Serie A strike: FIGC president Giancarlo Abete and Lega Serie A Maurizio Beretta are holding a series of meetings to try and avert the players’ strike. The Players’ Association (AIC) announced it will hold a strike next weekend in protest at the problems renegotiating the collective bargaining contract. A meeting was held yesterday while more are planned for today.
Cologne robbed: Cologne’s disappointment at their 3-2 German league defeat at Bayer Leverkusen yesterday was compounded by anger after thieves ransacked their dressing room while the players toiled out on the pitch. The Express newspaper reported on its website that Cologne were robbed of wallets and mobile phones after the doors of the dressing room had allegedly been left unlocked.
Radu: Lazio defender Stefan Radu will have surgery to cure a recurring knee problem this month. He had been hoping to wait until the Christmas break but reports suggest he will go under the knife this week.
Bougherra: Rangers manager Walter Smith has confirmed defender Madjid Bougherra will play against Bursaspor after recovering from a hamstring injury. The Algerian has not played since his club’s 2-0 win over Aberdeen on November 13 but he flew out to Turkey yesterday for tomorrow’s Champions League clash.
FIFA: Mayor of London Boris Johnson has reportedly withdrawn his offer to let FIFA executives stay at London’s posh Dorchester hotel for free during the 2012 Olympics in the English capital. According to the BBC website, Johnson’s snub to FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his team was provoked by the decision to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia ahead of England.
Gulf Cup: Kuwait clinched a timely morale boost ahead of January’s Asian Cup with a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in the Gulf Cup final yesterday. Walid Ali scored the only goal in the fourth minute of extra-time. The two-week tournament featured Yemen, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Oman and Qatar.
Golf: Lee Westwood shot a final-round 68 yesterday to win the Sun City Challenge by eight strokes and remain world number one going into the new year. The 37-year-old Englishman needed a top-two finish at the north-west South African resort to ensure he stayed ahead of American golf icon Tiger Woods, who was poised to win the Chevron World Challenge in California last night. Westwood chipped into the hole from behind the green at the final hole to finish a four-under round of 68 on a high and dogged South African Tim Clark carded a 71 to snatch second place.
Boxing: Heavyweight champion Alex-ander Dimitrenko was taken to hospital for checks on Saturday night following a food poisoning scare after collapsing shortly before the German of Ukrainian origin was due to face Poland’s Albert Sosnowski in Schwerin, Germany. Dimitrenko, who has won 30 of his 31 fights – 20 by knockout – and has held the European title since July, collapsed in his dressing room as he made his final fight preparations and his promoter indicated the problem could have been something he ate.
Athletics: Two-time world champion Jaouad Gharib, of Morocco, kept his own pace in a long solo run despite a surprise challenge by Kenya’s Eliud Kiptanui for an easy victory in the Fukuoka marathon yesterday. The Beijing Olympic silver medallist took the lead when the last pace-setter Kiptanui abandoned the race at the 30-kilometre mark and never faced a serious challenge, winning in two hours eight minutes 24 seconds. Russia’s Dmitry Safronov, who snatched the second place from Ethiopian Tekeste Kebede at around the 33km point, finished runner-up in 2:10.12, followed by Takayuki Matsumiya of Japan in 2:10.54.
Basketball, NBA: Chris Bosh scored 27 points and Dwyane Wade added 26 to power the Miami Heat to their fourth consecutive NBA victory, an 89-77 triumph over the Atlanta Hawks. Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James added 22 points for Miami in his first game since an emotional homecoming victory at Cleveland two nights earlier. Miami improved to 13-8 to pull into a share of second place in the Southeast division with the Hawks, who saw their five-game win streak snapped.