A new museum will be opened next year in Latvia, dedicated to the history of Latvian soccer. The museum will exhibit various objects related to soccer, including notes by coaches, soccer badges and pictures from the 1920s-30s. Martins Hartmanis of the Latvian Soccer Federation said that many items have so far been donated to the museum, including soccer cleats from 1945 that are "highly valued among collectors as there are not many left." The location of the museum is not known yet. The Latvian Soccer Federation was founded in 1920 along with the first national team, which played its first game against Estonia on Sept. 24, 1922. The match ended in a tie 1-1.
Lithuanian basketball team Zalgiris Kaunas beat Sakalai Vilnius 87-65 in a home game on Oct. 17, the fifth straight victory for Zalgiris. The team is currently placed at the top of Group A in the SEB Baltic Basketball League. Both teams played well throughout the game, with Zalgiris finishing the first quarter up only 18-17. The host team pulled ahead in the second quarter, finishing halftime with 37-35. Marko Popovic started the third period with a three-pointer, and by the final quarter Kaunas was already 16 points ahead. Zalgiris will play its next game on Oct. 28 in Talinn against Kalev/Cramo.
Latvian Soccer Federation president Guntis Indriksons, in response to the recent incident with federation secretary general Janis Mezeckis, who was fined 300 litas (85 euros) for soliciting a prostitute in Lithuania, said that society should help Mezeckis find a wife. "I am happy that my assistant Mezeckis is a real man. I am happy that he is not gay and is interested in women... Meanwhile, we have to help him find a new wife so that he no longer seeks women in Lithuania or any other country," Indriksons was quoted by the Latvian newspaper Vakara Zinas as saying. Mezeckis told the daily that he had done nothing wrong. "I am a single man 's I divorced my wife 20 years ago. Therefore I believe that I did not cheat or hurt anyone," he said, adding that he was unaware of Lithuania's laws against prostitution.
