Sporting briefs

Muntari: Sunderland have been granted permission to discuss a deal to sign long-time target Sulley Muntari. The Inter midfielder, who spent the 2007-08 season in the Premier League with Portsmouth, is expected to move to the Stadium of Light on loan until the end of the season if the talks go well.

Braafheid: Dutch defender Edson Braafheid quit Bayern Munich yesterday and signed for Bundesliga rivals Hoffenheim until June 2014. The 27-year-old has signed a two-and-a-half year contract with Hoffenheim for an undisclosed fee after failing to win a regular place at Bayern.

Kagawa: Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa is out of Saturday’s Asian Cup final with a broken foot which could see him miss the rest of the European season, his Bundesliga club Dortmund said. The 21-year-old broke a bone in his foot in Japan’s semi-final win over South Korea on Tuesday, which ended in a 3-0 penalty shoot-out victory to the Japanese.

Kakuta: Chelsea youngster Gael Kakuta has joined Fulham on loan until the end of the season. Kakuta, 19, is cup-tied for Fulham’s FA Cup fourth round game against Tottenham on Sunday.

Marta: Brazilian forward Marta was acquired by the expansion Western New York Flash of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS). Playmaker Marta, 24, led the US elite league in scoring for the second season in a row last year in helping FC Gold Pride win the WPS crown, but the team folded in November.

TV rights: FIFA said that it had awarded Middle East and North Africa broadcasting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Al Jazeera. The deal covering transmissions in 23 countries or territories, was the first to be signed for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Schaken: Feyenoord striker Ruben Schaken is expected to miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery. The 28-year-old, formerly of VVV-Venlo, has had injury concerns for a number of weeks.

Sumo: Japanese police arrested three former sumo wrestlers yesterday over a gang-linked gambling scandal that rocked the ancient sport last year. Sadahide Furuichi, 34, Tetsuya Yabushita, 29, and Shunsaku Yamamoto, 35, were arrested, according to Jiji Press, Kyodo News and public broadcaster NHK. Police also arrested Furuichi’s mother, Yoneko, 63. The four were suspected of illegally organising baseball gambling and collecting more than $12,100 in bets from other wrestlers in 2009 and 2010.

Basket, NBA: Dallas edged back into second place in the Southwest division with a 112-105 victory over a Los Angeles Clippers team that face up to a month without top scorer, Eric Gordon. After a six-game losing skid, the Mavericks won for the third time in four games to stand on 29-15, edging atop the New Orleans Hornets, on a nine-game win streak, to trail only overall leaders San Antonio in the division.

Formula One: Scottish driver Paul di Resta will have another shot at beating F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel after signing for Force India yesterday. The 24-year-old beat Vettel to the 2006 Euro Formula Three Euroseries but has taken longer than the young German to get a Formula One drive. However, Force India believe so much in his potential after he was reserve pilot for them last year, that they are paying off Vitantonio Liuzzi as they pair Di Resta with German Adrian Sutil.

Cricket: Inspired by a Jonathan Trott century, England secured a 21-run victory over Australia yesterday, keeping alive their hopes of winning the one-day series after trailing 3-0. The tourists needed a win to claw their way back into the seven-match series and a fine century by man-of-the-match Trott helped them to 299-8, the first time they have lasted their full complement of overs in this series.