Australia Union wanted to rip up Beale contract - chairman

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Australian rugby team player Kurtley Beale

 Kurtley Beale's contract should have been torn up after he sent an offensive text to an official before an independent disciplinary process took the matter out of the Australian Rugby Union's hands, said the ARU's chairman.

Beale was fined A$45,000 (US$39,595) after the hearing last week for sending the text to the Wallabies' business manager Di Patston in June, though a second message deemed more offensive by the ARU was not proved to have been sent from the player's phone.

"Kurtley sent the first text," ARU chairman Michael Hawker was quoted as saying by News Limited newspapers on Saturday.

"We felt the first text was inappropriate behaviour by an employee of the organisation and irrespective of what the second text said, the first text in our view was a warrant for us to basically say in our view, we should have his contract torn up.

"All that information went to the tribunal (who) came out with a finding, which was a fine and not tearing the contract up, and we have abided by that.

"We went through a process. We took it to an independent tribunal and we are required under that agreement, and we will honour that agreement, that we will keep him in the game."

The 25-year-old Beale was fined an additional $3,000 on Friday for an in-flight row last month with Patston over a t-shirt.

CONDUCT HEARING

It was an investigation into that bustup on a flight to South America from Africa that showed up the text messages that sparked last week's code of conduct hearing.

The scandal has plunged Australian rugby into crisis and seen Patston and Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie quit their jobs while chief executive Bill Pulver has been heavily criticised for his handling of the situation.

Hawker said the board stood by Pulver and that he had handled the investigation according to the process set out by the ARU.

"We think Bill has done a tremendous job for rugby over the last 18 months ... on every basis we are very comfortable with Bill's handling of the game," he said.

Beale, who has a litany of off-field indiscretions, is now free to play for the Wallabies again though it is unlikely he will be called into new coach Michael Cheika's squad for their end-of-season tour of Europe.

The utility back is out of contract at the end of the season and the ARU said that, after Friday's second fine, it would now reopen negotiations with him over a new deal.
 

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Rooney back for Manchester derby but Falcao unfit

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Manchester United's Wayne Rooney Wayne Rooney, who has scored more goals than anyone in the Manchester derby, is back after suspension and fit for Sunday's meeting between the city's two biggest clubs at the Etihad Stadium. Rumours that Rooney could miss Sunday's clash had begun to circulate after media reports said he limped away from training on Monday with a foot injury. Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal told reporters on Friday, however, that Rooney would feature, but fellow striker Radamel Falcao would not be available. "Falcao is still injured," he said. "Rooney shall play, he is my captain." After scoring a late equalising goal in their last two games, against West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea, United believe they go into Sunday's match in better heart than rivals City, who have recently surrendered a 2-0 halftime lead in drawing with CSKA Moscow, then lost to West Ham United in the league and Newcastle United in the Capital One (League) Cup. "What we have seen of City in the last few matches was not so good," said Van Gaal, who believes his team can win his first Manchester derby. "That is our goal, to win. It is possible, we are growing. "This is the biggest derby that I shall manage. It is one of 38 (league) matches we have to play, but for the fans it is unbelievably big as a rivalry and I have felt that also with a lot of the players in the squad, but also especially with (assistant manager) Ryan Giggs. "When he presented the analysis on City, I felt more tension with him. It was good to see. I have to analyse and prepare for all games in the same manner, but for the players and the fans it is different." Rooney, who has 11 derby goals to his name in 22 games, has missed United's last three matches through suspension after being sent off against West Ham on Sept. 27. The late point earned by Robin van Persie's last-minute equaliser at home to Chelsea on Sunday took them into eighth place but a win would move them only one point behind their neighbours, who are currently third.

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Knicks spoil King James' emotional homecoming

