Beckham set for France

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PARIS, Dec 21: French newspapers on Wednesday trumpeted the imminent arrival in France of England star David Beckham, saying that he had finally agreed on a lucrative deal to play for Paris St Germain. "All set for Beckham," headlined L'Equipe sports daily, which carried a full front page photo of the 36-year-old midfielder, whose contract with Los Angeles Galaxy expires at the end of December. "The English midfielder is expected to sign on in early January for PSG, who are actively preparing for his arrival," the paper wrote. Le Parisien also carried a front page picture of the former England skipper alongside the headline: "Beckham in Paris -- He has said yes. "David Beckham has agreed with the Paris club directors to sign an 18-month contract. His salary: 800,000 euros. His wife Victoria, it seems, has already been finding her way around the posh districts (of Paris)." - AFP Arsenal 'ready to sell' Arshavin to Zenit MOSCOW, Dec 21: Arsenal is ready to sell out of favour Russian midfielder Andrei Arshavin to his home club Zenit Saint Petersburg for his original transfer sum of 16.5 million euros ($21.6 million), a report said Wednesday. Moscow's respected Sovietsky Sport daily said Zenit was interested in acquiring the 30-year-old Russia skipper and eventually assigning him to coach its youth club. Sovietsky Sport said its source confirmed that "Arsenal is ready to enter negotiations with Zenit." The report comes on the heels of British media speculation that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger had decided to part with his struggling playmaker during the January transfer window. - AFP Indian Wells boosts top prize to $1 million INDIAN WELLS, California, Dec 21: Next year's Indian Wells tournament will be the first combined ATP and WTA event to offer a top prize of $1 million to its men and women's singles winners, officials said on Tuesday. Steve Simon, tournament director of the tennis event in the California desert, said the hardcourt tournament which runs from March 5-18 will boost its total prize money to $11 million with increases for all rounds. Simon called the landmark money offering "a testament to the growth and success of the event for more than 35 years." Only three years ago, the event gave men and women equal prize money and the total purse has nearly doubled from the $5.83 million on offer in 2008. "The BNP Paribas Open is one of the cornerstone events in professional tennis exactly because of this attention to players, willingness to innovate and push the boundaries of success," WTA chairman Stacey Allaster said. - AFP Suarez banned for 8 matches for racially abusing Evra LONDON, Dec 21: Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was banned for eight matches and fined 40,000 pounds ($62,000) on Tuesday after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's black defender Patrice Evra. An English Football Association panel accepted Evra's allegation that Suarez had directed a racial insult at him during United's Premier League match at Liverpool on Oct. 15. "The insulting words used by Mr. Suarez included a reference to Mr. Evra's colour," the FA said in a statement, adding that the Liverpool forward had also been warned about his future conduct. Reacting to the verdict on his Twitter account, Suarez said: "Today is a very difficult and painful day for both me and my family. Thanks for all the support, I'll keep working!" - AFP Austria Vienna fire Daxbacher VIENNA, Dec 21: Karl Daxbacher has been sacked as coach of Austria Vienna and replaced by former Austria international striker Ivica Vastic, the club said in a statement Wednesday. Austria Vienna have only one victory to speak of in their last nine matches, the main reason Daxbacher was sacked according to the club. The first division side sit fourth, only four points behind leaders and bitter city rivals Rapid Vienna. Daxbacher began his spell in 2008 and led Austria Vienna to victory in the Austrian Cup a year later. Vastic (42) had until Wednesday been coach of the club's amateur side. - AFP Top China football referee confesses to taking bribes BEIJING, Dec 21: A top Chinese referee confessed in court on Wednesday to taking bribes for fixing local matches, state media said, amid a series of high-profile corruption hearings involving top football officials. Lu Jun, who has refereed matches at the World Cup and Olympic Games, told a court in northeastern China that he pocketed 810,000 yuan ($127,786) for fixing seven domestic league games, the official Xinhua news agency said. The games included four first-division matches in 2003. - AFP