Football World Cup: Diary

THE ARGENTINIAN defender Jose Chamot had to be restrained by police after an angry confrontation with a journalist after training in St Etienne last night. Chamot, who is expected to play against England tonight, blew his top at an Argentinian journalist and had to be held back after shouting "I am going to kill you." He was giving an interview to a Spanish journalist and appeared to lose his cool when the Argentinian journalist tried to take part in the conversation.

POLICE IN Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam said yesterday that they have arrested 31 people for gambling on the World Cup. The arrests came in a raid on a coffee shop where people were betting on matches. The shop owners Tran Duc Khanh and Tran Hoa were arrested along with 29 patrons. Police seized $11,500, (pounds 7,100) 10 mobile phones and 10 notebooks that contained names and the amounts wagered. Khanh and Hoa had bought two big-screen television sets to show matches and underwrote the wagering, charging three per cent of winning bets. Vietnam has become obsessed with the World Cup. Last week, a man committed suicide after losing a motorcycle in a bet.

THE France 98 Internet site (www.france98.com) has passed one billion hits in just over a year of operation, following a record 68 million hits on Friday.