The French Football Federation said no football matches will take place in France on May 5, the 20th anniversary of the Furiani disaster.
The president of the Corsican Football League, Marc Riolacci, had last month officially asked for professional matches to be suspended on that date as a mark of respect for those who lost their lives in the tragedy.
On May 5, 1992, 18 people were killed and 2,300 injured when a temporary stand collapsed at the Furiani Stadium in Bastia prior to a French Cup semi-final between the home side and Marseille.
Warsaw stadium inauguration
Polish rock stars gave the new national stadium a suitably rousing inauguration in Warsaw yesterday as Poland’s final stadium for this year’s Euro 2012 finals was unveiled.
Constructed at a cost of €450 million it resembles an enormous fruit basket, painted in the national colours, and will host the opening ceremony and the opening match on June 8 of the tournament that the Poles are co-hosting with Ukraine.
The stadium – which can hold 58,000 spectators – overlooks the right bank of the River Vistula. It was the last of the four stadia to be finished. The others are in Poznan, Gdansk and Wroclaw.
Rensing ready for battle
Cologne goalkeeper Michael Rensing admitted his side have got to prepare themselves for a Bundesliga relegation battle after going down 4-1 to Schalke on Saturday.
The Goats’ second straight defeat in 2012 left them just three points clear of the bottom three and Rensing has sounded the alarm.
“I had the feeling during the winter break that, despite having 21 points, it was going to be tight,” he said.
“I fear the second half of the season is going to be as hard as the second half of last year.”
Prozek for Celtic
Celtic appear to have beaten rivals Rangers in the race to sign Pawel Brozek after the Polish striker claimed he had agreed a move to Parkhead.
Ibrox boss Ally McCoist had considered making a move for Brozek on loan from Trabzonspor. But Brozek looks set for a move to their Old Firm rivals instead.
He said: “This is a great move and I can’t wait to get started. I have been told plenty about Celtic from my former team-mate Maciej Zurawski and Lukasz Zaluska.
“Lukasz will welcome me when I arrive. They have both made me aware of the club’s great history, the atmosphere inside the stadium and the passionate supporters.”
Honda to join Lazio – report
Japan and CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda, the 2011 Asian Cup’s most valuable player, is to join Serie A side Lazio in a 14-million-euro transfer.
CSKA and Lazio have narrowed their differences and come to terms on the transfer fee after the 25-year-old Honda agreed personal terms with the Rome outfit, the Sports Nippon said.
Following the club-to-club agreement, Honda lunched with Lazio president Claudio Lotito in Rome after flying in from Barcelona, where he was undergoing rehabilitation on his injured right knee.
Carroll-Tevez switch no deal
Manchester City refused an offer from Liverpool that would have seen Carlos Tevez move to Anfield in a straight swap for misfiring Reds striker Andy Carroll, reports said yesterday.
According to The Observer, Liverpool contacted City to “ask how much they wanted for Tevez and whether they would be willing to contemplate a straight exchange with Carroll”.
The report said City rebuffed the idea immediately.
In a similar report, The Sunday Times said the “astounding swap deal was rejected immediately by City as the Premier League leaders stuck to their position of only considering letting Tevez go for a transfer fee – with £25.2 million their asking price”.
Man arrested over ‘racist’ gesture
British police said they arrested a man late Saturday in connection with an alleged racist gesture made at Anfield during the FA Cup fourth-round tie Liverpool-Manchester United.
An image of a man apparently making a monkey gesture in the stands was widely distributed on social networking websites, and a number of complaints were made to police after the match.
The game was the first between the rivals since Liverpool’s Luis Suarez was given an eight-match ban after an inquiry found him guilty of racially abusing United’s Patrice Evra.
Before the match supporters were warned that racist behaviour would not be tolerated.