The Italian federation (FIGC) is determined to complete the season and its president Gabriele Gravina has been presenting new ideas on an almost daily basis of how that can be done. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan in Central Asia is set to resume its soccer season with spectators at the weekend, making it only the second country in the world to let fans attend matches as the new coronavirus shuts down almost all of world football.
At their Kremlin summit, leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) -- comprising Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -- signed an agreement for the creation of RAF under a joint command.
France received chilling notice that the road to post-World Cup redemption will be long and hard when they lost 1-0 to Belarus in Paris on Friday, while Portugal threw away two points in a frantic 4-4 draw at home to Cyprus. England and Italy were able to start repairing their reputations with contrasting wins in their first Euro 2012 qualifiers and Spain swatted away Liechtenstein 4-0 with an ease befitting their status as world and European champions.
Maria Sharapova began Act II of her storied career on Monday when she shrieked her way into the second round of the French Open with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus.
Zinedine Zidane stole the show at a France's training camp on Wednesday in a sign that Les Bleus had a long way to go to erase the memory of their South Africa World Cup disgrace.
Wins deciding set shootout after premature celebration. The Briton, who overcame dual Grand Slam semi-finalist Ekaterina Makarova, thought she had won the first round match after reaching seven points in the third set tiebreak and celebrated accordingly.
Holder Marion Bartoli advanced to the quarter-finals of the Stanford Classic on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-4 win over former world number one Ana Ivanovic, while Maria Sharapova also advanced to the last eight. Russian Sharapova, a three-times Grand Slam winner, beat Belarus's Olga Govortsova 6-3, 6-3 while Maria Kirilenko defeated sixth seed Shahar Peer 6-4, 6-3.
Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal, Soumyadeep Roy and A Amalraj entered the men's singles second round but it was curtains for their women counterparts in the opening round itself as India made a mixed start at the Egypt Open table tennis tournament in Cairo.
Ace Indian pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are one step away from securing the lone trophy missing from their cabinets. The third seeds got the better of the second-seeded pair of Daniel Nestor of Cananda and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 to make it to the final of the Australian Open.
Former European champions Red Star Belgrade, Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic all made it comfortably through to the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Wednesday after surviving away legs.
Indian ace Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi sailed into the second round of the men's doubles at Wimbledon, scoring a straight-set victory over the Argentine duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Sebastian Prieto in London on Thursday. The fourth-seeded Indo-Belarus pair won 7-5, 6-1, 7-5.
Images from Day 2 of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, on Tuesday.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna advanced to the doubles quarter-finals of the ATP 250 event in Nice, France after winning the first round with their respective partners.
Gandhi's decision to fly economy class followed a similar act by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and an announcement by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna that he would be undertaking official trips to Belarus and Turkmenistan.
Professional soccer leagues around Europe are gearing up for a return to action following the novel coronavirus stoppage, but some are more advanced than others.
India's Greco-Roman grapplers Ravinder Singh, Harpreet Singh and Hardeep crashed out in the penultimate day of the World Wrestling Championships in Budapest on Saturday.
Sania Mirza and her Italian partner Francesca Schiavone, seeded 14th, survived a scare from unseeded Ekaterina Dzehalevich of Belarus and Czech Renata Voracova before recording a 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 win to advance to the women's doubles second round.
Jelena Jankovic had to fight her way into the fourth round of the Indian Wells WTA tournament on Monday while former world number one Kim Clijsters was upset by Russian Alisa Kleybanova. Serbian sixth seed Jankovic beat Italian Sara Errani 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 in an error-strewn marathon on the stadium court before twice champion Clijsters of Belgium tumbled out 6-4, 1-6, 7-6.
Top seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi made a shock first round exit from USD 1,100,000 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships after suffering a straight set defeat in Memphis.
World number one Roger Federer overcame a sluggish start before advancing to the Australian Open semi-finals with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5 victory over in-form Russian Nikolay Davydenko on Wednesday.
Serena Williams continued her smooth lead up to next week's Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Vera Dushevina at the Sydney International on Wednesday.
Australia's gruelling summer conditions claimed three more victims on Monday when Vera Zvonareva, Victoria Azarenka and Marion Bartoli all pulled out of the Sydney International because of injury and illness.
IMAGES from Day 6 of the matches played at the US Open at Flushing Meadows on Saturday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be the happiest man alive once he has completed his move to Barcelona from Inter Milan, the Swedish striker said on Sunday.
Here's this week of photos that prove we live in a mad world.
New mum Victoria Azarenka wants to see more child-friendly tournaments on the WTA Tour, saying not enough is done to help players travelling with young families.
India became the first winner of the Women's Champions Challenge II in hockey history after they defeated Belgium 6-3 in the final in Kazan, Russia, on Saturday. Rani Rampal scored four goals and emerged the top scorer of the tournament.
Caroline Wozniacki said she felt 'cursed' at Melbourne Park after losing in straight sets to a resurgent Victoria Azarenka in the Australian Open second round on Thursday.
Fabio Capello described David Beckham's man-of-the-match award as like American president Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize after the midfielder made a 30-minute cameo in a 3-0 defeat of Belarus on Wednesday. Beckham, sporting a bushy beard, said he is taking nothing for granted but insisted he would fight for his place in what would be a fourth World Cup finals with England.
IMAGES from the Euro 2020 qualifiers played on Thursday
Manchester Untied striker Michael Owen is set for three weeks on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of a groin problem in the 2-1 Champions League victory over VfL Wolfsburg on Wednesday.
World number one Dinara Safina continued to bulldoze her way through the French Open draw when she flattened France's Aravane Rezai 6-1 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals on Sunday.
Russia won their third successive Olympic rhythmic gymnastics group gold with two dynamic and intricately choreographed routines on Sunday. Their flawless exhibition of agility and dexterity earned them 35.550 points, 0.325 more than surprise silver medallists China. Belarus took the bronze.
Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza notched up a rare double for India at the US Open by advancing to the second round of the season's last Grand Slam with contrasting opening wins at the Flushing Meadows hardcourts.
Since the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, Russian military hardware has not been stationed on the border of the European Union. The development indicates the growing diplomatic tussle between Russia and the US over the deployment of the missile defence system in Europe.
Russia has been suspended from international athletics since November 2015 after the McLaren report discovered widespread doping.
Kenya's Ruth Chepngetich overcame extreme heat and humidity to win the World Championship midnight marathon on Friday, in a gruelling test of survival that saw nearly a third of the 70 starters fail to reach the finish line.
A pumped up Maria Sharapova overcame Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the third round of the LA Championships on Wednesday.
Victoria Azarenka, the 19-year-old from Belarus, thrashed injury-hampered world number one Serena Williams 6-3m 6-1 to win the Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday. The victory, the first top-tier triumph for Azarenka, stopped the American claiming a record sixth title at Key Biscayne.
Victoria Azarenka suffered a stunning meltdown and blew three match points against world number one Serena Williams before losing 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(1) in the third round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
