But he has left enough doubt – just enough – to persuade people that it is a possibility. He has also started a tough training schedule to reduce his weight, a schedule that has included match practice with the Wizards. “I haven’t wavered one bit from I’ve been saying,” Jordan told reporters this week. “If I had to answer today, I’m 99.9 per cent sure I won’t play again.” Much of the speculation about the former Chicago Bulls star that has been circulating for the last couple of months has been fuelled by Jordan’s close friend, Charles Barkley, a former NBA all-star who now works as a television commentator. Barkley has let it be known that he would like to play with Jordan next year. This week the speculation reached new heights when the Wizards majority owner, Abe Pollin, said he believed Jordan would play again “The odds are that he is going to make a comeback,” he said.

“I think he’s going to decide whether he’s going to be able to play at the level that is satisfying to him. “He’s certainly working at seeing if he feels like he can return. He’s told me that when he has something to say about it, he’ll tell me It’s his decision. It would have to be in his interest to come back and he would not do it unless he could perform at the standard he set for himself.” Jordan retired from the NBA in 1993 and tried to make a career as a professional baseball player. He returned for the NBA play-offs in 1995 and played until 1998, winning a total of six NBA titles In January 2000, he signed as part-owner of the Wizards.

Last month Jordan admitted he was taking part in a tough training regime, but said it was only to try and reduce his weight “I am working out because I got up to 240lbs,” he said. “People are taking this stuff way too far.” But those who believe in a possible comeback say Jordan was forced into a rethink by Mario Lemieux, who stunned ice hockey fans by a return to the game last December after retiring in 1997. He has led the Pittsburgh Penguins, into the play-offs, where they meet the Washington Capitals this week In the meantime the talk continues As Pollin said: “It would be very exciting for everyone.”. In the countryside it may feel as if there is no end in sight, but for racing at least, it seems that the long struggle with foot-and-mouth disease is starting to draw to a close. In the countryside it may feel as if there is no end in sight, but for racing at least, it seems that the long struggle with foot-and-mouth disease is starting to draw to a close.
The British Horseracing Board has confirmed that it hopes to ease the stringent regulations which have prevented meetings at courses within foot-and-mouth infected areas, and it appears that the industry can expect steady movement towards an almost complete racing programme from the end of this month.

There are currently 14 British racecourses which lie in areas designated by the Ministry Of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as being infected, including Cheltenham, which was forced to abandon plans to stage its rearranged Festival meeting next week following an outbreak of the disease at a nearby farm. Chepstow, Newcastle, Uttoxeter and Wolverhampton are among the other courses which cannot stage meetings at present under guidelines drawn up by the BHB to allow a controlled programme of racing. In recent weeks, though, there have been growing calls from affected racecourses for the BHB to relax its regulations, which go beyond those required by the Ministry for the sport to continue.The current ban on racing within 10 km of an outbreak is likely to be replaced by a restriction zone of three km, which is the figure set by MAFF. The decision to allow a course to resume racing will also be based on other criteria, including the topography of a course and its location. Carlisle, Cartmel, Chepstow and Worcester all fall within the three km exclusion zone set by MAFF, while officials at Bangor have so far chosen not to race even though they are outside the BHB’s current 10km boundary. Racing might soon be reintroduced at Uttoxeter and Newcastle, however, which are respectively 3.2km and 4km away from the nearest infected farm. Since many of the courses which cannot race at present are small National Hunt tracks, their absence from the fixture list would have become less noticeable over the coming weeks, as the Flat campaign starts to flourish.