Sport and security, another chapter from across the globe. In Malmö, where Sweden are playing Israel in the Davis Cup, a 1,000-strong police force is on hand to manage some 12,000 protesters. The anger is on two fronts: that no spectators have been allowed in to watch and that the authorities appear to have gone a long way to appeasing the objections of those who did not want the match to go ahead.

We have to rewind here to the recent Israeli offensive in Gaza, which caused such offence that a “Stop the Match” movement was set up. The heat was such that Malmö authorities decided that they would not be able to control demonstrations within the tennis arena. There is a precedent: in 1975, two years after the Pinochet coup in Chile, the Sweden v Chile match in Bastad was also spectator-free. Nowhere else in the world has this happened in the Davis Cup.

Commonwealth Games under threat

Post-Lahore, every sporting event is being forced to hold security crisis talks. Once cricket’s Indian Premier League issue has been done, expect the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi to be the focus, although Dawn Fraser, the Australian swimming great, has already called for the Games to be cancelled.

Fraser is no stranger to controversy. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games she climbed a flagpole to steal the Olympic flag flying outside Emperor Hirohito’s palace. She was caught by police, but the Emperor gave her the flag.

Ronaldo Commonwealth Games under threat

Ronaldo, the Brazilian version, made a return to competitive football this week after missing a year with an injured knee. His appearance as a substitute for Corinthians was marred by further injury in the post-match mêlée caused by two microphones (black eye) and a camera to the forehead. He is expected to be fit to play against Palmeiras tomorrow . . .

Also on the comeback trail is Usain Bolt, who is due to run his first 100 metres of the year next weekend. Bolt’s love of speed is such that, last month, he had Asafa Powell, his friend, rival and fellow Jamaican, put a new performance clutch in his car, a Honda Accord. Powell is a petrolhead who owns eight cars and two trucks. He says that “Usain has no idea about cars.”