Diouf: Injury has forced striker Mame Birame Diouf to withdraw from Senegal’s squad for their African Nations Cup qualifiers against Tunisia. Diouf suffered a hamstring injury playing for Stoke City on Monday and will miss the matches in Dakar on October 10 and Tunis on October 15.
Witsel: Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel will be out until late October and will miss the Euro qualifiers against Andorra and Bosnia, manager Marc Wilmots said. “Axel Witsel has been examined by medical staff and has torn some ligaments, he is expected to return on October 22,” Wilmots said. No players will be added to the squad for the games on October 10 and 13.
Lokomotiv Moscow: Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow appointed Miodrag Bozovic as their head coach yesterday. The Railwaymen, who finished third last season, have been without a manager since Leonid Kuchuk was relieved of his duties last month following a run of poor results. Kuchuk has not been formally dismissed and is still under contract with Lokomotiv, so Bozovic will initially take over in a caretaker role.
Racism: Concordia Chiajna striker Wellington has complained he was the victim of repeated racist abuse from a section of visiting Rapid Bucharest supporters during their Romanian league match on Friday. Wellington accused Rapid fans of throwing a banana at him while TV footage clearly showed a number of supporters making monkey gestures and racial slurs against the Brazilian forward.
Cooper: Hartlepool manager Colin Cooper has quit after his side’s 3-0 home defeat to Carlisle sent the club to the foot of the League Two table. Former Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest defender Cooper, 47, offered his resignation just over 16 months after being appointed as John Hughes’ permanent successor.
Molde: Molde claimed a third Norwegian top-flight title in four years after goals by Harmeet Singh and Bjorn Bergmann Sigurdarson helped them come from behind to claim a 2-1 win at Viking Stavanger yesterday. Molde went into the game knowing that victory would see them crowned champions after second-placed Odd Grenland had earlier conceded an injury-time equaliser to draw 2-2 at Aalesund.