SPORTS BRIEFS

Cte d'Ivoire clip Italy

LONDON (AP):

Cesare Prandelli lost his first match as coach of Italy on Tuesday when his team was beaten 1-0 by Cte d'Ivoire Italy fullback Marco Motta, who went close to scoring in the 47th minute when he shot against the post before defender Kolo Toure headed the African side ahead in the 55th.

Seydou Doumbia and Guy Demel worked an opening on the right for Demel to curl in a cross that Toure headed past debut-making goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu.

But Italy showed touches of class in their first match since the humiliating elimination from the first round of the World Cup, with the recalled Antonio Cassano at the centre of much of the team's best work.

Ja women win, men beaten

PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC):

Jamaica's women beat Dominica 25-15, 25-12, 25-14 while the men were beaten 25-21, 25-17, 25-21 by the Bahamas on the second day of competition at the 13th Caribbean Volleyball Champion-ship at the Anthony Nesty Sports Complex on Monday evening.

Scores:

MEN

Group A: The Bahamas beat Jamaica 25-21, 25-17, 25-21.

WOMENGroup A: Suriname beat Netherland Antilles 30-28, 25-22, 25-23. Jamaica beat Dominica 25-15, 25-12, 25-14.

Group B: Barbados beat the Bahamas 25-18, 25-14, 25-14.

Sack him!

ISLAMABAD (AP):

A Pakistani parliamentarian wants President Asif Ali Zardari to remove Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt and his entire managerial staff.

In a two-page letter to Zardari, who is also patron of the PCB, Iqbal Mohammad Ali claims that incompetence by Butt has brought enough shame for Pakistan at international level. The letter was written last month, and a copy was made available to The Associated Press yesterday.

Butt replaced Nasim Ashraf as PCB chairman in 2008.

Ali said in the letter that the standard of the national team has deteriorated since Butt took charge, and "now Pakistan cricket team is considered just like minnows."

Mickelson's arthritis

SHEBOYGAN, Wisconsin (AP):

Phil Mickelson is being treated for arthritis that surfaced just before the US Open and left him in so much pain he couldn't walk.

Mickelson revealed yesterday he has psoriatic arthritis, a condition he said causes the immune system to attack the body's joints and tendons. Weekly shots of Enbrel, which lowers his immune system, have brought the disease under control.

"I'm surprised at how quickly it's gone away, and how quickly it's been able to be managed and controlled," he said. "I feel 100 per cent, like I say. But when I'm laying there on the couch and I can't move, you know, yeah, I had some concerns. But I feel a lot better now."