A round-up of today's sports news
Dick urges UKA to go by rules
Athletics:The world's top coach, Frank Dick, advised UK Athletics (UKA) yesterday to stick to the rules and choose Dwain Chambers for next month's World Indoor Championships in Valencia. Dick is concerned UKA will break not only their own regulations, but those of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), if they bar the sprinter from the team.
Dick feels using UKA's "exceptional circumstances" selection rule will be a legal breach of their own and other constitutions, if used against Chambers. He urged performance director Dave Collins to ignore the moral crusade of chief executive Niels de Vos and pick Chambers tomorrow.
Taylor set for bout in Fermoy
Boxing:Irish World and three-times European lightweight champion Katie Taylor will meet Sweden's Klara Svensson in Fermoy on March 23rd in a light welterweight clash.
Taylor last week sparred with and more than held her own against former World champion and double Olympic medal winner Jerome Thomas at the National Stadium in Dublin.
The Frenchman was with the French squad in Dublin for a training camp with England and Ireland in preparation for the Olympics and second last Olympic qualifier for European boxers in Pescara, Italy at the end of this month.
Taylor has been named in the Irish senior women's soccer squad for a crunch Uefa Championships qualifier against Italy in Sardinia next weekend.
Dakar Rally out of Africa
Motor Sport:The 2009 Dakar Rally will be staged in South America after this year's event was cancelled because of security concerns in Africa, organisers said yesterday.
The event for cars, trucks and motorcycles will take place in Argentina and Chile from January 3rd to 18th, a spokesman for the French organisers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) said.
The organisers did not say whether the event's name would be changed.
The rally, originally known as the Paris-Dakar, had always been staged entirely or mostly in Africa in its 30-year history. It was cancelled for the first time last month because of security concerns in Mauritania where four French tourists were killed by suspected al Qaeda rebels in December.
Hamilton to test in Spain
Motor Sport:McLaren's Lewis Hamilton will resume Formula One testing in Spain today after suffering racist abuse from the local crowd at his last outing in Barcelona earlier this month.
The team said it would be business as usual for the 23-year-old Briton, the sport's first black driver who was due to test today, tomorrow and Thursday at the Jerez circuit.
Red Bull and Williams tested at the southern circuit yesterday.
Meanwhile, Portugal hopes a new €200 million circuit being built in the Algarve tourist region can bring Formula One back to the country. Circuit director Paulo Pinheiro said yesterday one F1 team had already booked the 4.7 km track in the south of Portugal for a test next January and there were talks in progress with others.
