An international boxing tournament which is now underway in the city of Almaty is scheduled to last for five more days. Matches involving Kazakhstan’s top boxers such as Zhan Kasabutskiy, Ruslan Myrsatayev and world champion Yerdos Dzhanabergenov will all represent the pinnacle of the competition. The Dynamo sport society is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year. A tournament devoted to this event is expected to become a regular one. Boxers from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan also arrived in Almaty for the competition. Final matches are scheduled to take place on July the 31st.

The 20th European Athletics Championship has kicked off in the Spanish city of Barcelona. The first round saw the men’s 100metre race with Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre showing the fastest time of 10.19 seconds. Russian shot putter Anna Avdeyeva sent the shot to 19.39 metres in her last attempt and claimed a bronze medal. The winner of the previous European Championship, Natalya Minkhevich from Belarus gained silver in Barcelona while the gold medal went to another Belarusian athlete, repeated world champion Nadezhda Ostapchuk who became the only athlete at the competition to have sent the shot to a distance of 20 metres.
The day 1 programme of the European Championship also included the men’s 10 kilometre race. It was Spaniard Ayad Lamdassem who had been leading the race before the final lap. He was overtaken by Briton Mohamed Farah who also left no chances for the other runners. Somalia-born British athletes crossed the finishing line with a big advantage. The silver and bronze medals were gained by Briton Chris Thompson and Italian Daniele Meucci respectively. Thompson’s silver medal was defined by a photo finish.

Diego Maradona has been dismissed as the Argentina football team coach with a corresponding statement announced on Tuesday by Ernesto Cherquis Bialo, the head of the mass media department of the Argentinean Football Federation. The renowned football player was in charge of Argentina’s national side for 2.5 years. Recently, Maradona was offered a new four-year contract, but he said he would sign it only if the existing coaching board and other personnel would remain in place. The Association was unable to agree to such a condition as the board already planned to dismiss some of Maradona’s assistants. The recent World Football Cup in South Africa was unsuccessful for the Argentina National Team. Maradona’s team suffered a devastating a 4-0 defeat in the quarterfinals at the hands of Germany. The team will be headed by acting coach Sergio Batista for the forth-coming friendly matches against Ireland and Spain.

Former Real Madrid midfielder Jose Maria Gutierrez Hernandez or simply known as Guti has moved to a new club. The Spanish football player has signed a two-year deal with the Turkish football side Besiktas. Guti was playing for Real Madrid between 1986 and 2010 and scored 46 goals, won 5 Spanish championships and three UEFA Champions League titles. Once the club was headed by Portuguese Jose Mourinho, some of Real Madrid football players had to say goodbye to the team and Guti was one of them.