Sporting briefs...

Real Madrid: Florentino Perez resigned as Real Madrid president yesterday, a day after his side lost 2-1 to struggling Real Mallorca with his club facing the prospect of a third successive season without a major trophy. Director Fernando Martin had been the unanimous choice of the board to take over as the new president of the club, the 58-year-old construction magnate Perez said.

Denmark: Jon Dahl Tomasson is one of four players to have withdrawn from Denmark's squad for their friendly international against Israel in Tel Aviv tomorrow because of injury. The match was in doubt because of security concerns after the wave of violent protests in the Middle East and Asia over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

Owen: Newcastle striker Michael Owen says he could be back from injury in time to face Chelsea in next month's FA Cup quarter-final. Owen broke a bone in his foot in a collision with Tottenham keeper Paul Robinson on December 31 and was expected to make his return in April. Owen's return would be a huge boost for his side, whose results have improved since caretaker Glenn Roeder took over from Graeme Souness in February.

Guti: Real Madrid's Guti has dropped out of the Spain squad for tomorrow's friendly against Ivory Coast because of a thigh strain. The 29-year-old left Spain's headquarters after undergoing tests on the injury.

Lump of meat: Romanian second division soccer club UT Arad sold a player in exchange for 15 kilograms of meat. However, fourth division Regal Horia made a bad deal because defender Marius Cioara decided to end his footballing career and take off to Spain to find a job in agriculture or construction. "We are upset because we lost twice - firstly because we lost a good player and secondly because we lost our team's food for a whole week," a Regal Horia official was quoted as saying.

O'Connor: Scotland and Hibernian striker Garry O'Connor has agreed terms on a 1.6 million pound move to Lokomotiv Moscow. O'Connor, 22, is Hibernian's joint top scorer on 14 goals and is in Scotland's squad for tomorrow's friendly with Switzerland. He has seven caps.

Scottish Cup: Semi-finals draw - Hibernian vs Hearts; Gretna vs Dundee/Hamilton. Matches to be played on April 1.

In Italy: Serie B - AlbinoLeffe vs Atalanta 2-3. Serie C1 - Pavia vs Spezia 0-0.