Sporting briefs

FA charge: The English FA has charged Newcastle United manager Joe Kinnear and Hull City boss Phil Brown with improper conduct. The charge relates to the pair's touchline confrontation during Hull's 1-0 FA Cup third-round victory on January 14 at St James's Park.

Valencia: Valencia want to sign another goalkeeper following the injury to Brazil's Renan and will try to bring Tottenham Hotspur's Cesar Sanchez back to Spain, coach Unai Emery said. Renan damaged a muscle in his right leg in Sunday's 3-2 defeat at Athletic Bilbao and will probably be out for at least a month and a half, Emery told a news conference. Sanchez, 37, joined Spurs from Real Zaragoza last August.

Odonkor: Real Betis winger David Odonkor has been given the all clear by medical staff and will be available for first-team action in two to three weeks. The German international had surgery on his right knee in the close season and has not played this term. He joined Betis from Borussia Dortmund for six million euros in August 2006 and last played for Germany in June at Euro 2008.

Spanyol coach: Espanyol have sacked coach Jose Manuel Esnal after only eight games in charge and appointed former Argentina international defender Mauricio Pochettino in his place. The experienced Esnal, known as Mane in Spain, replaced Bartolome 'Tintin' Marquez at the beginning of last month but his only victory since then was an away goals win against Segunda B (third tier) side Poli Ejido in the King's Cup.

Osvaldo: Bologna have signed Fiorentina striker Pablo Osvaldo, the Serie A club said yesterday. Media reports had said England's West Ham United were also interested in the Argentinian-born forward.

Eriksson: Mexico coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, already under fire due to his team's poor performances, is facing further criticism over the number of foreign-born players in his squad. Eriksson, who takes on his native Sweden on January 28 in Mexico's first friendly of the year, has included four naturalised players for the game, upsetting even members of his own squad. The Sweden match is a warm-up for the final stage of CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers which starts in February.

Motorcycling: Marco Melandri may take a year off MotoGP if Kawasaki cannot find a buyer for its team, the Italian said. The Japanese firm said earlier this month it was pulling out of the sport and would try to sell to an independent team. "It wouldn't be great but to stop for a year would not be a huge problem," Melandri said.

Boxing: Former light heavyweight champion Jose Torres died on Monday at age 72. Torres, who was also an Olympic medallist and New York State Athletic Commission chairman, died of a heart attack at his home in Ponce, Puerto Rico. After his boxing career, Torres was president of the World Boxing Organisation and wrote a number of books including "Sting Like a Bee" about Muhammad Ali and "Fire and Fear" about Mike Tyson.