Sporting briefs

Fabiano: Tottenham’s bid to sign Luis Fabiano has failed after the Brazil striker signed a new deal with Sevilla yesterday, tying him to the Spanish club until 2013. News of Fabiano’s decision to stay in Spain was confirmed by Sevilla, the side he joined from FC Porto in 2005.

Silvestre: Former Manchester United and Arsenal centre-back Mickael Silvestre has joined Werder Bremen on a two-year contract. “For me, Werder Bremen is a new adventure,” said the 33-year-old. Silvestre had been looking for a new club since his contract with Arsenal expired at the end of June.

Fernandes: Saint-Etienne’s Swiss international Gelson Fernandes has been loaned for a season to Italian Serie A club Chievo with an option to buy. The 23-year-old midfielder joined the French club last season from English Premier League club Manchester City and played 33 Ligue 1 games.

Bocchetti: Genoa defender Salvatore Bocchetti has signed for Russian side Rubin Kazan. The 23-year-old had been linked with Juventus this summer but yesterday Rubin Kazan announced on their website that Bocchetti had signed a three-year contract.

Traore: Juventus are close to signing Arsenal’s Armand Traore. Sky Sports reported that Juventus director general Beppe Marotta had asked for Traore on loan. The 20-year-old would fill a problem position at left-back for Juventus.

Varallo dies: Former Argentine footballer Francisco Varallo, the last surviving player from the inaugural 1930 World Cup, died yesterday aged 100 years. Varallo, nicknamed ‘Canoncito’ (Little Cannon), was on the Argentine team that fell 4-2 to hosts Uruguay in the final at the Estadio Centenario on July 30, 1930.

Serie B: Empoli vs Pescara 0-0.

Rugby Union: All Blacks star flyhalf Dan Carter should be fit to play in the Bledisloe Cup match against Australia in Hong Kong in October. Carter underwent surgery last week on a long-term ankle injury after New Zealand wrapped up this year’s Tri-Nations with a 29-22 victory over South Africa. He had been troubled by the ankle for more than three months and it started to become more of an aggravation towards the end of the Super 14 competition.

Basket, NBA: Philadelphia 76ers rookie Evan Turner, the second overall selection in the NBA draft, has signed a multi-million-dollar sponsorship deal with China’s Li Ning sportswear. Turner joins veteran NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal as a high-profile foreign spokesman for the Hong Kong-listed company, which was founded in 1990 by the former Chinese gymnast for whom it is named.

Baseball: Tokyo beat Waipahu, Hawaii 4-1 on Sunday to become the first team from Japan to capure the Little League World Series title in seven years. Konan Tomori blasted a home run and had three RBIs for Tokyo who also snapped the US’s five-year hold on the title. Tokyo held Hawaii to just four singles after the Americans scored a whopping 29 runs in their first three games.

Golf: Tiger Woods breezed into the next round of the PGA Tour’s play-offs on Sunday by firing a fourth round four-under 67 in his first tournament since finalising his divorce. His performance at The Barclays vaulted Woods into the top 100 in the FedEx Cup play-off standings, the measuring stick for advancing to the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston. Woods entered the Barclays event at No. 112 in the play-off standings.