Offbeat

Redknapp bans Xmas revelry

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has banned high-flying Spurs from having a Christmas party as the Londoners attempt to keep pace at the top of the Premier League.
British press reports this week, splashed images from Manchester City’s fancy dress Christmas party, while Arsenal’s players were also pictured on a festive night out in London.
But Redknapp has said there is no chance of Tottenham’s stars being allowed to follow suit and organise their own Christmas party as his team gear up for a gruelling programme of four games in 14 days.
“No more Christmas parties. We are too busy playing football, we have too many games and they have to concentrate on playing and getting on with their football,” Redknapp said.
“If they can’t behave themselves, if they can’t miss having a drink with the money they are earning there is something wrong with them.
“They are getting fortunes. They have great careers, great lives. They can get on with their football and then go away for six weeks in the summer. Don’t cause problems at Christmas.
“We have a busy period over Christmas, we are training every day. We will train Christmas Day and Boxing Day. We play the day after Boxing Day.
“I don’t want them going out having Christmas parties. What chance have you got? The press will be waiting, someone will be taking pictures of them.

Italian police cuff Father Christmases

Police in Rome have arrested two men suspected of carrying out a string of armed robberies dressed as Father Christmas.
At least six stores in the Appia neighbourhood south of Rome city centre reported thefts by the two in the past month, in which one of the men pointed a gun at shop staff while another grabbed the cash.
Police said they found guns and Father Christmas costumes in one of the men’s homes, and were still looking for possible accomplices.
A film with a similar theme, “The Band of Father Christmases” featuring three men wrongly accused of being robbers, was a box-office hit in Italy last year.