Bundesliga: Hanover defender Emanuel Pogatetz has been given a three-match ban by the German football federation (DFB) for punching Nurnberg’s Philipp Wollscheid. The referee missed the incident in last Friday’s 1-0 win for Hannover, but that allowed the federation to use video replays to review it and subsequently ban the Austrian. Pogatetz will miss matches at Hertha Berlin and Mainz, as well as the home game with Stuttgart.
Grayson: Championship side Leeds United fired manager Simon Grayson yesterday following the Yorkshire club’s 4-1 home drubbing by Birmingham City. Leeds said in a statement that Grayson had been dismissed in order to give the club the best possible chance of forcing their way into contention for a place in the play-offs to reach the Premier League.
Chedli: Tunisia star Adel Chedli has been expelled by the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finalists after a fallout with manager Sami Trabelsi. The 35-year-old veteran was sent packing for questioning his country’s last-gasp 2-1 second Group C win against Niger.
Wilshere: Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has suffered a second stress fracture on his injured ankle but could still return before the end of the season, reports said. Arsene Wenger confirmed last week that Wilshere had suffered a “little setback” in his recuperation from injury but did not go into details.
Fae: Nice midfielder Emerse Fae has been told to quit top-level football due to health reasons. The 28-year-old Ivory Coast inter-national was sidelined with phle-bitis, an inflammation of a vein caused by a blood clot, for three months in 2009 and then again in March last year. He returned to the Nice squad in September but another relapse in October has ultimately signalled the end of his Nice career.
Teixeira: Liverpool have signed Sporting Lisbon teenager Joao Carlos Teixeira. The 19-year-old Portuguese will join the club’s academy having impressed against them earlier this season.
Kuna: Ladislav Kuna, a Slovak midfielder capped 47 times by the former Czechoslovakia, died yes-terday at the age of 64. Kuna, who played at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, scored nine goals for the Czechoslovak team.
Africa Cup: Group D – Bots-wana vs Mali 1-2; Ghana vs Guinea 1-1. Standings: Ghana 7 (Q); Mali 6 (Q); Guinea 4; Botswana 0.
King’s Cup: Semi-finals, first legs – Mirandes vs Athletic Bilbao 1-2; Valencia vs Barcelona 1-1.
In France: League Cup SF – Marseille vs Nice 2-1.
In Scotland: Division Two – Arbroath vs Stirling Albion 2-0.