Tuesday, December 24, 2002
We want you to be right-back... in the army. The career of Liverpool's Norwegian midfielder John Arne Riise may be put on hold, because his home government wants him back to serve his mandatory year's national service with the army. Riise could have deferred the year out, but a letter posted by his mother requesting a postponement failed to reach the relevant authorities by the November deadline. It's a long way from Muhammed Ali refusing the draft in the 1960s, but have any other modern sports stars had their careers interrupted or cut short by similar requirements?
