■ITALY
Earrings to be auctioned
Media reports say authorities are planning to auction off diamond earrings seized from Diego Maradona as part-payment of the former Napoli star’s unpaid tax bill. The earrings were confiscated by tax authorities last year while Maradona was in an Alpine resort in northern Italy. The Bolzano tax police in charge of the operation at the time put the value at 4,000 euros (US$5,770). Italian newspaper La Repubblica and others said on Tuesday that the auction would take place on Jan. 14, probably in Bolzano. Local police could not immediately confirm the reports. Italian authorities say the former soccer great, currently coach of Argentina, owes almost 30 million euros in unpaid income tax. The debt dates to the 1980s when Maradona played for Napoli.
■GERMANY
Matthaus to divorce
Former international and World Cup-winning skipper Lothar Matthaus has split from his fourth wife Liliana and is set to enter divorce proceedings after just a year of marriage, the Bunte tabloid reported on Tuesday. “I don’t like the word divorce, but I am going to consult with lawyers,” 1990 World Cup star Matthaus said. “I have the impression Liliana is subject to some bad influences,” the former Bayern Munich and Inter star said. Former model Liliana, 22, met Matthaus at the Munich beer festival in 2007 and the pair rapidly became a couple, but she left the family home early last month while insisting nobody else was involved. “Sunday evening she came to see me saying she still loved me and that she missed me, but that she needed time to think,” said Matthaus, who tied the knot with Liliana on New Year’s Day last year in Las Vegas. Matthaus, who has yet to shine as a coach, has regularly had his colorful life pored over by the media. He was married to first wife Sylvia from 1981 to 1992, Swiss second wife Lolita from 1994 to 1999 and then was with Serbian Marijana from 2003 to 2007.
■AUSTRIA
England to train in Austria
Fabio Capello’s England squad will travel to Austria for a training camp at altitude prior to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the camp’s organizer said on Tuesday. “We have organized the camp in conjunction with the English Football Federation,” said Nikolaus Pichler, a representative of the IFCS company which organizes training camps for professional teams in the region of Styria. “The team manager, Fabio Capello, [will] be there with the team in Irdning, which he is already familiar with. He has already visited here with other teams, such as AS Roma and Real Madrid.” The exact dates of England’s stay will be announced soon, added Pichler, who said he is negotiating with two other national teams interested in setting up camp in Styria. Serbia and South Korea have already booked stays for the end of May and the beginning of June.
■INDIA
Two players arrested
A top Indian soccer club was embroiled in an embarrassing controversy yesterday after two Nigerian players were accused of molesting a female flight attendant. The players, along with the rest of the Churchill Brothers squad, were on their way to Kolkata from Goa when the alleged incident took place, local media reported. The team was offloaded during a stop-over in Mumbai, where the police arrested Nigerian strikers Odafa Onyeka Okolie and Felix Chimaokwu, as well as team manager Mario Soares on charges of molestation, the Hindustan Times said. They were later released on bail ahead of their match in Kolkata today.
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two