By Michael Samson

Manchester United's Gary Neville has launched an attack on football agents, saying players do not need them.

The England defender said the Professional Footballers' Association should oversee contract negotiations and transfer dealings instead. “Footballers think they need agents - but it's not the case,” said Neville.

“Players need good advice and good accountants - but they don't need people taking hundreds of thousands of pounds off of them.” United captain Neville has been represented by his father Neville throughout his career.

He believes change will only come about through direct action from the players themselves.

Ethiopian highland rally ends today

Shell Ethiopia 's 24 th Ethiopian High Land Rally comes to an end today with the participants covering the remaining 371 km distance. Fully sponsored by Shell Ethiopia, the historical occasion kicked off Friday February 16, 2007 in the presence of Edgar Omoto, Shell Ethiopia managing director. The third and final day of the race starts with Omoto blowing the whistle that would announce the start of the grueling race.

Metasebia Asrat, the only female driver in the competition will be co-piloting George Paulo. Roberto Bazani will be racing on his birth day, while Sanges Roberto from Djibouti and Lucca Olivero from Zimbabwe take part in the 24 th Ethiopian High Land Rally.

Defending champions Ernesto Mollinari and Stefano Gerevini have come back to make it two wins in as many years, while the Gula brothers are still fuming for a new title., Roberto Gabresi and Nikodimos Mekonen, the Ethio-Italian connection are looking to win back the title they lost to the Gula brothers last season.

This is the first time for the competitors to cover the longest ever distance - 55 km.

Meseret takes No 1 spot from Richards

In the wake of shattering the world 3,000 meter indoor record, Mesert Defar muscled out America 's Sanya Richardson to lead the latest IAAF athlete of the season table. Richardson , reigning world athlete of the season had been on top of the table for more than six months and her relegation to second place now seems permanent as Meseret looks to maintain her best ever form.

Though the news did not mention whether her latest world indoor 3000 meter record helped her to her current position, Mesert took control of number one spot on 1430 points. Meseret started the season in devastating style by winning both races in the just started athletics season. Sanya is second on 1401 points followed by the other Ethiopian record breaker Tirunesh Dibaba.

Tirunesh, the only female athlete ever to win double gold medal in the 5,000 and 10,000 at the world championship, is third in the table on 1397 points. Smashing the Boston 5000-meter record helped Tirunesh to narrow the gap on the top two athletes. Sharon Simpson of Jamaica claimed fourth place with eight points behind Tirunesh.

Gelete Burka lies 24 th further down the table with 1340 points. Two successive cross country wins in the new season helped Gelete that she was on the rise. Meselech Melaku, who came in second a few micro seconds later is now 33 rd on the table as compared to her previous 41 st position.

In the men's category, Jamaican sprinter Assafa Powell still clinches top spot on 1452 points. Assafa's athlete of the season contender Tyson Guy and Jermy Wariner are second and third on 1430 and 1423 points respectively.

Already in a winning start, twice-former athlete of the season Kenenisa Bekele is fourth in the table. Olympic gold medalist and five time double world cross country champion Keneisa lies fourth on 1419 points. Kenenisa's younger brother Tariku is 32 nd on 1358 points while Abrahm Cherkosse is 67 th in the table on 1322 points.

Kenenisa, who vowed to take part in as many races this year as possible should narrow the gap on the top four with the IAAF season still not starting any time soon.

Real tops rich clubs list

Spanish football giant Real Madrid, after occupying the second richest club status since last season, was this year announced as the richest club in the world.

Manchester United, who until last season was the second richest club in the world, slipped to fourth place this season. Madrid's off the field business income is said to be the main reason for retaining its position while United's knock out from the Champion's League last season worked against them ion the rankings.

Reigning European champions Barcelona occupy the second richest club status following the club's success both at home and in Europe . Barcelona won their second successive Spanish league title and the European Championship. Barcelona's newly signed TV contract is also another main source of income for the team that leads the Spanish league table with 46 points and is most likely to claim the Spanish title for a third successive season.

Real Madrid have reportedly pocketed the biggest share of TV rights worth 100 million pounds while the Catalan pride Barcelona collected 81 million pounds for the same deal. Juventus, after being embroiled in a corruption scandal was relegated to Serie B, that did not stop the club from staying Italy 's richest club and the third richest club in the world. According to Deloite's financial report, the scandal is yet to bang Juventus at full force. Juventus, who won the Seri A more than any other club in the country is expected to fall down the pecking order in next year's financial report.

Six times European champions AC Milan, currently sixth in the table after starting the season with a 17 points deduction is now fifth on the richest club list. English champions Chelsea were reported to be the sixth richest team in the world followed by Italian giants and current league leaders Inter Milan . Germany 's most prolific side Bayer Munich lie 8 th on the table with Arsenal and Liverpool 9 th and 10 th respectively.

