Sporting briefs

Zen-Ruffinen: Michel Zen-Ruffinen, the former general secretary of FIFA, has been appointed chairman of the Association of Football Agents (AFA), the organisation said yesterday. Chris Heaton-Harris, a British member of the European Parliament and a qualified referee, has been named as vice-chairman. Zen-Ruffinen was FIFA general secretary from 1998 until 2002 when he left the world governing body after being involved in an unsuccessful bid to topple president Sepp Blatter.

Van Bommel: Bayern Munich midfielder Mark van Bommel will not be punished for an incident during a 2-0 defeat at VfB Stuttgart yesterday, the German FA said. The DFB's control committee had examined television pictures of van Bommel appearing to throw his elbow towards the face of Stuttgart's Pavel Pardo. The incident was not seen by referee Markus Merk. The DFB ruled that it was clear that van Bommel did not hit Pardo.

La Volpe: Former Mexico coach Ricardo La Volpe said he would be happy to leave Velez Sarsfield if the fans or directors of the Argentine club were unhappy with his work. La Volpe, who has also coached Boca Juniors since leading Mexico at last year's World Cup, has led Velez to the last 16 of the Libertadores Cup but his team have struggled on the domestic front.

In Brazil: A Brazilian defender was booked for kissing the referee during a match at the weekend. TV pictures showed Cabofriense defender Cleberson giving referee Ubiraci Damasio a peck on the cheek after having a foul awarded against him during a 3-1 defeat by Botafogo at the Maracana.

In England: The Championship - Burnley vs West Brom 3-2.

In Italy: Serie B - Cesena vs AlbinoLeffe 2-2; Bari vs Mantova 0-1.

Scottish Premier League: Falkirk vs St Mirren 0-2.

MFA Division Three: Sta Lucija vs Attard 1-6; Zejtun vs Gharghur 0-6 .