Gary Lineker is to be the new face of the BBC's golf coverage. He has been chosen to replace Steve Rider, who is leaving to join ITV, and will front the corporation's broadcasts of the US Masters and the Open next year. An announcement is due to be made later this month.
England's record goalscorer has beaten off competition from the likes of Mark Nicholas, Channel 4's cricket host, and other BBC presenters, such as Mark Pougatch, to land the coveted role.
Lineker, a keen amateur golfer, will cover only major events and will not be involved in any minor tournaments the BBC might also show. Nevertheless it will be a busy summer for Lineker in 2006. He will be the main host for the BBC's coverage of the World Cup finals in Germany and will then have to rush back to front up the Open.
It is a further step in Lineker's rise in a broadcasting career that began in 1992, when he presented Gary Lineker's Football Night on Radio Five, after his active life as a professional footballer petered out in Japan.
Puskas memories on sale
Ferenc Puskas is selling his World Cup runners-up medal and the golden boot he received for scoring 83 goals in 84 internationals for Hungary to help meet the costs of full-time medical care. A recent charity match in Budapest between a Puskas XI and one of his former clubs, Real Madrid, reportedly resulted in a mere £7,000 donation to his family.
More than 100 items will be sold in Bonhams' sporting memorabilia sale in Chester on November 2, with an estimate of £3,000 to £5,000 for the medal he received in 1954 after being part of the side beaten by West Germany in the final in Switzerland - the game that came to be known as the Miracle of Bern, as the Germans had lost 8-3 to the Magnificent Magyars at the group stage but hit back from two goals down to win 3-2 and lift the trophy for the first time.
Other mementoes from his glittering collection to be auctioned include a goalscorer trophy, presented by the Hungarian FA, inscribed "World Record Holder of the Top Division Goals (511) Ferenc Puskas (Hungary and Spain) by IFFHS".
Also included are personal gifts and presentations such as a silver model of the Bernabéu stadium, 2002, given to Puskas on his 75th birthday by Real Madrid (estimate £1,500-£2,000) and a Brazil shirt sent by Pele and signed on the front: "To Puskas Happy Birthday do Amigo Edson Pele" (estimate £1,000-£1,500). Puskas is currently in a Budapest hospital suffering from a form of Alzheimer's disease.
No stroll in Meadow Lane
Pampered professionals? Don't tell Notts County that. After they were beaten by Boston United last Friday the whole squad was made to do 75 laps of the Meadow Lane pitch on the Saturday and were called back to do the same again on Sunday. They did have a break halfway through each run - but stopping only for lunch. The squad was particularly annoyed because they had all booked holidays as they were supposed to have had the whole weekend off. Gudjon Thordarson, the manager, sat in the dug-out without saying a word to anyone other than "22 . . . 23 . . . 24" when they completed a lap. And not content with that, they also had to do drills up and down the steps of the main stand.
Bird flu cloud over Games
Organisers of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne have taken out insurance worth £150m in case the event next March is cancelled because of bird flu. Australian counter-terrorism authorities have drawn up plans to defend the country against any attempt to spread the deadky virus during the Games.
The National Counter Terrorism Committee has included the use of bird flu strain H5N1 as a weapon in possible attack scenarios. Australia has joined the United States and Canada in treating bird flu as a possible "agri-terrorism" weapon against the west. The H5N1 strain - the most virulent type of bird flu - has so far claimed more than 60 lives in Asia.
Olympics net crackdown
Lawyers for London 2012 have begun carrying out their threat of targeting businesses they suspect of taking advantage of the Olympics Games without having paid for the privilege. They have demanded a travel agent in York hand over five internet domain names that he registered on the day after London's successful bid was announced at a meeting in Singapore on July 6.
Paul Smith, of Quartz Travel, brought the names, including www.olympicsinuk.com and www.london2012beds. co.uk, with the intention of setting up a series of sites for tourists seeking travel and accommodation in 2012.
"It seems very unfair to insist that the names are handed over," Smith said. "Why should the only businesses to be able to share in the Olympic success be large multinationals officially sanctioned by the organisers?"
Paul Kelso is away