FOOTBALL
Russia captain Igor Denisov has begged Zenit Saint Petersburg for forgiveness after walking out on the club for a month in protest at the salary paid to Brazilian new signing Hulk.
The influential midfielder has not played for Zenit since late September after refusing to train because of the reported 100m euros (£80m) the team paid for the striker and Axel Witsel of Belgium.
Denisov was in the process of renegotiating his own contract, which runs through to 2014, and felt that the club was disrespecting players who had won the championship for the second year running last year.
On his protest, he said: "I was wrong in this situation. I was driven by my emotions, and in the end failed to help my team-mates."