World Cup diary: Battered pride and lip for Algeria's Saifi

Rafik Saifi, the Algerian midfielder, boarded his team bus with a cut lip last night after an altercation with a female journalist in the media mixed zone. Saifi, who was an 85th-minute substitute in his side's 1-0 defeat to the United States, was apparently infuriated by the unidentified woman's line of questioning. The Algerian lunged over the barrier separating press from players, but was quickly restrained by other members of the media. He then threw a bottle of water at the woman before screaming at her in Arabic and being ushered away by Fifa officials.

A South Korean man has drowned after jumping into a river to celebrate the country advancing to the second round. Police said the 20-year-old university student leapt into Seoul's Han River with three friends on yesterday morning after South Korea held Nigeria to a 2-2 draw in their final group game and made it to the knockout phase. Police say they later rescued Lee and took him to a nearby hospital but he died.

Bangladesh's lawmakers plan to launch a party-pooping media campaign to stop football fans from waving the flags of their favourite teams at the World Cup. "There is no legal basis for hoisting flags of other countries in Bangladesh for supporting the teams in the World Cup," Shafique Ahmed, the law minister, said. "We prefer to advocate for a move to create awareness through television, radio and newspapers so that our youths refrain from such activities." He added the government would not enforce a ban on flag-waving as it was a "sensitive" issue. During the World Cup, there have been clashes between passionate Bangladeshi fans trying to remove each other's flags hung from rooftops and trees.

Claudio Bravo, the Chile captain, says a torn flag rescued from the deadly earthquake that hit the country in February is a source of inspiration for the players. The flag was brought from Chile and has been left ripped and dirty, and now flutters outside the team's training base at the Ingwenyama complex near Nelspruit. Bravo said that "it's in our minds what happened with the catastrophe. I think the flag was brought for that reason."

Fifa say no decision has been taken to act against Raymond Domenech, the France coach, for refusing to shake hands with South Africa's Carlos Alberto Parreira after Tuesday's loss to the World Cup hosts. Domenech appeared to breach Fifa guidelines on fair play when he snubbed Parreira after South Africa's 2-1 win, which eliminated both teams.

Umberto Bossi, the Italian politician, apologised yesterday for his much-criticised remarks that Italy would "buy" a victory in a crucial World Cup group match against Slovakia. The comments by Bossi, a cabinet minister, had drawn a sharp rebuke from the national football federation and fellow politicians alike. "I apologise to the national team," the federal reforms minister said. He said his comments were meant as a "joke".

Fifa have put 5,000 tickets for two last 16 matches back on sale after South Africa and France were eliminated. Pekka Odriozola, a Fifa spokesman, said the tickets had been reserved by fans of teams who were knocked out on Tuesday. Fans could reserve team specific tickets to follow a country throughout the tournament. Around 4,000 seats are being sold for the Uruguay versus South Korea match in Port Elizabeth on Saturday. A further 1,000 tickets are available for Argentina versus Mexico in Johannesburg's Soccer City on Sunday. Fifa have said 97 per cent of seats, not including corporate hospitality places, were sold for the 64 matches. Some games still had 10,000 empty seats because ticket-holders did not arrive.

Mexican police have arrested a suspect in the shooting of Salvador Cabanas, the Paraguay striker. Police say Francisco Barreto was an accomplice of Jose Jorge Balderas, the suspected gunman, in the January 25 shooting at a Mexico City bar. Cabanas survived the gunshot wound to the head. He would have started for Paraguay.

Jacques Rogge, the IOC president, will discuss the possibility of a South African bid for the Olympics with Jacob Zuma, the South African president, ahead of the World Cup final. Rogge said he will meet with Zuma on July 11. The Olympics have never been held in Africa.