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/ 30 January 2004

A little problem of ethnicity

For a meeting in which adversaries agreed on nothing more than to meet again, the talks between Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye and the last rebel group under arms has been getting rave reviews. The warring Burundian forces have agreed to set aside differences and work at building trust.

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/ 30 January 2004

Kallis redux

Cricket sage Hylton Ackerman has the knack of hitting more nails on the head than most, but there was an air of naïve redundancy in his on-air praise of Jacques Kallis this week. In almost subversive tones, as if postulating a notion that was revolutionary and risky,

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/ 30 January 2004

A Feder-al state

With his graceful stroke-play, Roger Federer is already a trendsetter for tennis’s new, anti-baseline-bashing generation. Of the four men’s semifinalists at this year’s Australian Open only Federer has never been the world number one — if he beats Juan Carlos Ferrero, he will become the 23rd man to reach this pinnacle since 1973.

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/ 30 January 2004

Chelsea drawn towards Gunners fire

When the Football Association urged clubs to field their strongest teams in the FA Cup this week, there was one tie the governing body would not have been worrying about. Arsenal and Chelsea have been drawn to meet at Highbury for a quarterfinal place and it can be taken as read that neither will be putting out a reserve side.

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/ 30 January 2004

All quiet on Merseyside

When the Gunners’ vice-chairperson, David Dein, popped over to spend £16,4-million on Jose Antonio Reyes in Spain on Wednesday, the moths in his wallet made a desperate bid for freedom. The once-bulging Arsenal piggy bank hasn’t been touched since Jens Lehmann arrived for £1,5-million in the summer.

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/ 30 January 2004

Reyes exit breaks Seville hearts

As José Antonio Reyes left Sevilla’s Sanchez Pizjuan stadium bound for London on Tuesday, hundreds of fans gathered to chant his name and jeer José Maria del Nido, the president who sold him. Even the huge transfer fee, which could rise as high as £20-million, was no consolation.

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/ 30 January 2004

Super Eagles? More like dead ducks

Well, there’s a thing. Us fancy football fundamentalists all cram up on the African Nations Cup and proclaim Nigeria, Senegal and Cameroon as the clear favourites. Geniuses aren’t we? Thing is, for these three great African footballing powers, it very nearly is all over in Tunisia.

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/ 30 January 2004

Time for heroes

As Bafana Bafana prepare to meet old foes Nigeria in the African Cup of Nations, they are in need of new heroes. Whichever team wins on Saturday is likely to qualify from the group, the others will probably be booking early flights home. But Siyabonga Nomvete cannot be allowed to carry the team alone.