Wildfires: Greek champions Olympiakos will have to wait to begin the defence of their Super League title after their derby against AEK Athens was postponed yesterday due to the wildfires raging on the outskirts of Athens. The match between Panionios and PAOK was also postponed. A huge wildfire fanned by strong winds cut a swathe of destruction near Athens yesterday, burning houses and sending thousands fleeing their homes, authorities said.
Bayern: Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm admitted his side suffered a catastrophe in the first half of their 2-1 defeat at minnows Mainz as the German giants slumped to their first league defeat of the season. The defeat was Bayern's first loss to Mainz in seven league meetings. "If you don't have enough aggression and go into the game with the wrong attitude, it can make things difficult even in Mainz," Lahm said. "The first half was a catastrophe."
Vicious brawl: Chelsea face an English FA investigation into a vicious brawl that marred a training ground friendly between the Premier League club's reserves and United Arab Emirates side Al-Ahli. The behind closed doors practice match at Chelsea's Cobham training base on Wednesday was abandoned after just 35 minutes after Chelsea's players were reportedly assaulted with karate kicks and had their hair pulled out.
Spray use: Mexican referees are to use a vanishing spray to mark a line on the pitch to ensure defensive walls keep the right distance at free-kicks. Argentina has been using such a spray, carried in an aerosol can, in the first division, since the beginning of the year.
Robben: Both Manchester clubs are eyeing Real Madrid's Dutch international Arjen Robben, Spanish sports newspaper Marca said. It said United and City may both put in offers of between 25 and 30 million euros for the 25-year-old.
Boxing: Robert Guerrero captured the International Boxing Federation super featherweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over South Africa's Malcolm Klassen. Guerrero won on all three judges' scorecards with one judge giving him a whopping 117-112 advantage. The other two scored it 116-113 and 116-112. Guerrero, a two-time featherweight world champion, used an upper cut to knock out the mouthpiece of Klassen in the sixth round. The boxers clashed heads one round later which opened up a cut near the left eye of Guerrero.
Golf: Resurgent Europe outplayed holders the United States at the Solheim Cup, ending a gripping second day at Rich Harvest Farms tied for the lead at 8-8. Having trailed by 4-½ points to 3-½ overnight, the Europeans dominated the morning fourball matches before splitting the afternoon foursomes encounters to leave the biennial team competition delicately balanced. Europe, who have lost the last two Solheim Cup matches, need 14-½ points to win for the first time on American soil.
Tennis: France's Richard Gasquet, sidelined for more than two months after a disputed positive test for cocaine, failed to make it out of qualifying for the Pilot Pen ATP hardcourt tournament last weekend. The 23-year-old, ranked 38th in the world and the top seed in qualifying, won his first match, posting a straight sets victory over American Michael Rubin, ranked 922nd in the world. But world number 458 Dusan Vemic, of Serbia, dealt him a 7-6 4-6 6-3 defeat in the second round.
Motor racing: Australian Penske driver Will Power broke two vertebrae in his lower back and suffered a concussion in a smash with France's Nelson Philippe during an IndyCar practice on Saturday. Philippe also sustained a concussion as well as an open fracture of his left foot that required surgery. Power, a 28-year-old former road course specialist who finished fifth in this year's Indianapolis 500, crashed into an already spinning Philippe coming out of a blind corner at Infineon Raceway.