Sporting briefs...

Arsenal: American tycoon Stan Kroenke raised his stake in Arsenal to 12.2 per cent yesterday, one day after the board of the London team said they would not sell their 45.45 per cent of the club for at least a year. Kroenke upped his stake by almost one percent after buying another 577 shares. Arsenal are braced for a possible takeover battle after a boardroom split prompted the departure earlier this week of vice-chairman David Dein, the man credited with much of the club's success over the past decade. Dein has a 14.5 percent stake in Arsenal and media speculation has been building that he and Kroenke are planning to mount a takeover of the Premier League club.

FA Cup Final tickets: Chelsea have said they are "very disappointed" to only be allocated 25,000 tickets for the first FA Cup final to be played at the re-built Wembley Stadium next month. Manchester United will also receive 25,000 tickets leaving the remaining 40,000 tickets in the 90,000 capacity stadium for Club Wembley members and "grassroots soccer outlets."

Internacional eliminated: Defending champions Internacional fell at the first hurdle in the Libertadores Cup, going out in the group stage despite beating Nacional 1-0 in their final game. Nacional qualified from Group Four behind Argentina's Velez Sarsfield, who beat Emelec by the same score. Velez topped the group with 11 points from six games. Nacional and Internacional finished on 10 each but the Uruguayans qualified for the last 16 on goal difference.

Weir: Rangers have agreed a new one-year deal with Scotland defender David Weir. He joined the club earlier this season from Everton on a short contract until the end of the Scottish Premier campaign. However, Weir signed an extension yesterday, Rangers confirmed at a news conference.

Gradi: Dario Gradi, the longest serving manager in the English leagues, will continue in his position next season despite a change of job title from July 1. Gradi, a youthful-looking 65, who has managed Crewe Alexandra for 24 years, will become the club's technical director in July with Steve Holland becoming the first team coach. Gradi says he will remain in charge of team selection but will gradually hand over responsibility to Holland.

Bayern Munich: Bayern Munich's injury list keeps getting longer ahead of their showdown for third place at VfB Stuttgart today. Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger remains sidelined with a mysterious infection that has swollen his knee. Also out are Willy Sagnol, Andreas Ottl and Mehmet Scholl.

Kalac to start: Milan are expected to start Zeljko Kalac in goal against Cagliari today. Milan's first-choice keeper, Dida, is still trying to shake off a shoulder injury ahead of next week's Champions League semi-final against Manchester United.

MFA Division Three: Qrendi vs Xghajra 0-0; Kirkop vs Ta' Xbiex (postponed due to power failure).

In England: The Championship - Derby vs Luton 1-0 (Luton relegated). League Two - Hartlepool vs Notts County 1-1.

Australia - Argentina friendly: Australia and Argentina have agreed to postpone their scheduled June 6 friendly international in Melbourne, Football Federation Australia (FFA) said. Argentina asked to reschedule the match because they were concerned about being able to field a full-strength team. FFA Chief Executive Officer Ben Buckley said Australia were unlikely to arrange another friendly, so the game against Uruguay in Sydney on June 2 will be the Socceroos' last on home soil before the Asian Cup in July.