Thirty-eight-year-old soccer goalkeeper Pavel Srníček made his return to the English Premiership. Srníček rejoined Newcastle United, where he played from 1991 to 1998, replacing the team's injured goalkeepers. In his first full game with Newcastle in nine years, he conceded two goals in United's 2-1 loss to Bolton. Srníček joined Newcastle from Portugal's Beira Mar. He retired from the Czech national team in November 2001, after the team failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.

DISPUTE

Tennis legend Hana Mandlíková and the Czech Tennis Association (ČTA) are locked in a dispute over the possibility of the 1980s star coaching the country's most promising young females in Prague. The ČTA said it was considering hiring Mandlíková, but that she demanded 120,000 Kč ($5,700) per month for the position. Mandlíková insists that the ČTA was only willing to pay 20,000 Kč monthly.

CANCELED

Lack of snow and mild weather conditions were responsible for the cancellation of the most glamorous Czech cross-country skiing race: the Golden Ski event in Nové Město na Moravě Dec. 29 and 30. This season's edition of the annual race was supposed to become the inaugural event of the international Tour de Ski series.

SHUT0UT

Forty-one-year-old goalie Dominik Hašek reached another milestone in the National Hockey League Dec. 21. He recorded his 73rd shutout when the Detroit Red Wings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-0. The shutout moved the legendary goalie to 10th on the all-time list. Hašek stopped 27 shots in the game.

MOVE

The national soccer team's reserve goalie, Marek Čech, is set to leave the Gambrinus liga's Slovan Liberec during the competition's winter break. Čech is likely to sign a contract with Russia's first division's Vladivostok, his agent revealed.

DISMISSED

Soccer coach Zdeněk Zeman was fired as head coach of Lecce in Italy's second division, after the team sat in last place at the end of 2006. Zeman, who defected from communist Czechoslovakia in 1969, has coached various Italian clubs since 1978. He raised turmoil in the soccer community in 1998 after openly talking about doping abuse in Italian soccer.

WITHDRAWAL

Tennis player Radek Štěpánek announced Dec. 22 that he would never again play on the Czech Davis Cup team. Štěpánek said that ongoing controversies with the Czech Tennis Association's management were at the root of his decision. Štěpánek had refused to play in the Davis Cup for more than one year before his ultimate withdrawal.

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