In brief...

Richards: Manchester City's highly-rated teenage defender Micah Richards intends to stay with the Premier League club 'for years to come'. Richards has been linked with a move to champions Chelsea. "All I can say is that I'm happy at Manchester City," the 18-year-old said. "The gaffer (manager) gave me my chance when I was 17 and has had faith in me since day one, so I want to pay him back by staying at the club for years to come."

Flying boards: A freak gust of wind blew advertising boards across the field injuring two players and forcing the abandonment of a South African premier league match yesterday. Boards flew across the field and into the stands at Ellis Park, one of the 10 venues designated for the 2010 World Cup finals, hitting players after just five minutes of the match between Orlando Pirates and Black Leopards.

Marseille: Canadian businessman Jack Kachkar said yesterday he had offered about 115 millions euros to buy Ligue 1 club Marseille and was confident his bid would be accepted. Marseille said the selling process started after Kachkar delivered financial guarantees to main shareholder Robert Louis-Dreyfus. Kachkar said he had met Sven-Goran Eriksson last month but had not offered him a job as Marseille coach.

Rossi: Man. United striker Giuseppe Rossi has joined former team Parma on loan until the end of the season. The 19-year-old has scored four goals in 12 games for United and spent the first half of this season at Newcastle.

Under-17: Scotland beat Malta for the second time in three days at Ta' Qali yesterday. The Scots won the friendly 5-0. On Monday the Maltese were beaten 3-0.

Basketball: Men's Louis Borg Cup (preliminary round) - Siggiewi vs Floriana 70-49; Depiro vs Luxol 67-91.