Two Argentine first division matches were "held up because of crowd violence and a floodlighting failure" on Saturday. Tigre coach Gustavo Alfaro "needed stitches to a head wound from an object thrown from the stands" during his team's match at Rosario Central. Alfaro said to reporters on the touchline, "We're not going to stop the match because of an idiot but Argentine football is shameful." Racing Club's match at Olimpo was "held up for 25 minutes in the first half when the power failed at the Carminatti stadium in the South Atlantic port city of Bahia Blanca" (REUTERS, 2/21). ... Merseyside MP and life-long Liverpool fan Alison McGovern is "calling on her beloved Reds to follow in Everton's footsteps and commit to paying staff the 'living wage.'" She has written to club CEO Ian Ayre to "strongly urge" the club she "passionately supports" to make the commitment (LIVERPOOL ECHO, 2/20). ... Canadians will have a chance to see the 47cm trophy ahead of this summer's Women's World Cup "on home turf when it travels the country on a two-month, 12-city tour starting April 1 in Ottawa." The tour, sponsored by Coca-Cola, will see subsequent stops in Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Moncton, Kingston, Ont., Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary before wrapping up May 29-31 in Vancouver. The showcase will offer fans "a chance to go up against a robot goalie, record a cheer for their favourite team and have their photo taken with the trophy, among other things" (CANADIAN PRESS, 2/20). ... Football Kenya Federation turned to local courts to "secure an injunctions to stop" the rival Kenyan Premier League from "kicking off their parallel Premier League on Saturday." In "contravention of their own" and FIFA statutes that "forbid resolution of football disputes through the courts, the federation whose own top flight competition named FKF Premier League starts next Wednesday secured orders against KPL under a suit filed under a certificate of urgency" on Friday evening. Nairobi Milimani High Court Judge Justice Mbogholi Msagha barred KPL from "hosting, commencing, running, managing or in any way conducting a parallel league, pending the March 3 hearing of a case filed by FKF" (XINHUA, 2/22).
CHELSEA TRAIN INCIDENT: The man "subjected to racist chanting by Chelsea fans and pushed off a train in Paris has snubbed the Premier League club's invitation to attend a match at Stamford Bridge." Video footage showed a group of Chelsea fans "preventing the man, named as Souleymane, entering a metro train" and chanting "we're racist, and that's the way we like it." Chelsea has suspended five supporters "from attending matches after conducting their own investigations" (REUTERS, 2/22). UEFA President Michel Platini has said UEFA "will not take action over the incident that occurred involving fans before Chelsea's match at PSG." He said that UEFA "would not get involved as the incident took place away from the ground." Platini: "UEFA can punish what happens in or around a stadium. In the Metro, what do you want me to do? We can, however, recommend clubs keep a close eye on their fans" (ESPN, 2/20).