CHAMPION - Slovan Liberec soccer team has come out on top of the Gambrinus liga this season. The team had a 16-3-11 record with one more game to play. This is the second time that Liberec has won the competition in five years. It is one of only three teams to break the dominance of Sparta Praha, which has won nine titles since the Gambrinus liga started in 1993.

FINE - The Czech Soccer Association's Disciplinary Committee has fined Slavia Praha 2 million Kč ($90,457) for the management's decision to pull the squad off the field for 20 minutes during an April 26 Gambrinus liga game against Liberec. The team walked off over what it felt was unfair officiating.

INSULT - In another ruling by the Disciplinary Committee, Sparta Praha defender Tomáš Řepka has been fined 50,000 Kč for insulting Jihlava head coach Karel Večeřa during a Gambrinus liga game in late April. Řepka called him a "moron."

CLIMBER - Czech mountaineer Pavel Kalný died May 10 while climbing the world's fourth-highest mountain, Lhotse, in the Himalayas. He was 38. Kalný was found alive by Nepalese mountaineers, who suspected he'd fallen during the climb, but he died while being carried down the mountain to a base camp for treatment.

HEALTH - Czech international soccer player Patrik Berger is considering retiring from professional soccer for health reasons. The 32-year-old midfielder for English Premiership's Aston Villa missed most of this season due to knee injuries. Berger gained international attention by scoring the Czech team's only goal in the Euro 96 final. He was also a member of the 2005 Champions League winner, Liverpool.

GYMNASTICS - Two Czech gymnasts won medals at the European Championships in Volos, Greece, in early May. Martin Konečný won bronze in the men's floor exercise and Jana Šikulová took silver in the women's uneven bars. It was the first time in 21 years that a Czech gymnast brought home medals from a major competition.

JUNIORS - The Czech junior national soccer team lost to Russia in a penalty shootout following a 2–2 draw in the UEFA Under-17 Championship final game in Luxembourg May 14. The young team lost the shootout 5–3.

Penalty - The Sparta Praha soccer team's management has fined the squad 1 million Kč for its mediocre performance in the last Gambrinus liga game of the season, against Plzeň May 14. Sparta lost the game 3–1.