Sporting briefs

Iaquinta: Striker Vincenzo Iaquinta is a major doubt for Italy's Euro 2008 squad after Juventus said in a statement he would not play again this season and would return to training with the club in July. Iaquinta has a thigh injury which may further increase the chances of Alessandro Del Piero receiving an Italy recall.

Viduka: Newcastle United's 32-year-old Australia forward Mark Viduka, who has scored seven goals in 21 starts during his first season at the Premier League club, could be out of action for up to six months with an Achilles injury. "If he's out for six months then it's a major blow," manager Kevin Keegan said on the club's website yesterday.

Visa for Britain: Russian fans of St Petersburg's Zenit soccer club will not have to pay visa fees to see their team play in England next week in the UEFA Cup final, the British embassy said yesterday. This follows a decision by the Russian Foreign Ministry to allow British fans to enter Russia without a visa to watch Manchester United play Chelsea in the Champions League final in Moscow on May 21. Zenit face Scotland's Rangers in Manchester on May 14.

De Canio: First team coach Luigi De Canio has left QPR by mutual consent, the English Championship club. Italian De Canio joined the London club last October but his team failed to mount a promotion challenge.

Basketball, NBA: The Orlando Magic thrashed the Detroit Pistons 111-86 on Wednesday to cut the deficit in their Eastern Conference semi-final playoff series to 2-1. Forward Rashard Lewis led the way with 33 points and centre Dwight Howard contributed 20 points and 12 rebounds in the Game Three rout in Orlando. The Los Angeles Lakers also took advantage of a rousing start in outscoring the visiting Utah Jazz 33-18 in the first quarter on their way to a 120-110 victory that gave them a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference series.

Athletics: Vanderlei de Lima, the Brazilian runner who w as famously attacked by a spectator while leading the marathon at the 2004 Olympics, is set to miss the Beijing Games because of injury, his trainer said. De Lima, who went on to win the bronze medal in Athens, has been forced to pull out of Sunday's Prague marathon, his last chance to qualify, because of a nagging injury in the back of his left thigh. "Although he has partly recovered, he's not in condition to run a high performance race," Ricardo D'Angelo told Brazilian media.