Sport

Football manager Gary Megson has been sacked as manager of Bolton Wanderers Football Club. Megson, who joined the club in Oct. 2007 was relieved of all managerial duties effective immediately, according to a statement released by the club. His dismissal comes after fans called for him to be sacked after a 2-2 draw to Hull City F.C. Bolton are currently 18th in the Barclays Premier League and are in a high chance of relegation. Megson has previously saved the side from relegation twice. Before managing Bolton, Megson had previously managed Wes

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has received approval from Governor General Michaelle Jean to prorogue the Canadian Parliament for about two months, up until the end of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the Prime Minister's Office has announced today. Under the prorogation, Parliament will resume on March 3, as opposed to January 25, when it was originally scheduled to return from the holiday break. The move to prorogue will strike any currently proposed legislation off the order paper, including the anti-crime bill that was propo

Police in Finland have arrested Matti Nykänen, a four-time Olympic gold medallist ski jumper, on suspicion of attempted murder. He spent the weekend in custody following an incident on Christmas Day in which his wife was injured. Nykänen, 46, is alleged to have left his wife with wounds to her hands and forehead in a knife attack, causing her to flee to a neighbour's house where she called the police. The Agence France-Presse reported that the Helsingin Sanomat expects Nykänen, from Jyväskylä, to be charged tomorrow. Nykänen, who won three of

Welsh footballer Ryan Giggs was named as the 2009 BBC Sports Personality of the Year in a ceremony Sunday night. The 36-year-old Manchester United and Welsh international player has won a record eleven Premier League titles in his career, and made over 800 appearances for his club. The award is given in December each year to a British sportsman or woman, and is voted for by the public. Giggs is only the fifth footballer to win since the award started in 1954, the most recent being David Beckham in 2001. Formula One driver Jenson Button was ru

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has given the late Jack Poole their highest honour, The Olympic Order, according to a report by the Vancouver Sun. Mr. Poole, one of the people behind the bid by Vancouver to host the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, passed away on October 23 after losing a fight with pancreatic cancer. The CEO of the Vancouver organizing committee (VANOC), John Furlong, was quoted as saying "Jack Poole is truly deserving of the tremendous honour of the Olympic Order in recognition of his enormous contribution to the 2010 G

University of Alabama running back Mark Ingram has won the 2009 Heisman Trophy, it was announced Saturday night. Ingram, the third consecutive sophomore to win the award for the top American Football player in NCAA Division I, was visibly emotional about receiving the award. The award was the first for Alabama. The margin of victory was the closest ever for the award, with just 28 points separating Ingram from the second place finisher: Stanford running back Toby Gerhart. "I'm a little overwhelmed right now," Ingram said. "I'm just so excite

The West Gippsland Latrobe Football League members have voted to rename it the Gippsland Football League (GFL) from the 2010 season. The GFL is the only major Australian rules football league in the Gippsland region of Australia. The league currently represents the Western, Central and Southern regions of Gippsland with Bairnsdale possibly joining from the East Gippsland Football League. Currently, Sale and Maffra are located furthest east of the GFL's clubs, Warragul furthest west and Wonthaggi furthest south. At the same meeting, Wonthaggi

__NOTOC__ FIFA, the world governing body for association football, yesterday announced it was setting up a working group to conduct an inquiry into the introduction of assistant referees and technology into the world game, in the wake of the reactions to the controversial handball committed by French captain Thierry Henry during the 18 November France vs Republic of Ireland qualifying play-off game for the 2010 World Cup. Yesterday, at the request of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, FIFA held an emergency meeting of its 24 member Executive Commit

The Independent Sport Panel Report, set up to look into sports funding, was published in Australia last week, prompting debate and speculation for the future of sport in the country. Many in the sector believe the report will prompt changes in the way sport is funded and administered in Australia. John Coates, President of the Australian Olympic Committee, criticised the report, and several elite sports people have joined Coates' calls for sustained funding to Olympic level sport. Other commentators have welcomed the recommendations, challengi

The Australian Football League (AFL) yesterday announced that it would hold an exhibition game in Shanghai, China. Brisbane will play Melbourne at Jiangwan Sports Centre in the Yangpu District. AFL game development head David Matthews told reporters, "[t]here are big opportunities here [in China] to improve our broadcast position and consider China as an events market. I think we have got the best game in the world, the most spectacular game in the world." The AFL had previously told Wikinews that they had no plans to stage such a game. Chin

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI), Irish Minister for Sport, Taoiseach and Facebook social network groups are requesting a replay of the controversial FIFA World Cup play-off between Ireland and France in the interests of Fair Play. The FAI lodged an appeal with FIFA and also contacted the French Football Federation (FFF), it appears FAI hopes FFF may agree that a replay is fair play. Both captians, Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane, have called for a replay. The Irish supporters, who in the past have won the FIFA Fair Play Award, are an

The governing body of world football, FIFA, has threatened Iraq with expulsion after the Iraqi Olympic Committee (IOC) took control of the country's governing body of football and disbanded it. FIFA has given the country 72 hours to restore the Iraq Football Association (IFA); if this is not done, the case is to be referred to FIFA’s emergency committee. The IFA and the IOC have disputed over who controls the game in the country for several years. The IOC has blamed the IFA for the FIFA ban on the country not being allowed to host internationa