Reuters Sports Schedule at 0600 GMT Friday, Oct 30

Reuters sports schedule at 0600 GMT on Friday: - - - - FIFA Russia 2018 World Cup committee head denies vote pre-decided MOSCOW - The head of the organising committee for the Russian 2018 World Cup denied on Thursday that awarding the soccer tournament to Russia had been pre-arranged. (SOCCER-FIFA/RUSSIA-WORLDCUP, moved, 250 words) - - FIFA candidate denies role in punishing protesting athletes WASHINGTON - FIFA presidential candidate Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa denied he had been involved in investigating and prosecuting athletes active in Bahrain's democracy protests in 2011. (SOCCER-FIFA/SALMAN, moved, 300 words) - - - - RUGBY World Cup (to 31) Springboks and Pumas to meet in third-place playoff LONDON - South Africa face Argentina in the bronze medal match at London's Olympic Stadium after the two sides lost their semi-finals last weekend. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/BRONZE, expect by 2300 GMT/7 PM ET, by Julian Linden and Rex Gowar, 400 words) - - Wallabies get last practice in before final LONDON - The Australian captain Stephen Moore will take the Wallabies through their last training run at Twickenham ahead of the World Cup final. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/AUSTRALIA, expect by 1800 GMT/2 PM ET, by Julian Linden, 400 words) - - All Blacks finish preparations at Twickenham LONDON - New Zealand, under the guidance of captain Richie McCaw, will have their final practice at Twickenham as they bid to become the first team to win the William Webb Ellis trophy back-to-back. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/NEWZEALAND, expect by 1800 GMT/2 PM ET, by Mitch Phillips, 400 words) - - Evergreen McCaw still leading from the front LONDON - Richie McCaw has been the world's outstanding loose forward for over a decade and at the age of 34 appears to retain the same energy he did when captaining the All Blacks for the first time as a 23-year-old. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/NEWZEALAND-MCCAW (PIX), expect by 1500 GMT/11 AM ET, by Justin Palmer, 400 words) - - Carter primed for one last hurrah as an All Black LONDON - Arguably the best flyhalf to have ever played the game, Dan Carter will make his 112th and final New Zealand appearance in Saturday's World Cup final, desperate to go out with a bang after missing the 2011 final victory through injury. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/NEWZEALAND-CARTER (PIX), expect by 1500 GMT/11 AM ET, by Mitch Phillips, 400 words) - - We will also move factboxes on New Zealand and Australia. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/NEWZEALAND (FACTBOX) and (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/AUSTRALIA (FACTBOX) Expect by 1700 GMT/1 PM ET - - - - SOCCER Bayern out to extend winning streak BERLIN - Bayern Munich will attempt to make it 11 wins in a row since the start of the season and go 10 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga when they meet Eintracht Frankfurt. (SOCCER-GERMANY/ (PIX), expect by 2130 GMT/5:30PM ET, by Karolos Grohmann, 400 words) - - La Liga Deportivo La Coruna v Atletico Madrid (1930) Atletico face Deportivo aiming to go top of La Liga BARCELONA - Atletico Madrid are aiming for a third straight win when they visit Deportivo La Coruna on Friday. Victory would put them a point clear at the top of the La Liga, ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona, who play on Saturday. (SOCCER-SPAIN/ (PIX) expect by 2030 GMT/4:30 PM ET, by Iain Rogers, 400 words) - - Drogba on target as Montreal see off Toronto Toronto FC waited nine years for a taste of the Major League Soccer playoffs but on Thursday the Montreal Impact ensured they had little chance to savour it with a 3-0 win over their Canadian rivals. (SOCCER-MLS/, moved, 300 words) - - African Champions League USM Alger chase first ever Champions League title ALGIERS - USM Alger chase a first African Champions League title and a chance to confirm Algeria's rise to the top of the continent's game when they host TP Mazembe Englebert in the first leg of the final on Saturday. (SOCCER-AFRICA/CHAMPIONS (PREVIEW), moved, 350 words) - - We will have the latest team news ahead of this weekend's Premier League matches. (SOCCER-ENGLAND/, expect throughout) - - - - MOTOR RACING Mexican Formula One Grand Prix Drivers get their first taste of Mexican circuit MEXICO CITY - Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton and his Formula One rivals enter new territory with their first practice laps of the Mexico City circuit that has been revamped since it last hosted a grand prix in 1992. (MOTOR RACING-PRIX/ (PIX), expect by 1800 GMT/2 PM ET, by Alan Baldwin, 400 words) We will also have stories from around the paddock. - - - - OLYMPICS U.S. back at heart of Olympic movement WASHINGTON - After years of wrangling over revenue sharing, television plans and failed attempts to host the Games, the United States appears to be back at the heart of the Olympic movement with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach declaring their problems to be "history". (OLYMPICS-USA/ expect by 0800 GMT/4 AM ET, by Simon Evans, 500 words) - - - - GOLF European Tour: Turkish Airlines Open (to Nov. 1) McIlroy tipped for Antalya title South African Jaco van Zyl carded a remarkable 11-under-par 61 for a three-stroke lead after the first round of the Turkish Open in Antalya. (GOLF-EUROPEAN/, moved, 400 words) - - - - TENNIS WTA Finals, Singapore (to Nov. 1) Muguruza faces Kvitova, Kerber takes on Safarova SINGAPORE - All four women in the WTA Finals White Group hold hope of a semi-final berth going into the last round robin matches with Spain's Garbine Muguruza looking to make it three wins from three when she plays Petra Kvitova. Lucie Safarova takes on Angelique Kerber. (WTA-WOMEN/FINALS, expect by 1200 GMT/8 AM ET, by Patrick Johnston and John O'Brien, 400 words) - - ATP Tour: Swiss Indoors, Basel (until Nov. 1) Valencia Open (until Nov. 1) Copy on merit - - - - NFL Brady leads Patriots to 36-7 win over Dolphins Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes to lead the undefeated New England Patriots to a 36-7 win over the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on Thursday. (NFL-PATRIOTS/, moved, by The Sports Xchange, 300 words) - - - - NBA Balanced Hawks cruise past Knicks The Atlanta Hawks were one of the most unselfish teams in the NBA last season, ranking second in the league in assists and in a 112-101 win over the New York Knicks on Thursday, the Hawks once again shared the ball and the scoring. (NBA-HAWKS/, moved, by The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - Paul leads Clippers into home opener versus Mavs The Los Angeles Clippers, who came one win short of a berth in last season's Western Conference finals, play their home opener against the Dallas Mavericks. (NBA-CLIPPERS/, expect by 0630 GMT/2:30 AM ET, 400 words) - - - - NHL Jets halt streaking Blackhawks The Winnipeg Jets scored a goal in each period and netminder Michael Hutchinson stopped 45 shots in a 3-1 triumph over the red-hot Chicago Blackhawks at the MTS Centre. (NHL-HIGHLIGHTS/, moved, 550 words) - - - - NORTH AMERICAN SPORTS Roundups of off-field developments in the major North American professional sports leagues. (moved, by The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - - - CRICKET Burns, Khawaja named for first two New Zealand tests MELBOURNE - Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja have been given the chance to cement their place in Australia's revamped top order after being picked for the first two tests against New Zealand. (CRICKET-AUSTRALIA/SQUAD, moved, by Ian Ransom, 350 words) - - Trans-Tasman rivalry to flare up again MEL