Sporting briefs...

Coach hit: The King's Cup quarter-final second leg between city rivals Real Betis and Sevilla was halted last night when Sevilla coach Juande Ramos was hit by an object thrown from the crowd after his side scored a goal. Ramos was carried off the pitch unconscious on a stretcher shortly after Sevilla took the lead 1-0 on aggregate when striker Frederic Kanoute fired home 11 minutes into the second half.

Fans fined: Spain's Anti-violence Commission has recommended that three Atletico Madrid fans be fined 10,000 euros and banned from stadiums for up to five months. The fans threw bottles at police and destroyed cars belonging to the media before the derby against Real Madrid.

Parreira: Brazil's World Cup-winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will take charge of South Africa for the first time on March 13 when they play a friendly against neighbouring Swaziland in Johannesburg. But the South African Football Association said yesterday the match will have no official status and will serve only as a "training game".

Timoshchyuk: Zenit SP have signed Ukrainian midfielder Anatoly Timoshchyuk for a record $20 million from Shakhtar Donetsk, the Russian club said. The fee for the 27-year-old, who played in last year's World Cup, was the highest paid by any post-Soviet state club.

Veron: Midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron has been included in a squad of locally-based players named by coach Alfio Basile for a training camp. The former Lazio, Inter and Man. United player made his last international appearance in the 1-1 draw away to Colombia in Nov. 2003.