Soccer history: Dagenham and Redbridge defender Anwar Uddin will make history today when he becomes the first British Asian to captain a side in the top four divisions of English football. The 25-year-old, born in East London to a Bengali father and an English mother, will lead the League Two side out against Stockport County.

African Cup: The final set of qualifying matches for next year's African Cup will kick off simultaneously next month to ensure a sporting contest, the Confederation of African Football said. It ordered matches in Groups Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten - which will determine the remaining qualifiers for the 2008 finals in Ghana - to start at the same time. Seven of the 16 finalists for the Nations Cup finals have already been decided.

Refs banned: The Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) suspended 11 referees for staying out late at a bowling club during a pre-season refereeing seminar in Stara Zagora earlier this week. "We have banned them for five matches because they must attend the seminar to learn, not to go to night clubs," the chief of BFU's referee commission Borislav Alexandrov said.

Bielsa: Argentina's Marcelo Bielsa was named coach of neighbouring Chile yesterday. Bielsa, who led his country at the 2002 World Cup, replaced Nelson Acosta, who quit after Chile's 6-1 quarter-final defeat to Brazil at the Copa America in Venezuela last month.

Toni: Bayern Munich's new striker Luca Toni returned to training before their opening match against Hansa Rostock today after being sidelined for two weeks with a knee injury. But it is still uncertain whether he will play after missing much of the pre-season. Bayern will also be without Germany striker Lukas Podolski, who only recently resumed light training three months after knee surgery.

Barcelona: Barcelona's pre-season friendly against Hong Kong select side Mission Hills XI was postponed yesterday because of an approaching storm. Tropical storm Pabuk swept off the South China Sea and through east China late on Wednesday, before turning and heading back towards Hong Kong. The match was rescheduled for today. It is the last in the Spanish giants' pre-season tour to Asia.

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