Guardiola won't make Bayern return: agent

LONDON • Pep Guardiola's agent Josep Maria Orotbig yesterday dismissed rumours the football coach could return to Bayern Munich by insisting his client will remain with English Premier League champions Manchester City, where he is contracted to 2021.

German Bundesliga winners Bayern are seeking a new coach after the dismissal of Niko Kovac earlier this month. Interim coach Hansi Flick will continue to lead the German record 29-time champions, at least until the turn of the year.

DPA

Female footballers call off strike over equal pay

MADRID • Top-flight female footballers in Spain have agreed to suspend a playing strike after securing an agreement to reopen negotiations over pay.

All Primera Division matches over the weekend had to be postponed as players chose to boycott fixtures following more than a year of unsuccessful talks with Spanish unions and clubs.

It was said they are demanding that part-time salaries be worth a minimum of €12,000 (S$18,000), 75 per cent of the minimum amount for full-time contracts.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Honda to field Marquez brothers in MotoGP

PARIS • Alex Marquez will ride alongside his 26-year-old older brother and six-time MotoGP world champion Marc at Honda next season, the team announced on Monday.

The 23-year-old, who added the Moto2 world title this year to the Moto3 crown he won in 2014, has signed a one-year deal with the constructors' champions. The younger Marquez replaces three-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo, who retired after the weekend's season-ending Valencia Grand Prix.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE