Soccer: Controversial Colombian striker Faustino Asprilla knocked a player out cold after an opponent threw two punches at him - and said he was used to such rough and tumble after two years of "warlike" football in England with Newcastle.

Asprilla, who had two up-and-down years with Newcastle under Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish before rejoining Italy's Parma, is now with Brazilian side Fluminense and lost his cool after a defender twice deliberately hit him in a so-called friendly on Thursday.

Sports daily Lance quoted Asprilla as saying that there was only so much provocation anyone could take. "Why should I be a saint and keep silent when people thump me?" asked the Colombian, who was sent home from the France '98 World Cup for indiscipline. Asprilla said a defender from modest outfit Friburguense had twice hit him in off the ball incidents and he felt he had to defend himself.

Asprilla freely admitted he could be a hothead but said his disciplinary record was not bad - even though he said he had a tough time in the English Premiership.

"I played two years in England, where the football was really warlike, and I was never sent off. I played six years in Italy and I only got a couple of red cards," he pointed out.

Cricket: Australian cricket's troubled star Shane Warne was cautioned by police for throwing tennis balls back into the crowd during the opening one-day match of the summer in Melbourne, police said yesterday.

The incident occurred during Thursday's tedious, one-sided match against the West Indies in which some commentators said there was more action off the field than on it as the mercury soared, hitting 41 degrees Celsius at one stage.

Police Commander Leigh Gassner said an officer asked Warne to "desist" from throwing balls back into the crowd after they were hurled onto the turf of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

It was Warne's first match after a long absence due to a broken finger, but he failed to take a wicket in a match in which Australia gave the West Indies a 74-run drubbing.

Police arrested 34 spectators, mainly for drunkenness, and evicted 166 people - almost three times the number of arrests and twice the number of evictions compared to the first one-day game last summer.

Soccer: Internet users are being encouraged to report Italian football hooligans to the police in a new anti-violence campaign launched by a leading website yesterday.

Fininvest's site - www.jumpy.it - is publishing images of unnamed hooligans filmed while committing acts of violence and is encouraging surfers who recognise the culprits to either contact the webmasters or inform the police of who they are.

Supporters are also invited to submit their own photographs or videos of fans misbehaving to the Milan office of the company for publication on the web.

Crowd misbehaviour is a regular occurrence in Italy and the serious incidents before, during and after last weekend's clash in Rome between Lazio and Napoli have fuelled calls for a crackdown.

Motor Sport: Frenchman Jean Todt, the sporting director of Italy's world champion Formula One outfit Ferrari, said yesterday that he would end his competitive career with the Maranello team.

Todt, speaking to journalists at Ferrari's traditional new year skiing jamboree, said that he had not yet decided whether to stay on when his contract expires at the end of the year - but that if he did move on it would not be to a rival team.

"The important thing is the team, that we can repeat (our world championship," said Todt. " . . . As for me I have received many offers but after Ferrari there will not be another team."

Athletics: Britain's Paula Radcliffe is ploughing £10,000 sterling a year into the development of youth running in the United Kingdom.

The distance star has signed a new four-year contract with Nike that contains a clause with a £10,000 cut going to the "Girls in Sport" initiative set up by the Youth in Sport Trust.

Radcliffe said: "It's something that would have helped me early in my career. I have seen how I could make a difference.

"I was in the senior teams when I was 19 or 20, so I had already made the breakthrough, but when I was 17 or 18 and struggling with anaemia it would have helped.

"If I had had access to sports science facilities it would have helped me but it is not just for youngsters. I intend for it also to be available to the under-23 age group."

Radcliffe's project will assist young runners with the warm-weather and altitude training.