Sporting briefs...

2012 Stadium: London 2012 organisers have ruled out building the Olympic Stadium in partnership with Premier League West Ham. The Olympic Board said yesterday that the priority was to deliver the planned stadium in East London on time and on budget and that could not be done with the involvement of the soccer club. Olympic officials have said that the stadium will continue as an athletics venue after the Games but with its capacity of 80,000 reduced to around 25,000 after the removal of temporary seating.

Arminia Bielefeld: Bundesliga side Arminia Bielefeld said yesterday they had appointed Frank Geideck to take over as coach when Thomas von Heesen steps down at the end of the season. Geideck, 39, is currently von Heesen's assistant at the club, which lies 10th in the Bundesliga with 23 points from 20 matches.

Togo: Nigerian coach Stephen Keshi has resumed control of Togo's chaotic national team less than a year after being sacked for the side's dismal performance at the African Nations Cup. Keshi missed Togo's World Cup debut in Germany last year, during which the players threatened to boycott matches over bonus payments and Keshi's successor Otto Pfister briefly walked out in protest. Pfister subsequently stepped down.

Gabi: Atletico Madrid midfielder Gabi has agreed to sign a five-year deal for Real Zaragoza at the end of the season. "I'm very sad, but the best thing was to look for opportunities at another club," the 23-year-old was quoted as saying by the Atletico website.

Beckham Poll: Eighty-one per cent of the 20,000 football fans who responded to a poll on the website of sports daily Marca believe Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello should recall the out-of-favour David Beckham to the squad. Beckham has not been included in the squad since announcing that he will join MLS side LA Galaxy at the end of the season. Real have lost four of their last six league games.

Asia trophy: Liverpool, Portsmouth and Fulham are tipped to take on the Hong Kong cup winners in the English Premier League Asia Trophy in July, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. The tournament will be held at the Hong Kong Stadium.

Random testing: Sixteen soccer players tested positive for banned substances during random testing in the Ukrainian premier league last year. However, league officials said none of the players would be punished as testing was done on anonymous basis. A senior FA official told reporters that only 'A' samples were tested.