Sporting briefs

Adriano: Brazil striker Adriano, who has a history of off-field problems, missed Flamengo's practice on Friday and will not play in their next two matches, an official of the Rio club said. "Adriano has a personal problem. He's going to resolve that problem and then train hard all week to recover his form," Flamengo vice-president Marcos Braz said.

In France: Olympique Lyon missed a chance to reclaim Ligue 1's top spot for the first time since October when they drew 0-0 at second from bottom Boulogne-sur-Mer yesterday. Lyon stretched their unbeaten run to eight games but remained in third spot with 50 points from 27 matches, one point behind leaders Bordeaux and Montpellier who meet today. They could even slip to fourth if Olympique Marseille beat mid-table Lorient today.

Timmer: Heerenveen have snapped up veteran goalkeeper Henk Timmer until the end of the season. The 38-year-old has agreed a short-term deal as the club sought emergency cover after being hit with several injuries. Timmer had previously retired from the game after finishing last season with Feyenoord.

Rabeh: Trouble-prone defender Youssef Rabeh has resurfaced in his native Morocco after going missing in Russia and then threatening to quit the game. The prolonged saga over the 24-year-old's future finally appears over after he signed for Moghreb Tetouan, the Moroccan club said yesterday. Rabeh went missing from his new Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala's training camp in Turkey last month only two weeks after joining from Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia.

Slovenia: The Slovenia football federation will meet on April 7 to decide whether to accept the resignation of president Ivan Simic. Simic quit on Friday in the wake of fierce arguments with national team players over their share of the money the federation are set to receive at the World Cup.

Nakamura: New Yokohama signing Shunsuke Nakamura got a sharp reality check when he watched his F-Marinos lose 1-0 at FC Tokyo in their J-League opener yesterday. After facing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid with Espanyol, Nakamura looked on as his new team-mates slumped to distinctly ordinary opponents in cold and rainy Tokyo.

Athletics: Callum Priestley has been provisionally suspended from all competition and UK Athletics' World Class Performance Programme following an anti-doping violation. Sprint hurdler Priestley has been suspended under IAAF rules after analysis of his B sample indicated the presence of the asthma drug clenbuterol. The 21-year-old sprint hurdler has been charged by UK Anti-Doping with having committed an anti-doping rule violation.

Basket, NBA: The Charlotte Bobcats posted a convincing 98-83 win over the Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers to gain ground on a play-off spot. The win moved the Bobcats (29-31) to within a game of the Miami Heat for the eighth and final play-off berth in the Eastern Conference. Stephen Jackson led the Bobcats with 21 points, as Charlotte handed the Lakers only their third back-to-back loss of the season.

Skiing: American Lindsey Vonn added the downhill World Cup title to her Olympic gold when she won the speed event in Crans Montana yesterday. Vonn powered down the course in one minute 35.26 seconds to beat Italian Johanna Schnarf by 0.01 second. Vonn needed to finish ahead of Maria Riesch to secure the title and the German finished sixth 0.64 back.

Speed Skating: Japan's former Olympic champion Hiroyasu Shimizu was ushered into retirement by over 2,500 fans in his native Hokkaido yesterday. The 1998 Nagano Olympic gold medallist brought the curtain down on a record-breaking career after failing to qualify for the Vancouver Games. Shimizu stormed to gold in the men's 500 metres in Nagano and took bronze in the 1,000m. The pint-sized speedster also captured a silver medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.