Bellamy: Wales forward Craig Bellamy has joined Celtic on loan from Newcastle until the end of the season. The Scottish champions confirmed the deal in a statement three hours before the January transfer window deadline yesterday following lengthy negotiations with the outspoken 25-year-old. Bellamy fell out with Newcastle manager Graeme Souness last week over his position in the team, with Souness saying the Welsh international would never play for the club under him again.
Al Ahli: Cairo giants Al Ahli have won the Egyptian premier league title for a record 30th time without kicking a ball. Their arch-rivals Zamalek handed them the championship by beating Ismailia the only side that still had a mathematical chance of catching them. Zamalek deposed Ismailia from second place with a 1-0 win in Cairo to ensure the title for the unbeaten Al Ahli, who have won 18 of their 19 league matches so far this season. Al Ahli, coached by the Portuguese Manuel Jose, take the title for the first time since 2000 after a runaway start to the season.
Nonda: Congo international striker Shabani Nonda said yesterday he would leave Monaco at the end of the season. "I'll be leaving for a foreign club. I have made up my mind about this as they (Monaco) have not offered me an extension to my contract," the player said. Nonda, 27, joined Monaco from Stade Rennes to replace French striker David Trezeguet who moved to Juventus in 2000. The African player finished Ligue 1's top scorer with 26 goals in 2003.
Campbell: Arsenal defender Sol Campbell has described the rivalry between his team and Manchester United as bitter and personal. The two sides clash again today at Highbury. "Everyone at Arsenal has been waiting for this game," Campbell said. "We are up for this one. We know we have to win. A draw does nothing for us or them, so it's very intense. After all that's happened, if we beat them it will be one of our sweetest ever wins, especially because of how we lost to them up there (Old Trafford). It is just more bitter and personal against United. There's an edge. Maybe a little bit of the old north-south divide as well."
No sex please: Struggling Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund would probably consider most offers of help at the moment, but decency demands certain limits. The club, facing record debts off the pitch and relegation on it, yesterday rejected an offer of sponsorship from a sex shop operator. "We won't do it," a club spokesman said after Beate Uhse, Europe's largest erotic goods firm operating sex shops and selling 10,000 erotic products, made overtures of support via sports marketing agency Sport Five.
No Sponsor: German conglomerate Siemens has ended its sponsorship of China's Super League, ending a troubled first season for the country's top professional soccer league. The League was set up to boost the image of the domestic game, but was barely able to make it through the year after two top clubs walked off the pitch in protest at bad calls and team managers and owners raised allegations of widespread game fixing and corruption among referees. When Siemens signed its sponsorship deal in early 2003, it said the league reached a television audience of some 3.8 billion people a year.
In England: League One - Barnsley vs Bradford 2-2.
¤ Former Liverpool players Kenny Dalglish, Kevin Keegan and Robbie Fowler will return to Anfield to play in a charity match to raise funds for victims of the Asian tsunami. The trio will play in a Liverpool legends side against a celebrities team on March 27, Easter Sunday. The match has been organised by the charity Tsunami Soccer Aid who expect a 40,000 crowd for the match and associated events will raise over one million pounds. Charity member and ex-Liverpool player Jason McAteer said: "Liverpool is second only to Manchester United in terms of support in Asia so it's only right we stepped up to do something."
¤ Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho brushed aside speculation that he was chasing Arsenal defender Ashley Cole. Speaking after his London side beat Birmingham 2-0 to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup, Mourinho said: "I have no time to meet players." A British newspaper claimed that Mourinho and chief executive Peter Kenyon had met the England left back at a hotel. Asked if he had been in contact with Cole, Mourinho said: "Of course not. I never met the boy... I just play against him and no more than that."