Sporting briefs

Zaki: Wigan Athletic striker Amr Zaki will be sidelined for three weeks after suffering a hamstring strain. Zaki injured himself during Egypt's 1-1 home draw with Zambia in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday. He strained his hamstring in the second half but was forced to play the full 90 minutes as his team had made all three of their substitutions.

Kicked out: Niger have been kicked out of the U-17 World Championship later this year after fielding an over-age player in the qualifying tournament at the weekend. The CAF said an investigation found a 22-year-old player competing for Niger. Niger, who had qualified for the championship in Nigeria by virtue of reaching the semi-finals of the African U-17 tournament, have had their place taken by Malawi.

Voronin: Hertha Berlin revealed yesterday they have agreed a transfer with Liverpool for hot-shot striker Andrei Voronin - provided the Bundesliga side qualify for the Champions League next season. Hertha president Werner Gegenbauer says Berlin have agreed a fee of around four million euros with Liverpool for the Ukrainian forward, but the whole deal depends on whether Hertha make the Champions League.

Fedotov Dies: Former Spartak Moscow coach Vladimir Fedotov died on Sunday aged 66 after a long illness. The son of great Soviet striker Grigory Fedotov, he played most of his career at CSKA Moscow, helping them to the 1970 league title.

Gignac: France striker Andre-Pierre Gignac has been passed fit for tomorrow's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania. Coach Raymond Domenech called up Gignac for the first time for last Saturday's game in Lithuania but he was ruled out because of an injury to his thigh.

Abbiati: Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati has had a successful operation to reconstruct a cruciate knee ligament torn in a 5-1 Serie A win at Siena earlier this month. It is expected to take Abbiati five or six months to recover, the club said.

Toni: Italian World Cup winner Luca Toni is set to return for Bayern Munich's all-important Bundesliga clash at Wolfsburg on Saturday having finally shaken off his achilles tendon injury. Toni, 31, has not played a league game since February 14 when the striker limped out of Bayern's 2-1 defeat at Hertha Berlin and then sat out Italy's 2-0 World Cup qualifier win at Montenegro on Saturday.

In Italy: Serie B - Rimini vs Ascoli 0-1.