TOP 100 SPORT SITES
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| Woods loses AT&T sponsorship deal • Telecommunications giant severs contract with golfer• Fall-out from scandal claims third sponsorRob BagchiTiger Woods has suffered a fresh blow with the announcement that a third sponsor, AT&T, has withdrawn its support for the world No1 following the example of Accenture and Gillette.AT&T, whose logo appears on his golf bag, did not comment on its reasons for dropping Woods, who has admitted marital infidelity after a string of allegations involving several women. The telecommunications giant replaced Buick on the player's bag last February after the car company scaled back its sponsorship activities due to the poor financial climate.The company was also the host of the AT&T National PGA event in July – something it says it will continue to sponsor. In a statement, AT&T said: "We are ending our sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods and wish him well in the future." The telecommunications conglomerate did not say how much the contract was worth.The global consulting firm Accenture ended its six-year relationship with Woods in early December and Gillette, who featured the golfer in a high-profile campaign alongside Roger Federer and Thierry Henry, said it planned to limit Woods' role in future promotions.Pepsico has also announced that it is dropping its Gatorade Tiger Focus drink, but said the decision had nothing to do with the scandal that came to light after Woods crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his Florida home on 27 November. Tag Heuer, the watchmaker, recently added that it would "downscale" its use of Mr Woods in its advertisements.His primary sponsor, Nike, however says Woods has the company's full support and his deal with Electronic Arts, which produces the game Tiger Woods' PGA Tour Golf remains unaffected.The golfer was estimated to earn about £60m annually for endorsements and tournaments and has amassed a £450m fortune since he turned professional in 1996. Woods, married with two children, said he would take an indefinite break from playing, after allegations from a succession of women that they had sexual relations with him.Tiger WoodsGolfguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Blow for Arsenal as Cesc Fà bregas comeback delayed and fixtures pile up Arsenal’s hunt for trophies suffered a double setback yesterday with the news that Cesc Fà bregas will be out for another week with a hamstring injury. That revelation was compounded by a piece of fixture scheduling that has enraged Arsène Wenger, his manager. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Flintoff ruled out for another six months • All-rounder to miss IPL and World Twenty20• 'There is a lot more hard work in front of me'Andrew Flintoff has been ruled out for another six months, forcing him to miss the Indian Premier League and June's World Twenty20, after undergoing further surgery on his right knee this week.The all-rounder, who has not played since helping England to win the Ashes at The Oval last summer, had hoped to fulfil the second year of his contract with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL – worth $1.55m (£950,000) – and feature for England in the World Twenty20 in the West Indies.But he said tonight that he faces "another six months of hard rehabilitation" following the latest surgery, which was described as a routine arthroscopic operation to check the healing on his knee. He will not be in contention for a place in England's one-day teams before the games against Pakistan in September."It is disappointing not to be able to play for Chennai, who have been very supportive throughout my time with them, but I took this decision because I love playing cricket and want to give myself the best chance of extending my career," he said."I have worked extremely hard over the last few months to get to this position and realise there is a lot more hard work in front of me if I want to return and play international cricket again. But if I am going to go through another six months of hard rehabilitation and training for long hours, I need a big incentive to be the driving force of that and playing for Lancashire and England again will become that."During my time in rehabilitation I have been watching England playing well in South Africa and it has made me realise how much I have missed cricket. For the first time in my career I have watched old footage of myself playing on YouTube and I want to get back to playing like that again."Flintoff has retired from Tests and had indicated he would play only one-day cricket, but he now hopes to play some County Championship games. "I did not think I would be able to play anything other than one-day cricket but the news of my recovery has led me to believe I may play in all forms of cricket for Lancashire," he said.Lancashire CCC Cricket Director Mike Watkinson said: "The latest update from the specialist indicates that Fred's right knee is recovering better than anyone expected following surgery for a micro-fracture. "It's this very positive report which has led to Fred's decision to play more than just one-day cricket for Lancashire. It is disappointing that he won't be able to return to action until midway through our season, but to have a stronger Fred available for all formats of cricket can only be a great thing for Lancashire."Andrew FlintoffEngland Cricket TeamIPLWorld Twenty20Cricketguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Share and share alike: the key for Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton • Button: 'When we start testing we need to be working together'• Having two world champions will be major lift for McLarenThe Formula One world champion, Jenson Button, and Lewis Hamilton, his predecessor, will get together tomorrow for the first time since becoming team-mates at McLaren. Button is excited at the prospect of working with Hamilton and, though he acknowledged that the team he joined after leaving Brawn has been built around his 25-year-old English compatriot, he is confident the two can combine well and improve on McLaren's poor 2009 season.Last week Hamilton described himself as "just the No2 driver" but Button, speaking this afternoon in central London, said his new team-mate, who joined McLaren as a rookie in 2007, is the team's focal point. "It is understandable that the team love Lewis and they should love Lewis – he is a world champion, he has been with them for three years and he has done exceptionally well," said Button, on his 30th birthday. "Tomorrow we're at the factory together, so that should be good. When we start testing we need to be working together, we need to share everything, that is key for us being ready at the first race."Preparations for that first grand prix in Bahrain begin in earnest when the ÂWoking-based team start testing their 2010 car, the MP4-25, in Valencia. A test driver will be first to sit behind the wheel on 1 February, before Hamilton takes it out the next day and Button the day after.Button said it would be essential that he and his 24-year-old team-mate Âco‑operate if McLaren are to improve on a disappointing 2009, something Button says he has done throughout a Formula One career that began 10 years ago at Williams. "I think they know I have a lot of experience of working with team-mates, good and bad, over the years. I come with a lot of useful information and also a history of working with drivers and us getting along and us working together to improve the car. We are all pretty talented drivers, I must say, so you have got to look for other areas where you can help. Us two working together, with our experience, is fantastic."After a poor start to last season McLaren steadily improved to finish third in the constructors' championship, behind Button's former team, Brawn, and Red Bull as Hamilton finished fifth in the drivers' standings, 46 points behind Button, who is confident that McLaren can look forward to better things this year."I think last year being a difficult year for them is perfect, I'm sure they don't think that but the tough start to the season made me realise how much work they've done and how far forward they can move if they really produce a lot of parts for the car," he said. "They have learned a lot in 2009 and I think that will show in 2010."Boasting two British world champions, the Mercedes-powered team will be expected to mount a serious challenge this season and Button, rather than being daunted by the fact, says the opportunity to drive alongside another world champion is what attracted him to McLaren."In your whole career you come up against the best in the world, especially when you get to Formula One, so for me this year the reason why I made the change is I wanted a new challenge and I wanted to race against not just Lewis and work with Lewis, but also race with McLaren."McLaren principal Martin Whitmarsh has been elected chairman of the Formula One Teams Association for 2010, replacing Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo.FOTA said in a statement that Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali will be vice-chairman while Red Bull's Christian Horner heads the sporting regulations working group.Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn continues to lead the technical regulations working group.Jenson ButtonLewis HamiltonMcLarenFormula OneMotor sportMikey Staffordguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
FA Cup and Premier League video previews: Rio Ferdinand to return for Manchester United All matches 3pm unless stated feeds.timesonline.co.uk |