Sporting briefs

Barnes: Former England international John Barnes has been appointed Jamaica's new national coach, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) said. The Jamaica-born Barnes will take up his appointment on Nov. 1. The 44-year-old, who played for Watford, Liverpool, Newcastle and Charlton, previously coached Scotland's Celtic. He replaces Rene Simoes after the Brazilian was dismissed following Jamaica's 2-0 defeat by Honduras in a World Cup qualifier last week.

Demichelis: Bayern Munich will offer Martin Demichelis an improved contract to reward the Argentina defender for his recent progress. "He's a super player with a super character, a guarantee for our defence," Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told Kicker magazine. Demichelis, who joined Bayern in 2003, was one of the team's most consistent performers last season.

Refereeing: The president of the Asian Football Confederation, Mohamed Bin Hamman, has called for a revamp of refereeing in Asia to prevent bias in matches. "What happened in the past was that some people... would say, 'I prefer him or I don't prefer him,' and the appointments of referees would not always be the best choices," he said. "The best people should be in charge of the best matches."

New Tournament: Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland and Ireland have agreed to take part in a '4 Associations Tournament' in 2011. The competition will take place in Dublin with the first two matches being played in February and four more following in May. The tournament will be on a league basis with the four sides playing for the 4 Associations Cup. The tournament represents the effective re-establishment of the British Home Championship which was shelved in 1984.

Totti: Roma captain Francesco Totti has won the Silver Ball award for demonstrating fair play in Serie A during the 2007-08 campaign. The former Italy international will receive the prize before tomorrow's league game against Reggina at the Stadio Olimpico.

Blackburn target: Ugur Yildirim has been released by Sivasspor, paving the way for a trial at Blackburn. Rovers offered the 26-year-old an opportunity to impress at Ewood Park earlier in the week, unaware that their target was set to become a free agent. The winger only signed for Turkish outfit Sivasspor in January, but has fallen out of favour after a tactical change by manager Ozkan Gogan.

Division II/III KO: Għargħur vs Żejtun 1-1; Balzan vs Marsa 6-0.

In Gozo: Division One - Victoria Hotspurs vs Nadur 1-0. Division Two - St Lawrence vs Munxar 3-1.

Baseball: Alex Rodriguez reached a significant milestone in midweek when he became the first Major League player to hit 35 home runs in 11 consecutive seasons. The New York Yankees third baseman delivered a solo shot in the eighth inning of his team's 5-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, passing Sammy Sosa who accomplished 10 straight seasons of 35 homers from 1995 to 2004.

Hockey: India has recalled Olympic gold medallist Maharaj Kaushik as chief coach after the eight-time former champions failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. Kaushik, a member of the victorious 1980 Moscow Olympics side, was sacked abruptly after coaching the team to the 1998 Asian Games title.

Ryder Cup: The Ryder Cup, golfing for team and country or continent, can bring unique pressure and US captain Paul Azinger has his own way of dealing with it. Azinger said that after he arrived for the matchplay event starting today, he ventured into the Kentucky countryside to indulge his hobby - foosball (table football). "I am a total foosball junkie," he said.

Tennis: Russian Nikolay Davydenko said he would try and not to break any more rackets during his team's Davis Cup semi-final against Argentina. Davydenko was knocked out in the fourth round of the US Open by Gilles Muller two weeks ago when his rackets felt the full force of his frustration. "I hope not to break any more rackets, I have only got a few left," he said.