Tennis must avoid "internal battles" if its growth is to keep pace with other sports, Roger Federer said in response to news that the ATP will launch a revamped World Team Cup. The new event, set to start in Australia in Jan. '20, put the ATP on a "collision course" with the Int'l Tennis Federation. Federer confessed he had "only just read the details of the announcement when he spoke to media" after his first-round victory at Wimbledon on Monday but said that tennis "could not afford political infighting" at a time when the World Cup was "dominating the thoughts of sports fans" (SBS, 7/2).
In a move to "cement" int'l ties and provide students professional experience, the University of Adelaide and Australian Football League side Port Adelaide signed an agreement to "offer internships and job opportunities in China." Port Adelaide GM of China Engagement Andrew Hunter said, "We want to provide a bridge between the people, businesses and governments of Australia and China." The initiative will begin at the end of this academic year (THE AUSTRALIAN, 7/4).
South Korean officials and basketball players left for North Korea by air on Tuesday to participate in friendly matches in Pyongyang, as proposed at the inter-Korean summit in April. The South Korean delegation is led by Unification Minister Cho Myung Gyun and consists of about 100 people, including government officials and male and female basketball players as well as members of the press. Speculation "abounds" that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who is known to be an avid basketball fan, may attend some of the matches (KYODO, 7/3).
Rugby Africa and the Tunisia Rugby Union apologized to Zimbabwe after its players "slept on the street following problems with their accommodation before a match this weekend." Zimbabwe’s players have also "not been paid their meal allowances on a trip to play a World Cup qualifier," leaving South African coach Peter de Villiers to fund their food and drink "out of his own pocket" (REUTERS, 7/3).
