Sports News

This week in sport: Arena to be build for Hockey World Championships after all. Czech's score in Champion League action. HC Sparta Prague defeat arch rivals HC Slavia Prague despite another delay. Radek Bonk scores the wining goal in battle between top teams in the NHL. Another Czech football player moves to Russia. Hooligans cause problems at football games over the weekend. And, police have dropped the case against Tomas Hunal.

Arena to be built for Hockey World Championships after all

We begin with the embarrassment regarding the construction of the Sazka Arena for the 2004 World Hockey Championships. Construction of the arena was halted weeks ago due to problems with financing, putting Prague's opportunity to host next year's world championships in jeopardy. The government recently announced that it would provide part of the capital needed to complete the arena. Here's what Stanislava Doubravova, the spokesperson for the Sazka lottery firm, had to say about meeting the deadline for next year's Hockey World Championships:

"We were assured by our contractors that it is possible to build the arena in time, so we are making all efforts to create such conditions for them to complete the project."

Czech's score in Champion League action

Jan Koller, photo: CTK

In Champion's League action on Wednesday night, Pavel Nedved's 92nd minute goal was too little, too late, to help Juventus overcome Manchester United. Nedved had a good game, making up for some of his team's lost talent after seven players succumbed to the flu. The feisty mid-fielder nearly equalized in the first half by catching the goal-post. In other football action, Jan Koller scored the first goal against Real Madrid, however his team Dortmund gave up two goals before losing the match.

HC Sparta Prague defeat arch rivals HC Slavia Prague despite another delay

In December,a Sparta-Slavia Prague derby at the city's Paegas Arena was stopped after smoke bombs were thrown on the ice. Because of this, security was very tight for the replay on Tuesday. The game was going smoothly until the 52nd minute, when a hoax bomb threat was received. This necessitated the evacuation of the hall for over an hour before the game could resume, after which Sparta completed a 4:2 win over their arch rivals. A game between Havirov and Trinec previously abandoned because of a hoax bomb threat was also replayed, this time without incident. The result was a 7:1 victory for Trinec.

Radek Bonk scores wining goal in battle between top teams in the NHL

Moving to the NHL now, and Radek Bonk of the Ottawa Senators scored the winning goal in a 5-3 victory against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday. Milan Hejduk and Jaromir Jagr remain tied for the top Czech point producer in the NHL with 66 points each, while Canadian Mario Lemieux continues to dominate the league with 77 points.

Another Czech football player moves to Russia

Back to football, and the Russian premier league team FC Zenit St. Peterburg has signed a fourth Czech player, Lukas Hartig from FC Bohemians Prague. This means that there are now five Czechs on the St. Petersburg squad, including coach Vlastimil Petrzela. Over the last year a massive number of Czech football as well as hockey players have moved to Russia to pursue their careers, largely for financial reasons.

Hooligans cause problems at football games over the weekend

Hooligans have also been making the news in football. Sparta fans - some of whom call themselves "Sparta Hooligans" - ripped up seats at Teplice and threw them onto the pitch on Saturday. There was widespread shock about the weapons discovered on Bohemians fans after their away game at Cesky Budejovice on Sunday; among the items seized were two axes.

Case closed against Tomas Hunal

Police have closed the case against Victoria Zizkov's Tomas Hunal. Police were asked to investigate allegations that the defender took a bribe before last season's crucial game against Slavia, which Zizkov lost.