Former Bafana Bafana player Mark Fish on Monday hailed Argentinean legend Diego Maradona as the greatest football player of all time.

The two met during Maradona’s inspection tour of the High Performance Centre in Pretoria on Monday.

The venue will be his team’s base during the 2010 FIFA World Cup which starts in June and its management is spending around R2m to upgrade all facilities including security for the team.

Fish said he was extremely excited to meet his soccer hero.

The Indian football team has announced a lucrative new shirt sponsorship deal with Panasonic.

Speaking at a press conference make the announcement, AIFF president Praful Patel said, "Football is the second-most popular sport in India and there is a huge potential to grow."

"We are hopeful that our association with Panasonic will support our mission to take Indian football to global standards. The game is now only restricted to some specific areas.

"There is also a need for more corporate houses to come forward and promote the game."

Panasonic will pay US$ 1 million per year for three years as part of the deal.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Three Duke freshmen from Georgia who were kicked off the school's football team were due in court to face felony gun charges.

The Herald-Sun of Durham reported the men were to make a first court appearance Tuesday after gunshots were fired near a university residence hall early Sunday. The students have been charged with felony possession and discharge of a weapon.

Campus police say the shots were fired into the air. No one was hurt and a pistol was recovered.

John Drew and Kyle Griswould, both of 18 of Midland, Ga.; and 19-year-old Brandon Putnam of Peachtree City were dismissed from the team after their arrest Sunday.

BENGUELA, Angola — The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have disclosed that they are unaware of a presidential directive that they should sack coach Shuaibu Amodu with immediate effect.


It has been speculated in a section of the Nigerian media that the Presidential Task Force (PTF) for the 2010 World Cup at the weekend conveyed an order from the country's Vice-President, Goodluck Jonathan, that Amodu be fired immediately following Nigeria's tentative start to the Nations Cup.


Nigeria are second in Group C behind leaders Egypt with three points from two matches, but must avoid defeat against the Mambas of Mozambique to progress to the quarter-final of Angola 2010.

Speculation has been rife about the future of coach Amodu since Nigeria fell to Egypt in an opening Group C match here in Angola.

Amodu first qualified Nigeria for the 2002 World Cup, but was fired after the Eagles failed to reach the final of the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations in Mali, allowing Adeboye Onigbinde to take the team to the World Cup.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insisted his side were now genuine title contenders after goals from Cesc Fabregas and Fran Merida helped them beat Bolton 2-0 at the Reebok Stadium.

Sunday’s success left the third-placed Gunners just three points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea and they will go top, on goal difference, if they beat Bolton again at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday in a fixture re-arranged following the recent cold snap in Britain.

After losing 3-0 at home to Chelsea on November 29, Wenger?s men were written off as potential champions but have since gone eight matches unbeaten to transform their season.

However, having seen Fabregas mark his return to the Arsenal side in style to help ruin Owen Coyle’s first match in charge of Bolton, Wenger said: “We are now in a quite interesting position that nobody expected us to be in.

“When the season started we were not all convinced maybe in our squad that we could be where we are today,” the Frenchman added.

“But now we are where we are, we want to have a go. We are a big club and when you are a big club, the most difficult thing is like last season in October and November, when you know you don’t fight for the title.

“But now we have a chance to fight for the championship, so let’s have a go.”

Fabregas had missed Arsenal’s three previous matches with a hamstring problem but the break did not appear to have done him any harm as he ran the show for the visitors on Sunday, including playing a part in setting-up fellow Spaniard Merida for the Gunners’ second goal 12 minutes from time.

Arsenal’s bid to win the English Premier League title threatens to be derailed by a lengthening injury list with manager Arsene Wenger currently without nine first-team players.

Striker Robin van Persie (ankle) and Johan Djourou (knee) seem set to miss the rest of the season but there are a growing number of players at the Emirates who have shorter-term injury problems.

The latest feature midfielders Aaron Ramsey (thigh) and Samir Nasri (hamstring), who were both injured in training before Sunday’s 2-0 victory away to Bolton – a win that moved the Gunners to within three points of leaders and London rivals Chelsea.

Both Ramsey and Nasri are set to be out for three weeks each and will be among the Arsenal players missing from Wednesday’s hoem match against Bolton, where a victory would see the Gunners go top of the table on goal difference.

Egypt’s Amr Zaki is set to return to the English Premier League in a loan spell with Hull until the end of the season, subject to receiving a work permit, the top-flight strugglers said Monday.

Zaki, who scored 11 Premier League goals for Wigan during a loan spell last term, will be joining from Egyptian club Zamalek if the deal is approved.

Hull manager Phil Brown will hope Zaki’s latest stint in England is as productive as his last as the Tigers look to climb out of the relegation zone.

Zaki said he was looking forward to playing in the Premier League again.

Henry touched the ball with his left hand and arm before passing for William Gallas to score the decisive goal in a playoff in Paris last November. France drew the match 1-1 after extra time to beat Ireland 2-1 on aggregate.

Thierry Henry won't be punished for his hand ball before the goal that helped send France to the World Cup instead of Ireland.

FIFA said Monday that its disciplinary panel decided it had no legal right to consider the case under its rules. The governing body said a hand ball offense is not classified as "a serious infringement" necessary to prosecute Henry under the Disciplinary Code.

"There is no other legal text that would allow the committee to impose sanctions for any incidents missed by match officials," FIFA said in a statement.

England midfielder David Beckham insisted yesterday that he will play on after the 2010 World Cup.
The Sun newspaper reported that the AC Milan player was planning on retiring and returning to England once the competition in South Africa is over.
"I've always said I'd love to carry on playing after the World Cup and that isn't going to change," Beckham said. "I don't know where the reports have come from, they definitely haven't come from myself."

Beckham, 34, is on loan at AC Milan from the Los Angeles Galaxy. He has started all three games since returning to San Siro for a second straight season on loan, playing all 90 minutes of Milan's 4-0 win over Siena yesterday.