out that besides me, Mr Zhang Bin has been maintaining an improper relationship with another woman." Zhang could only stand by stone-faced as Hu went into details, fending off attempts to remove her from the podium.



■ CRICKET

Black Caps recall Bell

Opening batsmen Matthew Bell has been recalled after five years to the New Zealand cricket team for the Test series against Bangladesh starting on Friday. Bell played the most recent of his 13 Tests against Australia in the 2001-2002 season before being discarded as New Zealand repeatedly reshaped their opening partnerships. He has made one century and two half-centuries in Tests, averaging 22 in 23 innings. Bell scored 722 runs at an average of 103 and with a top score of 265 in domestic first-class matches this season. Australian-born opener Mathew Sinclair has also been offered the chance to expand on his 27-Test career with his inclusion in New Zealand's 12-man squad, captained by Daniel Vettori.



■ SOCCER

Gillot set to join Sochaux

Francis Gillot looks set to become the new coach of French first division strugglers FC Sochaux after the club announced on Sunday they were in advanced negotiations with the former Lens boss. If given the green light Gillot will replace caretaker manager Jean-Luc Ruty, who was placed in charge after the club sacked head coach Frederic Hantz last month. "Nothing has been decided yet. We are still in negotiations," said the club's administrative director, Pierre Wantiez. "If everything goes well, it should be announced tomorrow [Monday] but there won't be an announcement tonight [Sunday]."



■ RUGBY UNION

Williams gets Ulster job

Former Scotland coach Matt Williams has been appointed head coach of Ulster on a two-and-a-half year contract, the Irish Province announced on Sunday. The 46-year-old Australian, who previously coached Ulster's Irish rivals Leinster, with whom he won the Celtic League, and New South Wales has replaced Mark McCall who resigned after a string of poor results. Williams will meet the squad on a short trip to Belfast later this week but will take over permanently at the end of this month. Caretaker coach Steve Williams will remain in charge for Ulster's next three games. Williams endured a torrid time in the Scotland hotseat. In two years, he won just three out of 17 games and was sacked along with his backroom staff in April 2005.