Sporting briefs

Caen: Caen made sure of returning to Ligue 1 with a 0-0 home draw with Nimes late on Monday. The result means the Ligue 2 leaders are certain to finish in the top three to win promotion, five games from the end of the season.

World Cup: South Africa is issuing visas free of charge to World Cup ticket-holders in a bid to entice more foreign fans to snap up unsold seats. Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba told Reuters that visa fees, normally costing 425 rand ($57), would be waived for fans who held a ticket. World Cup organisers launched a drive last week to sell hundreds of thousands of tickets - many of them returned from abroad or by corporate sponsors - before the tournament begins on June 11.

Friendly Off: Celtic said their planned friendly tonight against AZ Alkmaar had been postponed due to the travel chaos. Despite a small number of flights being allowed to take off yesterday, it has been decided not to go ahead with the match at Parkhead.

Zidan: Borussia Dortmund forward Mohamed Zidan has been ruled out for six months with a torn cruciate knee ligament. The Egyptian, who suffered the injury in Sunday's Bundesliga clash with Hoffenheim, will now miss the end of this season and the start of the 2010/11 campaign.

Delph: Aston Villa's Fabian Delph has been ruled out for up to eight months after suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament. Delph suffered the injury to his left knee in training on Saturday and the extent of the problem has been confirmed by examinations and scans. The 18-year-old moved to Villa Park from Leeds in August last year.

Sporting: Vitoria Guimaraes coach Paulo Sergio is to take charge of Portuguese Premier League rivals Sporting next season. The 42-year-old Sergio has signed a two-year contract to replace Carlos Carvalhal as coach. Sergio managed a Premier League club for the first time last season, guiding Pacos de Ferreira to 10th place.

Boxing: Venezuelan boxer Edwin Valero, who committed suicide on Monday in a jail where he was held for killing his wife, was a "sensational" fighter who was being groomed to fight Manny Pacquiao, promoter Bob Arum said. Arum co-promoted Valero's last two bouts. He said: "Edwin was a sensational fighter. He was just electric. I was grooming him as a great future opponent for Pacquiao. That would have been a sensational fight."

Badminton: The world championships in August next year will be held at the Wembley Arena in London. The National Indoor Arena in Birmingham has successfully hosted the prestigious All England championships since 1994 when they moved from Wembley. However, Wembley will offer fans in London a sneak preview of the kind of world class badminton they can expect at the 2012 Olympics.

Motor Racing: Ferrari still want MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi to race for them next year if they manage to change Formula One rules and enter a third car. "We want a third car and I would do everything to have Valentino," Ferrari president Luca Montezemolo said.

Golf: Women's world number one Lorena Ochoa announced yesterday she will be hanging up her golf clubs. "Lorena Ochoa has confirmed her retirement from LPGA... more details will be released on Friday at a press conference," the Mexican's management group said. The 28-year-old has dominated the women's tour for the last three years with a string of titles, including two majors, that have made her famous in soccer-mad Mexico, where golf is seen as a pastime for a tiny wealthy elite.

Basket, NBA: LeBron James scored 15 of his 40-point haul in a spectacular fourth quarter display as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Chicago Bulls 112-102 to seize a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference play-off series. The Cavs retain home-court advantage in the best-of-seven first round series over a determined Bulls team. In the Western Conference, a weakened Utah Jazz outlasted Denver Nuggets 114-111 to even their best-of-seven series 1-1.