Sporting briefs

Abidal: Barcelona defender Eric Abidal will be out for around three weeks after damaging his left thigh muscle in France's 1-0 World Cup playoff first leg win over Ireland on Saturday, the La Liga champions said. A scan had confirmed the diagnosis of the French Football Federation's (FFF) doctors, Barca said yesterday, and the left back will miss tomorrow's return leg against Ireland in Paris.

Storrie: Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie appeared in court yesterday to face charges of tax evasion over a 2003 transfer deal. He is accused of defrauding Britain's tax office by concealing the payment of a signing-on fee made to Senegalese midfielder Amdy Faye when he joined from French club Auxerre.

Mancini: Amantino Mancini will not leave Inter in the winter transfer market despite reports strongly linking the Brazilian winger with a return to Roma. Despite making just three league appearances for the Nerazurri this campaign, Mancini's agent Gilmar Veloz believes his client will remain at the San Siro. He said: "We have not spoken to Roma. There has been no contact whatsoever. Amantino has a contract with Inter and has no plans to leave."

Ronaldo: Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo expects he will have recovered sufficiently from an ankle injury to be able to return to training by the middle of this week. "The most important thing for me is to return when I am at 100 per cent," the Portuguese international said. "Let's see what happens but around the middle of this week I am confident I will already be working with my team mates."

Knife attack: A man pleaded guilty yesterday to a knife attack on West Ham United defender Calum Davenport. Davenport, a former England Under-21 international was left with a 15-inch scar on his leg after the attack in August. He has returned to light training recently. Worrell Whitehurst, the boyfriend of Davenport's sister, Cara, admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent at Luton Crown Court. Whitehurst will be sentenced at a later date.

In Italy: Prima Divisione (B) - Pescara vs Verona 0-0.

Snooker: World IBSF Championships - D. Bezzina vs L. Chun Kiat (Singapore) 2-4.

Boxing: Five-times world champion Shane Mosley will return to the ring after an absence of almost a year when he takes on fellow American Andre Berto in a non-title welterweight bout in January. Mosley, 38, has not fought since he claimed the WBA welterweight crown with a stunning ninth round stoppage of Mexican Antonio Margarito in Los Angeles 10 months ago. Since then, he has tried without success to secure bouts with Floyd Mayweather Jr, Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto.

Rugby Union: South Africa winger Bryan Habana has been cited for kicking France's Vincent Clerc in the face during Friday's international in Toulouse. The case will be heard by the International Rugby Board's disciplinary committee tomorrow. Television images appear to show Habana kicking out at Clerc when the French winger was lying on the ground in the 38th minute. If found guilty Habana risks being suspended for the Springboks' next test against Italy on Saturday in Udinese.

Golf: Michelle Wie's long wait for her first LPGA Tour title ended on Sunday as the one-time golf prodigy celebrated a two-shot triumph in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. The 20-year-old Korean-American, who turned pro at a precocious 16, fired a three-under par 69 for a two-shot triumph over Paula Creamer. Wie finished with a flourish, blasting out of a greenside bunker to six inches at 18 and tapping in for birdie.

Cricket: Former India captain Rahul Dravid joined an elite quartet yesterday when his unbeaten 177 on the opening day of the first test against Sri Lanka took him past 11,000 test runs. Dravid, 36, followed compatriot Sachin Tendulkar, West Indian Brian Lara and Australians Allan Border and Ricky Ponting past the 11,000 mark with his 27th test hundred. "It's just nice to be up there, nice to score runs especially in the context of a game like today, to make it happen when your team really needed it, it just makes it all that special," he said.