Away fans: Away fans have been banned from Roma's game at Genoa on Sept. 24, Atalanta's match at Roma on Sept. 28 and Napoli's trip to Bologna the same day, Italy's anti-hooligan committee said in a statement yesterday. The body has also decided fans can only buy one ticket each for the Sept. 28 derby between Milan and Inter.
Silva: Valencia's Spain midfielder David Silva had surgery on a long-term left ankle problem and will be out of action for around three months, his club said. The 22-year-old will miss Spain's World Cup qualifiers away to Estonia and Belgium next month, and the start of Valencia's UEFA Cup campaign away to Maritimo today.
Racist abuse: Second division club Cordoba have been fined an undisclosed amount by the Spanish Football Federation after the referee reported some of their fans had directed racist abuse at a Sevilla Atletico player during their 1-1 draw last weekend. "The club deeply regrets the incidents from last Saturday and wants to express its sincerest apologies towards the Sevilla Atletico player Christian Pouga," Cordoba said on their website.
Muntari: Inter will appeal against the Italian league's decision to ban midfielder Sulley Muntari for three matches following his red card in Saturday's 2-1 win over Catania, the club said in a statement. The Ghana international was dismissed before half-time for shoving his hand into the face of Catania's Giacomo Tedesco, who fell theatrically.
Mensah: Ghana defender John Mensah was detained at the weekend after a misunderstanding with French police, Olympique Lyonnais said. "John Mensah was the victim of an unfortunate incident with police forces but the affair is now closed," Lyon said in a statement, suggesting neither the club nor the player would file a complaint. "Police forces admitted the cause of this incident was a misunderstanding with the player, who does not speak French," the seven-times French champions added.
Maresca: Sevilla's Italian midfielder Enzo Maresca has agreed a two-year contract extension until 2011. The 28-year-old ex-Juventus player helped Sevilla win the UEFA Cup in 2006 and 2007 and the Copa del Rey, also in 2007.
Tennis: Britain's Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) announced a five-year sponsorship deal with life assurance and pensions company AEGON. The deal, worth around €25 million, means AEGON will take over from Artois as the sponsors of the Queen's Club grasscourt tournament in the run-up to Wimbledon.
Sailing: The sailing venue for the London 2012 Olympics will be completed ahead of schedule in November, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) said. Work to upgrade the site in Weymouth and Portland began in March, including the construction of a new permanent 250-metre slipway and new race-boat parking, lifting and mooring facilities.
Pan Pacific Open: Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova avenged a shock tennis upset to China's Li Na at the Beijing Olympics in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open yesterday. The former US Open champion won 6-2 1-6 6-3 to reach the last 16. Fifth seed Kuznetsova wrapped up a tough win with a fizzing ace down the middle after one hour and 49 minutes. Jelena Jankovic heads a strong field in Tokyo and will regain the no.1 ranking from Serena Williams if she wins the $1.34m tournament.