Eight of the 20 richest clubs are found in England . Italy contributed four clubs to the list while Germany has three and Spain with two clubs. France , Portugal and Scotland are each represented by one clubs.

Al-Ahly Vs Etoile du Sahel at Addis Ababa Stadium

On the occasion of the Confederation of African Football (CAF)'s golden jubilee celebration, reigning African champions Al Ahly will take on African knock out title holder Etoile du Sahel for the nations cup holder today at the Addis Ababa stadium. CAF rules say that the match between the African Champions and African Knock Out title holders take place at home for the champions, CAF decided to hold big matches in four of CAF's founding nations.

Taking the African champions league title after a surprise victory at home over Tunisian Sefaxian, Egyptian side Al-Ahly will once again encounter Tunisian side Etoil du Sahel who won the African knock out championship defeating Moroccan cup finalist FA Rabat. Considering how Tunisian soccer fans were frustrated for loosing the champion's league title on home soil, this clash will be a chance to get some revenge. Al-Ahly, the team that has for years provided many of Egypt 's national team players however is the favorite to win the title.

Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) president Dr. Asheber WoleGiorgis told journalists in a press conference that this special encounter between two of Africa 's soccer giants would be a good chance to show Ethiopian soccer fans some good football as well as promote Ethiopian positive sides. “CAF's decision to have Ethiopia host the occasion, would hugely contribute to the country's participation at the highest level of African soccer,” added EFF president. Dr. Asheber announced that stadium entrances would be free for the match.

In related news, Prime Minster Meles Zenawi will receive CAF's honorary award next week. CAF was founded in 1957 with four countries Sudan , Ethiopia , Egypt , South Africa . South Africa had however never taken part in any African tournament until 1996 for its Apartheid policy. In the year 1996, Nelson Mandela's arrival to power after 27 years imprisonment allowed the country to host and win the Cup of African Nations. That success has led FIFA to decide that South Africa would host the 2010 World Cup.

COMMENTARY

Inconsistency mars premier league matches

I went to the Addis Ababa Stadium Thursday evening to watch the highly talked about encounter between league leaders Ethiopian Coffee and Electric, seventh in the table.

Though it was not considered as one of the premier league's toughest encounters, I was there to see Mugher Cemernt beat defending champions St George 2-1. Mugher had recently been hammered 5-1 at home by new comers Tikur Abay, leading me to think that this would be a one-way traffic for the reigning champions. The Saints started the game brightly and as expected, took the lead. To many who were at the stadium, the opening goal was one of many to come, little did they know that it would be the days's last goal for the Saints.

However back from the dressing room, things completely turned upside down in favor of Mugher, who lie fifth in the table. What head coach Abraham TekleHaimanot said to his players at the break seemed to have worked, as the visitors took the game to the champions. They played with a determination not to share the points, but going for the whole three points.

With former Ethiopian Coffee midfielder Theowdros Berhanu starting in center half, the visitors took control of the game and staged a strong come back which climaxed in a 2-1 away victory.

St George's Portuguese coach had no clue as to what was happening starting from Mugher's equalizer when goalkeeper and defender could not communicate. With the Saints trying hard to organize a frail defense, the visitors scored the winner and embarked on an airtight defense. What amazed me most was not the defending champions home defeat by Mugher, rather it was the inconsistency of both sides.

Though it has become a common phenomenon to see the underdogs tumble the giants, I am rather surprised on how much of an Ethiopian trademark this has become.

With almost half a dozen foreign based players in the squad, a foreign coach and the country's best players at its disposal, it is very hard to fathom why Saint George is trailing second in the league table, let alone lose at home to Mugher Cement.

On the same note, it is hard to believe that a team that is capable of beating St George away from home could lose 5-1 to Tikur Abay, a team with no previous premier league experience.

I just hope for the team's sake that the foreign coach could come up with a remedy to solve the problem of inconsistency that has been blighting the premier league's top club. Instead, the coaches seem to be doing a good job assimilating into the already existing norm of Ethiopian soccer.

Clubs have had inconsistent displays all through the season and since that is another reason that keeps fans out of the stands, coaches have to give it strong thought and find a solution for it.

Though I just used the above two clubs as examples of inconsistency, this is a problem shared by many other premier league clubs - Ethiopian Banks, Electric, Defense Forces, Ethiopian Coffee and Trans Ethiopia - all big clubs in their own rights, but suffer from inconsistency. I believe that Awasa Kenema and new comers Tikur Abay Transport are the only two clubs that have performed consistently in the current season, showing that you don't have to be a club with massive budgets and big names to perform on a steady basis.