The news release said that English Premier League champions Chelsea have listed Malaysia in their Asia Tour 2011 journey and also for pre-season training.

The declaration was made by Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay that the club was making plans to be in Malaysia for one week for a training stint before a friendly match in Kuala Lumpur.

While talking to media, Mr. Gourlay said, “As a centre for pre-season training as well, our manager Carlo Ancelotti will require first class facilities and we know Malaysia will provide that too.”

According to reports, the Asian Taekwondo Union has announced that it may take sanctions against Taiwan by imposing a fine.

Initially, the union was looking forward to disqualify Taiwan from participating in international competitions. That was in protest of Taiwan's decision to suspend a Taiwanese referee.

On the whole, the argument started at the East Asian Games in Hong Kong in 2009. The Taiwanese referee ruled in favor of a South Korean taekwondo athlete, even though he attacked his Taiwanese opponent in the throat and knocked him out.

Kazakhstan is all set to make first ever appearance in the Hopman Cup in 2010, after winning the Asian Hopman Cup.

The duo from Kazakhstan, Andrey Gobulev and Yaroslava Shvedova, qualified for the mixed teams tournament, which is scheduled to start from Jan 2-9, by defending Asian Hopman Cup champions Taiwan in Kazakhstan 2-1 on Sunday.

They will start their tournament against the British pairing of world number four Andy Murray and teenager Laura Robson on January 4.