Dutch singer Gordon will boycott the Eurovision Song Contest in Russia if violence is used against gay activists in Moscow. The final of the contest in the Russian capital takes place on 16 May, and the singer will be in it if he can take his vocal trio The Toppers through Thursday's semi-final. The other members of the group - besides Gordon (real name Cor Gordon Heuckeroth) - are Jeroen van der Boom and René Froger.

Russian gay activist groups are seizing the opportunity of the Eurovision final on Saturday to organise a march for gay rights. Public demonstrations in support of gays and lesbians are illegal in Russia and the police often crack down on them with violence. Russian nationalist and religious movements also have a tendency to express themselves violently towards homosexuals.

It is a dilemma with which many men are familiar: the football or the family? But when President Sarkozy let it be known he was to miss the French Cup final for an evening with Carla Bruni, his wife, it took on a new dimension.

As outrage greeted an announcement seen as an insult to tradition, to football and to Brittany, the region that provided the two finalists, Mr Sarkozy was forced to perform a last-minute U-turn.

He abandoned plans to spend the weekend with Ms Bruni at her family's villa on the Côte d'Azur and returned to Paris in time to see the game and present the cup to Guingamp, the second-division side that beat Rennes, from the first division, 2-1 in the biggest Gallic cup upset for 50 years.

"I am passionate about football," the head of state said as he tried to appease Breton anger. "It was important for me to be here."