Breno: Bayern Munich defender Breno will not join his team-mates for their winter break camp in Qatar after being refused permission to leave Germany. Breno is currently on bail during an investigation into a fire which destroyed his home in September.

Miyamoto: Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Japan’s captain at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, announced his retirement. The 34-year-old defender played for Austria’s Salzburg in 2007 and 2008.

Bribed ref: A top Chinese referee confessed in court yesterday to accepting bribes for fixing matches, amid a series of corruption hearings involving top officials. Huang Junjie admitted to accepting more than $246,000 in bribes to fix two friendlies as well as six Chinese club matches between 2005 and 2009.

Lazaroni: Sebastiao Lazaroni has been sacked as coach of Qatar following the nation’s early exit at the Arab Games. Brazilian Lazaroni, who coached his native country at the 1990 World Cup, was appointed in August and has guided the Gulf side to the brink of the fourth round of Asian qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.

Majstorovic: Celtic defender Daniel Majstorovic is set to miss the next six weeks of the season. The centre-back fractured his cheekbone during the first half of the 2-0 victory away to St Johnstone in the Scottish Premier League on Sunday. Although an operation was deemed to be successful, he is unlikely to be back in training until February at the earliest.

Sorensen: Stoke City goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen has signed a new contract that will keep him at the Premier League club for an additional two-and-a-half years. Sorensen joined Stoke from Aston Villa in 2008 and is now set to stay at the Britannia Stadium until the end of the 2013-14 season.