Melbourne, Feb. 3 : Former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh has urged Cricket Australia not to be desperate to include all rounder Andrew Symonds in the squad for the tour to South Africa.

Waugh, who will be the 30th cricketer to be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Melbourne tonight, was quoted by Fox Sports as saying: "I personally don''t think he''s ready. He hasn''t really proved that his form justifies a place in the side right now."

London, Feb. 3: Russian football star Andrei Arshavin has finally joined Arsenal for 15 million pounds.

The Russian, 27, mercifully brought football's longest-running saga to an end when he signed a 70,000-pound-a-week contract at the Emirates to 2012.

Arshavin made it in the nick of time, just minutes before the transfer window slammed shut, reports The Sun.

Alexei Petrov, a spokesman for Zenit St Petersburg, said: "The deal was signed for three years, all financial details will be disclosed tomorrow."

Seoul  - South Korea staged a last-minute entry into the competition for hosting football's World Cup in 2018 or 2022, officials said Tuesday.

The world football association FIFA had been informed before the deadline for host applications expired Monday, South Korea's national football association said.

South Korea hosted the 2002 World Cup finals with Japan, the first time the even was held in Asia.

Japan is also among the dozen candidates bidding to host the tournaments in nine and 13 years.

Melbourne, Australia  - Amid the congratulations of another record-breaking Australian Open, tournament director Craig Tiley has denied that he will take a position with the US Tennis Association as they hunt for a new chief executive.

But as celebrations die down in Melbourne, Australian tennis is awakening to the fact that it has not one man left in the ATP's top 100.

A decade ago, the tennis powerhouse boasted a dozen in that ranking.

Madrid  - Troubled Spanish giants Atletico Madrid sacked coach Javier Aguirre, according to Spanish media reports Monday night.

The digital versions of AS and Marca claim that the sacking of Aguirre will be officially announced Tuesday, and that he will be replaced by former Atletico goalkeeper Abel Resino, currently at third division Castellon.

Abel, 49, played for Atletico from 1986-95. He has little top-line coaching experience, though he was assistant to Cesar Ferrando at Atletico during the 2004-05 season.

Munich - France defender Willy Sagnol Monday announced he was quitting football after failing to recover from injury.

"Because of the pain it is no longer possible for me to play football. It's something I have to accept," the 31-year-old Bayern Munich right-back said.

Sagnol has been plagued by an Achilles tendon injury and has not played since appearing for France at Euro 2008.

"I would have liked to have continued for another couple of years but my body has made the decision," Sagnol said.