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Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James  LeBron James returned to Cleveland after four years but the New York Knicks spoiled a highly anticipated, emotionally charged homecoming for the superstar. Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points, including a key jumper with 25 seconds left, and the visiting Knicks surprised the Cleveland Cavaliers, 95-90 on Thursday night. James celebrated his first game back in a Cavaliers uniform in front of 20,000 cheering fans at sold-out Quicken Loans Arena since bolting to Miami in 2010, where he helped the Heat to back-to-back titles in four seasons. The four-time league most valuable player struggled throughout, however, finishing with 17 points on 5-of-15 shooting and committed a whopping eight turnovers in the setback. Iman Shumpert and Jason Smith had 12 points apiece for the Knicks, who gave Derek Fisher his first NBA coaching win, a night after getting bashed by the Chicago Bulls 104-80 in their season-opener. Kyrie Irving scored 22 points while Kevin Love added 19 with 14 rebounds in his Cleveland debut. Elsewhere: LA Clippers 93, Oklahoma City Thunder 90: Blake Griffin scored 23 points, including a pair of free throws with five seconds left, Chris Paul added 22, and the Clippers held off the banged-up Thunder in their season-opner to give Steve Ballmer his first win as new owner. Perry Jones poured in a career-high 32 points for the visiting Thunder (0-2), who already without reigning league MVP Kevin Durant (foot surgery), lost All-Star guard Russell Westbrook to a small fracture on his right hand in the second quarter. - Dallas Mavericks 120, Utah Jazz 102: German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki and Chandler Parsons scored 21 points apiece, as the Mavericks (1-1) drummed the Jazz in their season home-opener. Derrick Favors had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz (0-2), who trailed by 25 at halftime. - Washington Wizards 105, Orlando Magic 98: John Wall had 30 points, 12 assists, and the key layup with 28 seconds left, as the visiting Wizards held off the winless Magic. Polish-native Marcin Gortat collected 20 points and 12 rebounds for Washington (1-1), which had its 16-point lead cut to two in the final minute before Wall delivered. Nik Vucevic topped Orlando (0-2) with 23 points and 12 rebounds while Ben Gordon netted 22. - Minnesota Timberwolves 97, Detroit Pistons 91: Thaddeus Young scored 19 points, Montenegrin Nikola Pekovic had 17 with 10 rebounds, while Spaniard Ricky Rubio collected 11 points, eight assists and seven boards, as the T-Wolves (1-1) trimmed the visiting Pistons. Caron Butler scored 24 points for Detroit, which fell to 0-2 under first-year coach Stan Van Gundy.

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Schalke go seventh with narrow victory over Augsburg

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Schalke 04's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar controls the ball  Schalke continued their revival under new coach Roberto Di Matteo with a 1-0 home win over Augsburg Friday which moves them to seventh in the Bundesliga table. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored the only goal of the game in the 37th minute as he found space in the box to prod home a cross from Atsuto Uchida. It was a rare moment of quality from Schalke who struggled for rhythm after midfielder Julian Draxler was withdrawn with a thigh injury picked up in the opening seconds of the match. Augsburg spurned good chances through Alexander Esswein, Dominik Kohr and Halil Altintop and could not prevent the defeat which means they slip to 12th.

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F1 team founder Frank Williams in hospital

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Williams Formula One team founder Frank Williams  Formula One team owner Frank Williams is in hospital in England and is expected to stay there for several weeks for treatment to a pressure sore, the team said on Friday. A spokeswoman said the 72-year-old, who has been tetraplegic since he damaged his spinal cord in a 1986 car crash, was responding well after going into the specialised Stoke Mandeville Hospital this week. Williams has been absent from the last few races. "He is likely to be there for at least a couple of weeks," the spokeswoman added. His daughter Claire, who is deputy team principal, has remained with him in Britain rather than attending this weekend's U.S. Grand Prix but is expected to travel to Brazil for the following race at Interlagos next week. "She wanted to stay there to make sure he's responding well, which he is," added the spokeswoman. Williams are one of the most successful teams in Formula One, winning nine constructors' titles and seven drivers' crowns between 1980 and 1997 before falling on hard times. They have not won a title since 1997 but have been resurgent this year and are third in the constructors' championship.

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Interviews with players competing at ATP World Tour Finals

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To send now and please repeat at 0900 tomorrow (Nov 1) In the run up to the elite eight-man ATP World Tour Finals, which will take place in London from Nov. 9-16, Reuters will run a series of exclusive interviews over five days. Interviews will be with grand slam champions Andy Murray, Marin Cilic and Stanislas Wawrinka. Also included in the package is an interview with Tomas Berdych, who will be playing at the season finale for the fifth year running. We will also have an interview with Japanese trailblazer Kei Nishikori, who became the first Asian man to contest a grand slam singles final this year. There will also be a factbox on U.S. Open runner-up Nishikori. Interview articles will be up to 950 words. In addition, a full Q&A with some of the players will also be included in the package (1500 words) on Wednesday and Thursday. We will begin the package with interviews with U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic and Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka on at 0200 GMT Sunday. TENNIS-MEN/FINALS-CILIC (INTERVIEW) TENNIS-MEN/FINALS-WAWRINKA (INTERVIEW)

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