UEFA decide on Friday the host nation for the 2016 European Championship with a clear choice between the tried and tested in Italy or France against the apparently more risky option of Turkey.
The smart money looked to be on the latter two following the lack-lustre campaign of world champions Italy which has left many of the soccer-mad country not even aware of their bid.
Many of the 16-man executive committee which will make the decision would surely love to hand Turkey their first taste of hosting a major international tournament but will be given pause for thought by the example of 2012 hosts Poland and Ukraine.
The Cleveland Cavaliers fired coach Mike Brown late Sunday, ending his five-year tenure with the franchise a little more than a week after the team lost in the second round of the playoffs, a source close to Brown confirmed to Yahoo! Sports.
The Cavaliers now join the New Orleans Hornets, New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers and Chicago Bulls in looking for a new coach. The Philadelphia 76ers hired Doug Collins last week to fill their vacancy and Brown could emerge as a candidate for some of the other open jobs.
Brown was widely expected to be let go after the Cavaliers finished with the NBA’s best record for the second consecutive season, but failed to reach the NBA Finals.
The British boxer Carl Froch has made a daring statement that he might pull out of the Super Six tournament. I am sure that if he did carry out his threat he would be sorely missed as is undoubtedly one of the great British boxers that we have today. On the other hand some people might think that this is a dramatic outburst that has been designed to have the maximum effect on the sport and to put the spotlight firmly back to Froch. Boxing is certainly bigger than Froch but the player is constantly challenging their authority. Perhaps the boxing authorities might want to modify their approach slightly. The excuse that is provided by Froch for his threat is that he does not want to fight Arthur Abraham outside Britain. This might be a mystery to most observers of the boxing profession but apparently it is a very important issue for Froch. The challenge for the boxing authorities is to address the concerns raised by Froch but in a way that does not drive away the rest of the competition. As far as I am concerned they could play anywhere including Timbuktu but the important thing is that they play for the public. This feud is bordering on the frivolous and boxing cannot afford to be frivolous at this time. Some might unkindly suggest that Froch is still reeling from having his unbeaten record torn by Mikkel Kessler. Nobody really knows what is going on Froch apart from Froch himself. The unbeaten record was bound to end at some point and it does not take away from the fact that he is a very great boxer indeed. The victory must have been particularly galling because it was on a unanimous point’s decision. Froch then said that the Danish location had something to do with it. Sour grapes come to mind and it is a spat that is unbecoming in such a great boxer and sports personality. Perhaps the boxing authorities might want to call his bluff and request him to go ahead with the boycott.
