McCammon: A black footballer who was unfairly sacked by his former club after suffering racial victimisation has been awarded more than £68,000 following a landmark legal victory. The sum of £68,728 handed to Mark McCammon at a remedy hearing follows the tribunal’s judgment last month and includes loss of earnings and breach of contract, his solicitor, Sim Owolabi, said. Striker McCammon brought the race victimisation case after being dismissed for alleged misconduct last year.

Stoke: Stoke boss Tony Pulis is hoping to tie up a move for Dynamo Kiev full-back Goran Popov early this week. The 27-year-old Macedonian is expected to join Stoke on a season-long loan deal, before joining up with his national squad.

Hoolahan: Wes Hoolahan has been forced to withdraw from the Ireland squad for this week’s friendly in Serbia through injury. Earlier yesterday the Norwich midfielder was was called up as a replacement for Darron Gibson, who pulled out after tearing a thigh muscle while training with Everton. Hoolahan was called up but has now had to pull out himself as a result of an Achilles problem.

PAOK: A Russian tobacco magnate has taken a giant step towards bailing out Greek Super League club PAOK from an enormous debt. Agreement was reached on Friday between PAOK shareholders and Ivan Savvidi. Reports said Savvidi has already deposited close to €10 million in the club’s bank account to take a controlling 51 per cent stake.