Sydney budget gets big cut

Olympic Games: A troubled year for the Olympic movement ended with more problems yesterday following the news that the Sydney organisers had been forced to slash up to Stg£50 million off the 2000 Games' budget due to sponsorship problems, writes Duncan Mackay.

The Sydney Olympic Committee for the Olympic Games admitted that a shortfall in sponsorship revenue meant the entire budget would need to be rewritten just nine months before the biggest games in history.

Fears are now growing that the organisers will not be able to put on the spectacular show the International Olympic Committee so desperately needs to help repair its tarnished image.

SOCOG chief executive Sandy Hollway said no division of the Games would be exempt from budget cuts and did not rule out staff redundancies.

The sponsorship target has been lowered to £455 million. The original figure was more than £530 million before an earlier £25 million cut this year.

"We've just got to get stuck into this and find savings where we can," said Hollway.

Rugby: Canterbury Crusaders coach Wayne Smith has been appointed as the new All Blacks coach. He replaces John Hart, who quit after New Zealand finished fourth in the World Cup. Smith's assistant will be Otago's Tony Gilbert, who also sought the top job. Smith was a favourite in some quarters because of his standing as a past All Black - and his success with the Canterbury Crusaders, who he guided to back-to-back Super 12 titles in 1998-99.

Tennis: Australia Davis Cup captain John Newcombe is overjoyed US captain John McEnroe has secured the services of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras for next year's competition.

McEnroe announced on Thursday that Agassi, Sampras, Todd Martin and Alex O'Brien would play against Zimbabwe in February and continue for the rest of the 2000 series.

Retaining the Davis Cup will now be harder for Australia but Newcombe, desperate for a heavyweight clash between his team and the Americans, wanted McEnroe to have his best players available.