Murphy: Fulham captain Danny Murphy signed a contract extension with the Premier League club. Murphy, who joined the Cottagers from Tottenham in 2007, is now tied to the west London team until the end of the 2011-12 season.
Kharja: Inter yesterday announced the signing of Morocco international midfielder Houssine Kharja on loan from Genoa until the end of the season. Inter have the option to buy the French-born 28-year-old at the end of this campaign.
Santander: Indian entrepreneur Ahsan Ali Syed officially took over as owner of Racing Santander yesterday. Syed promised that he would bring in new blood to the squad starting with striker Nikola Zigic from Birmingham City.
Annan: Ghana international Anthony Annan has quit Norwegian side Rosenborg to join Bundesliga team Schalke 04. A defensive midfielder, Annan, 24, is reported to have joined the Royal Blues for two million euros and is a replacement for Croatia’s Ivan Rakitic who joined Sevilla on Friday.
Okazaki: Japan striker Shinji Okazaki confirmed that he is poised to join German side Stuttgart from J-League club Shimizu S-Pulse after the Asian Cup. The tenacious 24-year-old forward will board a plane to Germany today and is expected to complete his move to Stuttgart this week.
Kagawa: Japan forward Shinji Kagawa flew back to Tokyo yesterday to undergo surgery on a foot injury he picked up in the Blue Samurai’s Asian Cup semi-final win over South Korea last week. Borussia Dortmund’s Kagawa has scored seven goals in 18 Bundesliga appearances but his injury will see him miss the rest of the season.
Athletics: Usain Bolt, of Jamaica, will open his Diamond League campaign in the 100m in Rome on May 26. Bolt, the world record holder in the 100 and 200m, will be joined by Kenya’s 800m world record holder David Rudisha at the Olympic Stadium at the third leg of the 14-leg Diamond League. It will be Bolt’s first appearance in Rome.
Figure Skating: France’s Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat won the ice dance title at the European figure skating championships in Berne. They defeated Russia’s Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev while Sinead and John Kerr, of Great Britain, claimed bronze. Pechalat and Bourzat finished with 167.40 points, while Bobrova and Soloviev had 161.14 points with the Kerrs on 157.49.
Handball: Three-time champions France reached the men’s world championship final with a 29-26 win over hosts Sweden and will take on Denmark for the title today. It will be France’s fifth final having lost the first in 1993 before winning in 1995, 2001 and 2009 and their eighth major final appearance after wins in the 2006 and 2010 European event and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Denmark reached the final with a 28-24 win over 2005 world champions Spain.
Cricket: Sri Lanka Cricket said it had lost $125,000 after bad weather forced a one-day series against the visiting West Indies to be rescheduled. The series was due to be played in December but has been postponed to this month and early February, and reduced from five matches to three. Sri Lanka Cricket said the board lost TV fees of $25,000 for each of the original meetings.