Football news

Scotland's defensive options for their must-win World Cup qualifier against Macedonia today were further reduced when Wolves centre-back Christophe Berra went down ill and was sent home.

Berra left the Scots' training camp as a precautionary measure but could return in time for Wednesday's final group nine match against the Netherlands, according to the Scottish FA.

The loss of Berra leaves Scotland boss George Burley with just three centre-backs to choose from against Macedonia, one of whom, Darren Barr, has only one cap.

As a result, it appears certain Celtic captain Stephen McManus will start alongside 39-year-old Rangers captain David Weir.

Ferguson hopeful of Obertan bow

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said that he hopes French Under-21 international Gabriel Obertan will be fit enough to make his debut by next month.

Obertan cost three million pounds from Bordeaux in the summer, but has been sidelined because of a spinal injury.

"Gabriel has had a spine problem but I think he will be back in a month to six weeks' time," Ferguson told Inside United.

"We are taking our time with him because we want him back and 100 per cent. At 16 he was one of the outstanding talents in Europe. But he has been playing with this back injury for a year and a half and no-one thought about getting a scan."

Bulgaria bans refs for four matches

The Bulgarian football federation (BFU) has given four-match bans to two referees for poor officiating in recent league games.

The BFU suspended Radoslav Stanev and Asen Nikolov for poor officiating during Lokomotiv Sofia's 2-1 win at Lokomotiv Mezdra and Minyor Pernik's 4-2 win over Sliven.

The suspensions came a day after BFU vice-president Yordan Lechkov was highly critical of referees in an interview with Bulgarian media.

Nearly two dozen top Bulgarian referees have been banned for committing errors in the last two years.

Robinho chooses country over club

Brazil forward Robinho insisted yesterday that he was not dropped against Portsmouth but asked to be left out of the Premier League tie ahead of his country's international with Argentina.

Mark Hughes's decision to leave Robinho on the substitutes' bench for last Sunday's 1-0 win at Fratton Park surprised many.

However, Robinho says it was his decision to be left out so he could concentrate on getting fully fit.

"I asked to not play because I had pains in the ankle, especially because Brazil against Argentina is more important," he was quoted as saying in the Daily Express.

"It is always a special match because of the rivalry of the two teams. No one ever wants to lose. Every player likes to play in these matches."

Van Bommel faces lengthy recovery

Bayern Munich captain Mark van Bommel admitted yesterday that he could be sidelined for longer than expected with a broken toe.

"I still don't know when I can return," the Dutch international said. "There's no chance it will be against Dortmund," he added, referring to Bayern's next Bundesliga game on September 12.

Van Bommel, 32, underwent surgery after breaking his toe in the opening Bundesliga game of the season and had initially expected to be sidelined for a month.

The midfielder could however be fit for Bayern's Champions League clash against Juventus on September 30.

Boro's record signing moves to Qatar

Brazil striker Afonso Alves, Middlesbrough's £12 million record signing last year, is leaving for Qatari club Al-Sadd.

Al-Sadd said Alves had signed a three-year contract. The fee was undisclosed.

The 28-year-old joined Boro in January 2008 from Dutch club Heerenveen and started brightly with six goals in his first 11 games before the end of his first Premier League season.

However, he only scored four times in 31 league matches last term as Middlesbrough were relegated. He is the fourth international to leave the north-east club in recent weeks following the departures of England's Stewart Downing, Turkey's Tuncay Sanli and Germany's Robert Huth.

Gaddafi linked with Milan investment

Milan president Silvio Berlusconi is reportedly ready to sell the Italian club to Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

It would not be the first time that Gaddafi has invested in Italian football, as his son Al-Saadi played for Perugia and held a minority shareholder's stake in Juventus.

It is believed the club would be available for around £400m, so an outright takeover would be tricky and also potentially damaging.

For that reason, the reports in La Repubblica suggest Gaddafi would at first invest in the side and then slowly buy up more and more shares.