Event Notes: Scottish FA Defends Decision To Face Qatar In Friendly

The Scottish FA has defended its decision to "play a controversial friendly" against Qatar. The ruling body has "come under increasing criticism over facing a country with an appalling human rights record." But the SFA insist Friday's match at Easter Road can be a "powerful tool in highlighting the wrongs." And it claimed that issues of society "must be separated from those of football" (Scotland DAILY RECORD, 6/1). ... Zimbabwe said that it will "continue its cricket tour of Pakistan despite an apparent suicide bombing leaving two people dead outside the stadium during a match between the two sides." Friday's explosion -- which a minister said was a "suicide attack, though police insist it was an accident -- threatened to torpedo cricket-mad Pakistan's first series on home soil since an attack on the Sri Lankan team bus" in March '09. The blast, which "did not affect the match itself, triggered a news blackout in Pakistani media" (AFP, 5/31).