Could Fuller boost Rory's Idol status?

Eamon Carr

LOCKED in a legal dispute with his former management agency, Horizon Sports, and fighting off a claim in the US courts by multinational company Oakley, the company he switched to Nike from, Rory McIlroy appears busy.

So what are the chances now of him joining David Beckham, Andy Murray and Lewis Hamilton at XIX Entertainment, the agency formed in 2010 by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller?

Fuller became a music industry mogul when he formed 19 Management in 1985. Developing performers into easily-identifiable global brands has been one of Fuller's most notable abilities.

The man who created Pop Idol, and still advises a roster of music stars, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He's also extended his reach to Asia and the Middle East with XIX Globosport.

Believing that sports stars can generate bigger earning power than pop stars, Fuller's agency has now signed Bradley Wiggins with a view to creating "innovative business opportunities worldwide".

A question being asked now is whether Fuller considers McIlroy's current woes, including a disastrous dip in form, to be temporary? Or will he bypass the current world number six and look elsewhere for his next glamorous singing?

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It's probably just as well that Silgo Rovers won this year's FAI Cup final. Can you imagine the stress created for the FAI's medal engraver if Dreghado United had won.

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Sven Goran-Eriksson's 2003 book, On Football, provided fascinating and helpful insights into the psychology of achieving peak performance. His latest offering, Sven: My Story, while not as headline-grabbing as Alex Ferguson's (apart from saying he'd signed a contract to take over from Ferguson at Old Trafford) offers plenty of constructive advice – learned from harsh lessons as England manager – to the FA on how to improve the infrastructure if England are to have a chance of winning another World Cup.

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Real Madrid is the latest club said to be monitoring Luis Suarez, who's scored six times since his return in late September from a 10-match ban. But the Uruguayan says of Liverpool, "This is my home." He adds, "The expectation is enormous (this season)."

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With the DP World Tour Championship to follow this week's Turkish Airlines Open, the Race to Dubai is on the home stretch with Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter both convinced they've a chance of eclipsing current race leader Henrik Stenson.

But not everyone buys into the buzz around golf's premier competition, flagged as "46 Tournaments, 25 countries, 1 Champion".

Ernie Els is refusing to play in Dubai in protest. Angry that while he's contributed to the growth of the European Tour for 22 years, Els says golfers are being forced to play two of the three big tournaments that precede the Dubai event. "It's farcical," says the South African. "They're making it impossible. We've got families and schedules to keep."