Sporting briefs

Senegal: Senegal have been disqualifed from the 2013 Africa Cup after crowd trouble forced their qualifier with Ivory Coast to be abandoned. The decision was taken at a CAF disciplinary meeting in Cairo after violence flared in Dakar on Saturday, with Ivory Coast players and fans pelted with stones, bottles and chairs, fires lit in the stands and firecrackers thrown.

Grella: Former Blackburn midfielder Vince Grella has agreed to join Melbourne Heart as he returns to Australia after more than a decade in Europe. Grella, 33, has earned 46 caps for Australia. He has spent the bulk of his career overseas, playing for Blackburn from 2008 to 2012 and spending a decade in Italy where he had stints at Torino and Parma.

Delayed: Egypt’s football association has delayed the start of its season for a second time after security refused to authorise the commencement of games. The popular sport in Egypt is still reeling from a stadium riot in February that killed 70 people. The association postponed the season, scheduled to start on October 17 after a one month delay, because “the necessary security authorisation is absent,” it said.

Lala: Former Hannover and Albania midfielder Altin Lala has ended his playing career at the age of 36 due to a knee injury. Lala left Hannover last summer after making 294 appearances and joined Bayern Munich to captain their reserve team. But after just three appearances this term, he has decided to call it a day. Lala was part of the Hannover side which gained promotion to the Bundesliga in 2002.

Vaz Te: West Ham forward Ricardo Vaz Te will be out of action for up to three months after undergoing shoulder surgery. Vaz Te dislocated his shoulder in West Ham’s league defeat against Arsenal at Upton Park two weeks ago and the Portuguese had keyhole surgery on Monday in a bid to cure the problem.

League Two: Bury vs Carlisle 1-1; L. Orient vs Hartlepool 1-0.