Briefs

Coulibaly: Auxerre and Mali defender Adama Coulibaly has been ruled out of the upcoming African Cup of Nations due to a sprained knee ligaments injury, according to his French league side. Auxerre beat Marseille 2-0 away in a league encounter on Wednesday, with Coulibaly paying the price for a tackle on Ayew by picking up a right knee injury in the process.

Zaragoza: Jose Aurelio Gay, who was promoted from second team coach to take temporary charge of Real Zaragoza after this month's sacking of Marcelino, will stay on until the end of the season, the La Liga club said. Promoted Zaragoza were hammered 6-0 by Real Madrid in Gay's first match in charge last weekend and are in 19th out of 20 in the standings.

Lillo: Almeria have appointed Juan Manuel Lillo as coach to replace the sacked Hugo Sanchez with a brief to keep the struggling Andalusian club in Spain's top flight. Lillo, 44, had previous experience in charge at clubs including Salamanca, Real Zaragoza and Real Sociedad.

Petrescu: Dan Petrescu has quit his job as manager of Romanian champions Unirea Urziceni, the club announced yesterday. Petrescu was the architect behind Urziceni's remarkable success, guiding the small town club with a 7,000 capacity ground to last season's league title.

In Argentina: River Plate's sought-after forward Diego Buonanotte broke his collar bone and damaged a lung in a car crash in which three friends were killed in the early hours of yesterday, police said. The 21-year-old Buonanotte, a member of Argentina's 2008 Olympic gold medal squad, and his friends were returning in pouring rain from a night out.

Formula One: Donington Park administrators have handed the British motor racing circuit back to the owning Wheatcroft family after failing to find a buyer for the 150-year lease. Leaseholders Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd, who last year signed a 17-year contract to host the British Formula One Grand Prix, went into administration due to funding problems. The F1 race is staying at Silverstone.

Commonwealth games: A fire broke out on Friday at the rugby stadium under construction for next year's Commonwealth Games in the Indian capital. Domestic media said the blaze had started in the venue seats and taken almost two hours to extinguish but no casualties were reported. New Delhi is preparing to host more than 100,000 foreign visitors during the Oct. 3-14 event.

Motor racing: F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan is mulling a move to the NASCAR series and has already tested with a new team. Karthikeyan, who became India's first F1 driver when he raced for the Jordan team in 2005, had driven in the European Le Mans Series in the second half of 2009. "I tested for Starbeast Motorsports last week at Daytona," Karthikeyan said. Starbeast Motorsports is a new team in the ARCA racing series for stock cars.

Sports awards: Greek basketball player Vassilis Spanoulis has been named Balkan Athlete of the Year. Spanoulis was instrumental in helping his club Panathinaikos to their fifth Euroleague title in May at the Final Four of the competition in Berlin. The 27-year-old Spanoulis beat Romanian gymnast Marian Dragolescu, who won the floor and the vault titles at the world championships in London.

Basket, NBA: Spanish forward Pau Gasol has signed a new multi-year extension with the Los Angeles Lakers. The club did not provide details on the contract but local media reported Gasol had agreed to a multi-million dollar three-year extension, keeping him with the team until 2014. Gasol, originally from Barcelona, joined the Lakers in February 2008 after spending seven years with Memphis.