Sporting briefs

Sidibe: Stoke City’s Malian striker Mamady Sidibe has been ruled out for the rest of the season after rupturing his Achilles tendon for the second time in six months. Sidibe, 31, was on the verge of a comeback from a previous Ac-hilles problem when he broke down in training last week.

Banned: Napoli striker Ezequiel Lavezzi and Aleandro Rosi, the Roma wing-back, were slapped with three-match bans for spitting at each other. TV evidence was used after the referee missed the incident during Saturday even-ing’s clash in Rome.

Mulumbu: West Brom midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu is battling to be fit for Roy Hodgson’s first match in charge – Sunday’s derby clash with Wolves at The Hawthorns. Mulumbu suffered a thigh injury during Saturday’s 3-3 home draw with West Ham. The Congo international, 24, wrote on Twitter: “Injured in my right thigh, probably off for several days.”

Matri: Juventus striker Alessandro Matri has received welcome news after suffering from chest pains during the 1-0 win over Inter. The 26-year-old underwent tests and results yesterday showed a slight muscle problem, but one that will only keep him out for around a week, rather than anything more sinister.

Rangnick: Former Hoffenheim coach Ralf Rangnick has confirmed that he has received an approach from Wolfsburg about becoming their new coach following the dismissal of Steve McClaren. The 52-year-old said: “There was contact (with Wolfsburg), but I made it clear from the very beginning that I am only available for a new job from the summer,” he said.

Camacho: Osasuna have fired coach Jose Antonio Camacho after falling into the drop zone. Camacho’s final match in charge was the 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad, a result that saw Osasuna slip to 18th place in the standings.

Abramovich: Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich is no longer one of Russia’s three richest men after being outranked by oligarchs who benefit from recovering oil prices. The 2011 rich list compiled by Finans magazine, puts Abra-movich’s wealth at $17.1bn. Vladi-mir Lisin, owner of Novo-lipetsk Steel, retained his position as Russia’s wealthiest man, seeing his fortune soar to $28.3bn in 2010.

MFA Division Three: Mdina vs Siġġiewi 0-1.

Serie B: Novara vs Torino 1-0.

Primera Liga: Mallorca vs Athletic Bilbao 1-0.

Athletics: China’s former Olympic champion and world record holder Liu Xiang again finished third in the 60m hurdles late Sunday at the Karlsruhe indoor meet. Liu finished behind David Oliver, of the United States, who clocked 7.40sec, and France’s Dimitr Bascou, of France, who ran a personal best of 7.53sec. The 27-year-old Chinese superstar Liu timed 7.55sec, only 0.13 off his personal best of 7.42sec set in February 2007. This was Liu’s second race of the weekend after also coming third in Duesseldorf on Friday.

Cricket: Bangladesh has launched an all-out war on mosquitoes in and around stadiums to ensure a bite-free World Cup for spectators and players. The Dhaka City Corporation has deployed spray teams to wipe out mosquitoes at the city’s two stadiums, which will host the opening ceremony and six World Cup matches. Malaria is usually restricted to rural areas of Bangladesh, but dengue fever is common in towns. After the opening ceremony in Dhaka on Thursday, the action begins with a Bangladesh-India clash in the city on Saturday.

Basket, NBA: Washington Wizards finally won their first NBA away game of the season after 25 losses in a row, defeating Cleveland Cavaliers 115-100 on Sunday. On the same court where the Cavaliers snapped their all-time record losing streak of 26 games two days earlier, the Wizards halted their futility streak short of historic levels. Washington’s 0-25 away record marked the third-worst in NBA history, trailing only the 0-29 run by Dallas in 1992-93 and the 0-28 start of the 1974-75 first-year expansion New Orleans Jazz.

Rugby League: Former Wests Tigers second row Ben Galea, of Maltese descent, bagged a double as Hull KR earned the bragging rights over rivals Hull yet again on the opening weekend of new Super League season in Cardiff. Galea, who made 151 appearances in a near ten-year spell with the Tigers, scored in each half as Hull KR came from behind to win 34-22 at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday. Hull FC raced to a 14-0 lead but it wasn’t to remain like that with Hull KR hitting back strongly before Galea’s double either side of half-time.