Sporting briefs

Mellberg: Juventus agreed to sell Sweden defender Olof Mellberg to Greek side Olympiakos yesterday. The 31-year-old will move for €2.5 million, the club said. Mellberg moved to Juve from Aston Villa on a Bosman free transfer last July but struggled at times at both centre-back and right-back.

Conte: Newly promoted Serie A side Bari split with coach Antonio Conte yesterday just weeks after he agreed a new deal at the club. Media reports put his unexpected departure down to a disagreement over signings and said former Sampdoria coach Walter Mazzarri was the leading contender to take over at the southern club.

Falkirk: Scottish Premier League side Falkirk confirmed yesterday they have appointed Eddie May as new head coach, their former youth academy chief replacing John Hughes, who has joined Hibernian. May will have assistant Scotland coach Steven Pressley and veteran Alex Smith as his chief assistants.

Taylor: Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has made goalkeeper Stuart Taylor his second signing from Aston Villa this month, City said yesterday. "This is a fantastic club to be joining, a club that is going places with a great new owner and a manager I have a lot of respect for," Taylor said.

UAE investor: A member of a ruling family in the United Arab Emirates has denied a report that he has bought a majority stake in an English Premier League soccer club. News agency WAM reported on Sunday that Sheikh Ahmed bin Saqr al-Qassimi, a member of the ruling family of Ras al-Khaimah, bought 60 per cent of an unspecified Premier League club. "Sheikh Ahmed denied the report carried by the media about him closing a deal to buy 60 per cent of an English club," WAM said.

Swimming: Australia's top swimming coach has criticised FINA over their decision to approve more than 100 bodysuits they had originally banned. Australia's head coach Alan Thompson slammed FINA's turnaround because it was detracting from performances. "It's disappointing because we were looking to get back to talking about athletes and not equipment," Thompson said. "But now everyone is talking about swimsuits and taking the focus of what is really important and that's athletic performance."

Rugby: France flyhalf David Skrela will be out of action for up to six months after undergoing knee surgery, his Stade Toulousain club said yesterday. "David Skrela underwent surgery to his right knee a fortnight ago," the French club medical chief told Reuters."All went well. David Skrela has started his recovery but he won't be available for around six months." Skrela, 30, has earned 18 caps.

Commonwealth Games: The Delhi government has significantly increased its budget to complete venues for next year's Commonwealth Games in a positive response to criticism over construction delays. The regional administration has allotted an extra 9 billion rupees ($184 million) for the Oct. 3-14 event in its annual budget presented on Monday, The Hindu daily reported. The administration and Games organising committee have been blamed for the tardiness in the completion of venues.

Badminton: World champion Zhu Lin will not be able to defend her title in India this August after being left out of the China squad for the badminton world championships. Olympic silver medallist and former world champion Xie Xingfang will lead China's team for the women's singles, which also includes All England champion Wang Yihan, China's highest ranked player Wang Lin and Lu Lan.