Sports shorts: Real great Di Stefano in critical condition after heart attack

Real Madrid great Alfredo Di Stefano, 88, is in a critical condition after suffering a heart attack on Saturday, sources from the Spanish capital's emergency services told Reuters.

One of the greatest footballers of all time, Argentina-born Di Stefano was taken to the intensive care unit of Madrid's Gregorio Maranon hospital after an 18-minute respiratory arrest, said the sources who declined to be identified.

Known as 'La Saeta Rubia' (the blond arrow), he has had several health problems in recent years and is often seen in a wheelchair in public.

Di Stefano was fitted with a pacemaker in 2005 following heart surgery.

His achievements as a player helped turn Real, the club he joined in 1953, into one of the world's leading sides.

The skilful Di Stefano featured in attack when the Madrid team won five successive European Cups between 1956-60 and he scored in each of the finals.

Italian duo Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci completed a career Grand Slam after beating Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic 6-1, 6-3 in the women's doubles final at Wimbledon on Saturday.

Playing in their first final at the All England Club, the No.2 seeds became the first pair to win all four Grand Slams since Venus and Serena Williams in 2001.

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With the rain pouring down in southwest London, the roof on Centre Court was closed and the four-times Grand Slam winners dominated the opening set, wrapping it up in 27 minutes.

Hungarian Babos and Frenchwoman Mladenovic, who ousted top seeds Su-Wei Hsieh and Peng Shuai en route to the title match, offered more resistance in the second set but suffered a decisive break in the sixth game.

Victory for Errani and Vinci means they add the Wimbledon crown to their trophy collection having won the last two Australian Open titles as well as the French and US Opens in 2012.

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Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg put Mercedes on pole position for the British Grand Prix in changeable qualifying conditions on Saturday.

The German's team mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton had looked like seizing pole but dropped to sixth after aborting his final lap just as the conditions improved enough to allow Rosberg to go faster.

Red Bull's quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel qualified alongside Rosberg on an all-German front row. The damp conditions threw out a string of surprises, with some of the leading contenders caught out.

Ferrari and Williams both misjudged the conditions and failed to get any of their drivers through the first phase.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen qualified 19th and 20th respectively. Brazilian Felipe Massa, who was on pole at the previous race in Austria, was 18th with Williams team mate Valtteri Bottas 17th.

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World welterweight title contender Amir Khan has been released on bail after the British boxer was arrested on suspicion of two assaults in the early hours of Friday morning, according to media reports.

Greater Manchester Police would not confirm that it was Khan who had been arrested but they did issue a statement on the incident.

"Just before 1.30am on Friday 4 July 2014 police were called following reports of an assault in Bolton," the statement read.

"Officers discovered two 19-year-old men had been assaulted. Their injuries are not serious.

"A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of two assaults and has been bailed until mid-July pending further enquiries."

Khan, however, played down the incident on social media.

"All nonsense please don't believe what you read. I'm home with my family and nobody got beat up," the boxer said on his Twitter account.

Khan is hoping to challenge Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the unbeaten American's World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council titles.

Mayweather beat Argentine Marcos Maidana on points in a title fight in Las Vegas in May and on the undercard of the same bill Khan outpointed American Luis Collazo.

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Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has raised the possibility of making a multi-billion dollar bid to buy back the sport's commercial rights from owners CVC Capital Partners.

"It is possible, although one or two other companies are interested and I would not enter an auction," the 83-year-old, who is on trial in Germany accused of bribery, told the Daily Express newspaper on Saturday.

"Our company has been a very good investment for CVC and it would be a very good investment for me or anyone who owned it," he added.

"You can make money from it, so it would not be a problem for me to find financial backers. I run it now but it wouldn't make any difference. It just means I would have to buy the shares."

London-based private equity firm CVC are the largest shareholder in Formula One with a stake of around 35 percent.

Recent reports have indicated that John Malone's Liberty Global Plc and Discovery Communications Inc are in discussions with CVC and Lehman Brothers Holdings to buy a 49 percent stake in the business.

CVC may also contemplate an initial public offering of Formula One, but that would be unlikely before the conclusion of Ecclestone's trial in Munich.

CVC said in November last year that Ecclestone, who has acknowledged that a conviction in Germany would force him out of a business in which he is also a five percent stakeholder, would be fired if he was found guilty of wrongdoing.

However, the Briton indicated on Saturday that it might be difficult to oust him.

"I have a contract with the company, not the shareholders." Ecclestone told the Express. "I have seen some rubbish about being pushed out but CVC have been super-supportive through my troubles."

German Marcel Kittel powered to victory in the opening stage of the Tour de France on Saturday while Britain's Mark Cavendish crashed heavily in the final straight.

Kittel, who also won the first stage last year, took the overall leader's yellow jersey after easily outsprinting Slovakian Peter Sagan and Lithuanian Ramunas Navardauskas.

"It was so hard," said the Giant Shimano rider. "The hill in the last kilometre made it very difficult to win. There were so many people that we rode the finale like in a tunnel with a terrible noise.

"It's unbelievable I've won stage one again. I had good legs today and my guys did an excellent job. I feel sorry for Mark Cavendish and I wish him all the best."

Cavendish, cycling in his mother's home town of Harrogate, seemed too eager to succeed in the closing stages and collided with Australian Simon Gerrans with both riders taking a tumble.

After being helped by the race doctor Cavendish crossed the finish line with his right arm folded and clearly in pain.

The former world champion stayed for around 10-15 minutes in his Omega Pharma-Quick Step team bus before leaving in an ambulance.

"Simon is not to blame," Orica GreenEdge sports director Matt White told reporters.

With huge crowds lining the mild ascents, the opening stage was a massive success as the Tour made its return to Britain seven years after London staged the Grand Depart.

The peloton kept a three-man breakaway group, which featured German veteran Jens Voigt, on a tight leash.

The 42-year-old Voigt, taking part in a record-equalling 17th Tour de France, went solo after the intermediate sprint, leaving Frenchmen Nicolas Edet and Benoit Jarrier behind.

The move earned him the polka dot jersey for the mountain classification.

The stage was no walk in the park and several riders, including Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez and top French hope Thibaut Pinot, were caught off guard when the peloton split.

They made it back to the bunch who were slowed by the big crowds on some narrow roads.

Defending champion Chris Froome of Britain was sixth.

Kittel was never threatened in the sprint which he started about 400 metres from the line.

"It's unbelievable - we did it last year and we're doing it again this year. Everybody knows how hard it is. It's something really special and I'm happy to support him," said Kittel's team mate and compatriot John Degenkolb.

Sunday's second stage is a treacherous 201-km trek from York to Sheffield.