London, Jan. 8 : Former England cricketer Ian Botham has said that in the last 24 hours, the incidents related to England cricket and its immediate future, are probably the most embarrassing that he has seen, both as a player and as a commentator on the sport.

In an article for the Sunday Mirror, Botham squarely blames the fiasco relating to the Pietersen-Moores disagreement on the "chinless wonders who rule Lord''s from behind a desk".

Dubai - France midfielder Franck Ribery said Thursday he could not pledge to stay at Bayern Munich until the end of his contract in 2011.

"I have a four-year contract. But promise that I will fulfil it? That is difficult. You never know what will happen in football," he said at the team's training camp in Dubai.

Ribery, 25, has been in outstanding form for Bayern since moving to the Bundesliga club from Olympique Marseille for 25 million euros (34 million dollars) in summer 2007.

London - Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo emerged unscathed after his Ferrari was involved in an accident on Thursday.

The Portugal international crashed into a barrier as he was driving through a tunnel beneath the runways of Manchester airport.

Ronaldo gave a negative breath test to officers at the scene of the crash, the police said, and Manchester United said he was training as normal.

"He was involved in an incident this morning. No other cars were involved," a United spokesman said.

Perth, Australia - Hospital scans have revealed that German Nicolas Kiefer suffered ligament damage during a match injury on Thursday at the Hopman Cup but could still pull up fit for the Australian Open beginning January 19.

Doctors who treated the 31-year-old expressed cautious optimism that the former number four might just be able to make it to the first Grand Slam date of the 2009 season from January 19.

Munich - Cologne have moved closer to meeting Bayern Munich's transfer fee demands for unsettled striker Lukas Podolski, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is reported as saying Thursday.

"Everything is looking good. I am confident it will work out," Rummenigge is quoted as saying in the daily tz newspaper.

Bayern want a fee of 10 million euros (13.5 million dollars) for Podolski who would like to return to his former club after failing to establish a first-team place at the German champions.

Auckland - Top seed Elena Dementieva accomplished what around 20 protestors could not as she sent Israeli Shahar Peer out in the quarter-finals of the ASB Classic on Thursday.

Peer, who underwent Israeli military training which took time away from her tennis in recent season, had been the target of protests against her country's current invasion of Gaza in the Middle East, but had insisted that the political situation had nothing to do with her tennis.

But she didn't have long to ponder the situation as she lost in a straightforward 6-3, 6-1 to Olympic champion Dementieva, ranked fourth in the world.