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The vice president of the Czech Republic's football federation, Milan Brabec, stood down on Thursday after being heavily implicated in a match fixing scandal that has rocked Czech football. However, he denied any wrongdoing. Mr Brabec's position became untenable after police taped telephone conversations between him and Ivan Hornik, the former manager of the club Viktoria Zizkov. Mr Brabec, the then head of the federation's referee commission, and Mr Hornik were heard arranging referees for matches involving the club in a bid to fix results during the 2003/2004 first division season. The match fixing scandal in the Czech Republic erupted in May when police charged Jaroslav Hastik, the sporting director of FC Synot, with trying to bribe match officials. Around 30 referees were then charged with attempting to fix matches as a result of evidence from phone tapping by the police.

The government has approved a crisis plan for the eventuality of a global flu epidemic. Although no new virus strain has been detected, scientists are worried that a bird flu virus could mutate and spread on to humans. In case a new variety of the flu virus occurs, Czech doctors will distribute anti-viral drugs until a vaccine is developed for the mutated virus. Flu epidemics occur every year but every 30 to 40 years the virus changes to the extent that existing vaccines cannot prevent the illness. The last such epidemic was in 1968.

Prague university students who are - as they put it - disquieted by the current situation in society, mainly people's declining interest in public affairs, are going to stage a march on November 17 whose route will copy that of the student march 15 years ago, which triggered the anti-communist Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. The organisers expect up to 10,000 people to join the event. Representatives of the student leaders of 1989 are expected to address the opening rally. The current students will read a declaration of their own, which will be available for the public to sign. Former anti-communist dissidents, including Catholic priest Tomas Halik and folk singer Jaroslav Hutka, will address the rally after the march ends on Prague's Wenceslas square.

The Social Democrats have called on their supporters to vote against the right wing Civic Democratic Party, even if that means supporting the Communists, in the second round of elections to the Senate next weekend. The Civic Democrats have candidates in run-offs to 25 of 27 constituencies, while the Social Democrats have only three. Social Democrat leader Stanislav Gross said his party's aim was to prevent the Civic Democrats winning a sufficient majority in the Senate to be able to change the Constitution.