Sports Briefs: Soccer talks will resume

By: JournalNow Staff | JOURNAL STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
Published: March 06, 2010

A federal mediator will be at the bargaining table when Major League Soccer's labor talks resume next week.

Management and the MLS Player Union accepted an offer from George H. Cohen, the director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

The league's labor contract expired Feb. 25 when players refused to agree to another extension of the deal, which originally was to have run out Jan. 31. Players want free agency within the league when their contracts expire and a higher percentage of guaranteed contracts.

More soccer

■ Everton wants to keep U.S. midfielder Landon Donovan beyond his 10-week loan period and says it has already had promising talks with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Donovan has made an impact in the English Premier League, winning praise from club manager David Moyes and the Goodison Park fans, who have started a Facebook campaign to keep him.

"I am keen to keep Landon and it sounds initially in America that they might say ‘yes,"' Moyes told reporters yesterday. "I think Landon is keen to stay also so it looks as though all parties are keen.

"But I have not got that confirmed yet. I can't say exactly if that is going to happen. If we can make it happen we will."

Donovan currently is expected back for the Galaxy's Major League Soccer opener March 27.

■ Forward Michael Owen of Manchester United will miss the rest of the Premier League season because of a hamstring injury that needs surgery, ending his faint hopes of making England's World Cup roster. Owen pulled up with the injury shortly after scoring the tying goal during United's 2-1 victory over Aston Villa in Sunday's League Cup final at Wembley.

Miscellaneous

■ Retired tennis stars Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Lindsay Davenport are joining current women's player Justine Henin in a second match at a charity tennis exhibition to raise money for Haiti.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will team with retired stars Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in an already announced men's match during the "Hit for Haiti" benefit, scheduled March 12 at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Tournament director Steve Simon says he expects a minimum of $1 million to be raised for earthquake relief efforts.

Federer and Sampras will team for a doubles match against Nadal and Agassi. Graf and Davenport will play Navratilova and Henin, who recently returned to the pro tour after a brief retirement. Net proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the American Red Cross.

■ Johan Bruyneel, the director of Team RadioShack, wants to play down Lance Armstrong's rivalry with Alberto Contador at the Tour de France. Their rivalry was well-documented when they raced for Astana last season, and Bruyneel was the team director. Contador won the Tour last year and Armstrong finished third.

Bruyneel and Armstrong joined the new RadioShack team this year. Bruyneel believes that Andy and Frank Schleck and Bradley Wiggins can only gain "an advantage" from an Armstrong-Contador focus during the race from July 3 to July 25.

"I think it's wrong to look at it that way because it only provides the other contenders with an advantage," Bruyneel said yesterday. "There's no point in going on about Contador-Armstrong because we only spend more energy on that, and that just helps the others."