Kahne eats words on breastfeeding

NASCAR DRIVER Kasey Kahne has apologized for comments he made on his Twitter account about public breastfeeding.

According to multiple media reports, Kahne posted messages on his account that he saw a mother breastfeeding a child in a supermarket, calling it "nasty" and saying he didn't "feel like shopping any more or eating."

Reports say Kahne then sent a crude reply message to a Twitter user who took issue with his comments.

After apparently deleting the offending posts from his Twitter feed, Kahne posted an apology on his Facebook page Wednesday, saying it wasn't his intention "to offend any mother who chooses to breastfeed her child, or, for that matter, anyone who supports breastfeeding children. I want to make that clear."

Kahne said he understands his comments were "offensive to some people" and apologized.

"In all honestly, I was surprised by what I saw in a grocery store," Kahne said. "I shared that reaction with my fans on Twitter. It obviously wasn't the correct approach, and, after reading your feedback, I now have a better understanding of why my posts upset some of you.

"My comments were not directed at the mother's right to breastfeed. They were just a reaction to the location of that choice, and the fashion in which it was executed on that occasion."

Kahne said he respects the mother's right to feed her child "whenever and wherever she pleases."

Kahne also posted a personal reply to the user he'd insulted.

Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner said he was awarded World Cup television rights for as little as $1 in return for helping Sepp Blatter win elections for the presidency of world soccer's ruling body. Warner, who resigned from FIFA in June amid bribery allegations, said in a statement that the organization awarded him the 1998 World Cup rights in his native Trinidad & Tobago for $1 after he helped Blatter win a "brutal" campaign to become FIFA president. A former president of regional body CONCACAF and the Caribbean Football Union, Warner also said he was sold the rights for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups after helping Blatter get re-elected in 2002, and later bought the 2010 and 2014 rights. Asked about Warner's claims, FIFA said in a statement that "we are currently looking into the matter."

* Diego Maradona was fined $2,450 by the United Arab Emirates Football Association for verbally abusing a rival coach.

American Mikaela Shiffrin, 16, finished third in the World Cup slalom in Lienz, Austria, and became the youngest female racer to make the podium in a slalom since Tamara McKinney in 1978. Austria's Marlies Schild was first and Slovenia's Tina Maze second.

* Didier Defago, of Switzerland, won the World Cup giant slalom in Bormio, Italy.

Luke Donald and Yani Tseng were landslide winners as male and female players of the year in voting by the Golf Writers Association of America.

* Novak Djokovic beat No. 16 Gael Monfils at the World Tennis Championship exhibition event in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Djokovic will face Roger Federer in the semifinals, and Rafael Nadal will meet David Ferrer. Also, Nadal said he will take several weeks off after the Australian Open to recover from a nagging shoulder injury.