Sporting briefs

Rangers: Scottish tycoon Craig Whyte appeared closer to a takeover of Rangers yesterday after an agreement over the club’s debt was reached with Lloyds. The path seems to be clear for the protracted deal, reportedly worth £33m, to finally go ahead follow-ing months of negotiations.

Rami: France received some good news yesterday when it was confirmed Adil Rami’s neck injury was not serious. The Lille defender was stretchered from the pitch late on in Tuesday’s 0-0 friendly draw with Croatia when he fell aw-kwardly after attempting an over-head kick. Tests after the match showed there was no fracture.

Raul: Schalke striker Raul has pledged to see out his two-year contract in Gelsenkirchen despite the sacking of coach Felix Magath. The 33-year-old joined the Royal Blues last summer after spending the whole of his career with Real Madrid and has scored 11 goals this season. Raul said: “I will stay until 2012. Magath wanted me in the team at all costs but I didn’t sign a contract with him, I signed with Schalke 04.”

Friendly: The Scottish FA have confirmed Scotland will host Den-mark in a friendly this summer as preparations continue for their Euro 2012 qualifiers. The match will take place on August 10.

Podolski: Roma are set to revive their interest in Cologne striker Lucas Podolski this summer. The 25-year-old Germany international has fallen within Roma sights before and has hinted at leaving the Bundesliga at the end of the season.

League Two: Accrington vs Hereford 4-0; Burton vs Maccles-field 3-2.

Scottish Cup: QF replay – Motherwell vs Dundee Utd 3-0.

Basketball: Men’s League – Loyola vs Luxol 73-74 aet.

Rugby Union: Italy’s Andrea Masi, voted Six Nations player of the tournament following a public internet vote, said he believes an English player should have won. Masi picked up 30 per cent of the 17,562 votes cast. The 29-year-old became the first Italian winner of the award. “I think I was lucky to have a lot of friends and fans in Italy who voted by internet,” said Racing-Metro player Masi. “Frankly I don’t think I should have won this trophy, but rather the English players, who won the competition.”

Ice Hockey: Japan pulled out of the World Division 1 ice hockey championships after the country’s devastating earthquake and tsunami ravaged the north, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) said. “As ice hockey in Japan is concentrated in the northern parts, we know that many of the athletes selected to represent their country and also the officials have been directly or indirectly affected by the disaster,” IIHF president Rene Fasel said.

Auto Racing: Finnish rally driver Kimi Raikkonen will make his American NASCAR debut this year with brand new team ICE1 Racing. Raikkonen told one of the country’s largest dailies, Turun Sanomat, that he will continue to race in the World Rally Championships for another eight rallies before making the leap to NASCAR this summer. Like all NASCAR rookies, he will start racing in the World Camping Truck series before expanding to the Sprint Cup Series. Raikkonen left F1 in 2009.

Athletics: German high jumper Ariane Friedrich said she is hopeful of returning from injury at the start of 2012. The 27-year-old suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in her left leg last December. Friedrich has a personal record of 2.06m and is the big rival of Croatian Blanka Vlasic. She won the 2009 European indoor title and bronze at the 2010 European Championships but won’t be ready to compete at the 2011 World Championships in August.