There was a riot during Thursday’s UEFA Cup game between Sparta Prague and Spartak Moscow fans. Several fans sustained heavy injuries after clashing with the Czech riot police and eight fans were detained for displaying a Nazi propaganda.

Honolulu will host the first Pan-Pacific Championship tournament in February. Japanese champion Gamba Osaka, Houston Dynamo, LA Galaxy and yet to be named Australian club, will play a pair of doubleheaders and the winners of those games will meet for the title.

As was reported early this week, Alex Ferguson was given till Dec. 11 to tell his side of the story about him verbally abusing referee Mark Clattenburg at Bolton. The Man Utd coach now says that he wont fight the charges and will accept the verdict.

AC Milan Kaka, Man Utd Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi are the names on the short list of candidates for this year FIFA world player of the year. The award will be presented on Dec 17 in Zurich and the Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro is the current holder of the trophy.

Englishman Roy Hodgson quit his coaching job with the Finland national team after they failed to qualify for the EURO 2008 finals. Hodgson who led Switzerland to the 1994 World Cup and into EURO 1996 will assist the Finland soccer federation in search for his successor.

Bad news for struggling AC Milan after Ronaldo suffered calf problems during warm up in a game against Benfica on Wednesday. He played his first game last week after sitting out for six months with leg injuries and showed promising form.