NHL, union to resume labor talks

TORONTO — The NHL and its players' union are to resume bargaining Friday for the first time since the lockout began, although the talks will concentrate on secondary economic issues.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHL Players' Association special counsel Steve Fehr met Tuesday in Toronto and set up the session, which will be in New York. These will be the first formal negotiations since Sept. 12, when the players and owners exchanged proposals.

With the league and union far apart on money, both sides decided to discuss other economic issues that also are necessary for an agreement. Fehr said the topics will include pension and medical plans, schedule rules, drug testing and the grievance procedure.

"Obviously, we've got to talk before you can get a deal, so I think it's important to get the talks going again," Daly said Monday. "But you also have to have something to say. I think it's fair to say we feel like we need to hear from the players' association in a meaningful way because I don't think that they've really moved off their initial proposal, which was made more than a month ago now."

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NFL, officials' union resume talks

NEW YORK — The NFL and the officials' union were talking again.

Two people familiar with the talks say that the NFL and the locked-out officials' union met on Sunday.

It was uncertain whether progress was made in an attempt to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, or when further negotiations would take place.

The two people spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity because the talks are not being made public.

The NFL locked out the officials in June after their contract expired. The league has been using replacement officials, and through three weeks of the regular season there has been much criticism over the way some games are being handled.

Earlier Sunday, the NFL players' union sent an open letter to team owners calling for an end to the lockout.

The sides also met last week for two days, but the negotiations remained far apart.

Also, the league last week warned teams that it won't tolerate confrontational behavior toward the new officials.

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Talks between NFL, referees stall

NEW YORK — The NFL and its on-field referees union failed to reach an agreement when they met Saturday, and the league said it's proceeding with replacement officials.

The NFL locked out the referees in early June, then hired replacements, whose work in exhibition games has been heavily criticized.

"We met with the NFL this morning and discussed various potential solutions to reach a new collective bargaining agreement," Michael Arnold, lead negotiator for the NFL Referees Association, said in a statement. "Unfortunately, we were unable to reach any agreement.

"We are disappointed because it means that our members will not be back on the field for Week 1 of the regular season due to the NFL's continuing lockout. We remain willing to negotiate with the NFL in order to reach a fair agreement."

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Report: Honda in talks with Lazio

London — CSKA Moscow is still in discussions with Italian club Lazio over the transfer of playmaker Keisuke Honda, British media reported Tuesday.

The Sporting Life website quoted the Russian Premier League club's president, Yevgeny Giner, as telling Radio Mayak, "I can confirm that some Lazio officials came to Moscow to discuss a deal for Honda."

"The negotiations are still ongoing as we have not reached an agreement. Currently our valuations are around €2-€3 million apart. I would not say the transfer will definitely happen, but let's see what will happen in the coming days," Giner said.

Last week, Russian newspaper Sport-Express said the talks had broken down, while Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport said the negotiations had gone well.

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BayStars break off talks with Kudo

YOKOHAMA — The newly named Yokohama DeNA BayStars' talks with former Seibu Lions pitcher Kimiyasu Kudo regarding managing the team have broken down, general manager Shigeru Takada said Monday.

"We just couldn't create a trusting relationship between the manager and general manager," Takada said, explaining that he and Kudo were unable to agree on issues such as the acquisition of players.

The 48-year-old Kudo, who has no managerial experience, had shown a positive stance regarding accepting the manager's job.

Last week, Japanese baseball owners approved mobile phone game operator DeNA Co. as owner of the BayStars, who have finished last in the Central League for four years in a row and eight times in the last 10 seasons.

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