BRIEFS

Barath fails

CUTTACK, India (CMC): Teenaged West Indies batting star, Adrian Barath, failed on his Indian Premier League debut, as his Kings XI Punjab plunged to their third straight loss, a narrow six-run defeat to Deccan Chargers yesterday.

The flashy right-hander, who scored a century on Test debut against Australia last December, made just seven as Kings XI were restricted to 164 for eight off their 20 overs, in pursuit of 171 to win.

Entering at 46 for four in the eighth over at Barabati Stadium, Barath smashed the fifth ball he received through mid-wicket for four but generally struggled to get the ball away. Attempting to break the shackles, he was caught at long-off off the first ball of the 11th over, trying to clear the boundary with left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha.

Jordan's bid approved

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AP):

Michael Jordan became the first former player to be a majority team owner in the NBA when his US$275 million bid to buy the Charlotte Bobcats was unanimously approved by the league's Board of Governors on Wednesday.

Jordan will take over the money-losing team immediately from Bob Johnson, after serving as a minority investor with the final say on basketball decisions since 2006.

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Rejected by FIFA

ZURICH (AP): FIFA's ruling executive has rejected a move to limit its president's term in office to eight years. Members voted 15 to five, with one abstention, to throw out a proposal tabled by Asian confederation president Mohamed bin Hammam, which would have taken effect from the election scheduled in 2011. It was viewed as the opening shot in a potential challenge to incumbent Sepp Blatter.

Bin Hammam said last month that it was time for an Asian to lead world football.

Blatter was elected president in 1998 by FIFA's 200-plus national federations and has offered to stand for a fourth term next year.

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$196m profit

ZURICH (AP): FIFA made a profit of $196 million (€145 million) in 2009 and increased its reserve fund to more than $1 billion. Football's world governing body declared equity of $1.061 billion (€0.78 billion) in its annual financial report published yesterday.

FIFA has focused on building its reserves in recent years to sustain it in the event that a World Cup is cancelled and commercial partners have to be repaid. It originally had a target of $800 million to be set aside by the end of 2010, but has already exceeded that.

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No logo on bag

PALM HARBOR, Florida (AP): Tiger Woods won't replace AT&T with a new corporate sponsor on his golf bag when he returns at the Masters, instead using his Nike brand. AT&T dropped him as a sponsor on December 31 in the midst of the scandal over his private life. It will be the first time since he turned pro that Woods has used an existing sponsor's logo on the bag. The golf bag and hat are the two areas in golf where companies get the most television exposure.

"We are not actively pursuing new business partnerships at this point in time," Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent at IMG, said yesterday in a text message.

Steinberg said Woods will be using the 'TW' brand at Nike, his longest corporate sponsor.