Novara: Serie B side Novara fired coach Alessandro Calori and de-cided to bring back Alfredo Aglietti, yesterday. The decision came following the 1-0 upset to fellow relegation strugglers Trapani on Saturday. Aglietti is a former Novara coach having replaced Attilio Tesser in autumn of 2012.

Fire check: An independent inspector will look into possible structural damage caused by an October fire at a World Cup stadium in western Brazil, following a Reuters report that the blaze was far worse than government officials have previously said. The inspector, whose visit to the stadium in the city of Cuiabá was already scheduled for today, will report his findings back to FIFA and Brazilian officials, FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer said yesterday.

A-League: David Williams netted a hat-trick as bottom side Melbourne Heart produced an impressive performance to record a 5-0 victory over Wellington Phoenix and close the gap to three points at the bottom of the A-League, yesterday. Williams struck his first after Orlando Engelaar had opened the scoring early on, with Phoenix goalkeeper unfortunate to put the ball into his own net after 54 minutes, a goal sandwiched between Wil-liams’s second and third.

Water breaks: FIFA will allow water breaks during this year’s World Cup in Brazil in ex-ceptionally hot weather. The proposal was put forward by Italy coach Cesare Prandelli to safeguard the players during matches in the Amazon areas of the country. Reports said the breaks will be for three minutes every half-hour of football.

Magath: Felix Magath took his first training session as Fulham manager yesterday. Asked about avoiding relegation from the Premier League, in which the London club have been ever-present since 2001, he said: “I’m sure I can do that because I’ve done it before in Germany. I’ve taken over clubs in a similar position and I’m very confident I can do it with Fulham.” With 12 games to play, Fulham are four points from safety and have by far the worst goal difference of all the relegation contenders.