Ten years ago, English football was a different game. Fans could pay at the gate, grounds were often only two-thirds full, average attendance was 26 000 and not every Premiership stadium was all-seat. Sky Sports showed 40 live matches per season, and only on Sunday afternoons and Monday nights. But fast forward a decade and Malcolm Glazer’s bid to buy Manchester United starts to make sense.

English cricketer Graham Wagg was banned for 15 months and fired by his club on Monday after testing positive for cocaine. Wagg, of English county Warwickshire, was handed the ban by the England and Wales Cricket Board disciplinary committee. Wagg was given a reduced sentence because of his age and his apology at a preliminary hearing on September 27.

Domestically, Arsenal are going from strength to strength. In Europe, however, the Gunners can’t seem to maintain their brand of elegant, attacking soccer. Arsenal play Panathinaikos in Athens on Wednesday in the third rotation of the Champions League group stage.

Spain’s Albert Costa needed three sets to subdue Georgia’s Irakli Labadze on Monday, the first day of the Madrid Masters where fashion models turned as many heads as the tennis by replacing the traditional ball boys and girls on the main court. Costa claimed a 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 victory.

Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu has admitted testing positive for cocaine, the English Professional Footballers’ Association announced on Tuesday. The Romania forward’s admission means that the second ”B” sample will not be taken, and the 25-year-old could face a ban of up to two years.

The four convicted murderers of the Van der Merwe family, two of whom were also convicted of rape, will each serve 25 years in prison, the Circuit High Court in Secunda, Mpumalanga ruled on Tuesday. Vincent Khubeka, Themba Radebe, Lucky Mbalati and Clement Makua, were all sentenced to four life terms — 240 years imprisonment — but the sentences would run concurrently.

Asmara on Monday accused the Sudanese leadership of plotting to assassinate Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki, raising the stakes in a months-long series of charges and countercharges. Already strained relations between the neighbouring states worsened considerably in 2002, when Khartoum accused Asmara of supporting an offensive by Sudanese rebels on its territory.

Lecturer: School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, Wits University

Young people often complain that the government doesn’t hear their voices. Zarina used a metaphorical megaphone and she now helps make policy, besides being an educator.