Zarate: Mauro Zarate's agent was in Rome last weekend looking to make the player's stay at Lazio permanent. The Argentine had a superb start to his Serie A career, scoring six goals since completing a loan move from Qatar outfit Al-Sadd. Sergio Zarate, the player's brother, said: "I don't see any problem. Mauro's objective is to remain at Lazio."

Bruce: Wigan manager Steve Bruce will not allow striker Amr Zaki to give interviews this season. The Egyptian is at the cente of attention at present with a host of clubs ready to scupper Wigan's hopes of turning his year-long loan deal into a permanent switch. "For a club like ours, I've never known anything like this attention. From all around the world and all the Arab states, everyone wants him," Bruce said. "But now I'm shutting down on him. I think it's too much and he's being distracted."

Frings: Torsten Frings, 31, yesterday pledged his future to the German national team. Frings, who had threatened to quit after being left out of the starting line-up for the last two World Cup qualifiers, issued a statement saying he would like to carry on playing for Germany. "I will continue to fight for my place," Frings, who has 78 appearances and 10 goals to his name, said.

Torino: Club president Urbano Cairo told reporters that coach Gianni De Biasi will stay in the job despite the upset to Juve on Saturday. There were reports that De Biasi would be axed after a run of one point from six Serie A games continued with a 1-0 loss in the derby. "De Biasi is absolutely staying in the saddle," Cairo said. "When you lose four on the trot it is not a positive time, but I did not see a Torino side inferior to Juve."

Boxing: Denmark's Mikkel Kessler knocked out Germany's Danilo Haeussler in the third round to retain his WBA super-middleweight title in Berlin on Saturday. Kessler, 29, dominated the fight and caused damage to Haeussler's left eye in the second round before ending the contest in the third with a left hook. Kessler lost his WBA and WBC titles on points to Britain's Joe Calzaghe last year.

Tennis: Former world no.92 Federico Luzzi has died of leukemia aged 28, the Italian tennis federation said. A statement said Luzzi had died in hospital on Saturday in his home town of Arezzo after suffering a rapid form of the disease. He was playing in a club match in Sardinia last week when he retired because of a strong fever and his health quickly deteriorated. In February, Luzzi was fined $50,000 by the ATP after being found guilty of wagering on the outcome of matches from May 2004 to April 2007.

Swimming: Australia's Robert Hurley has broken the 50m backstroke short course world record with a time of 23.24 seconds at a World Cup meet in Sydney yesterday. Hurley shaved 0.03 seconds off the previous mark of 23.27 set by Germany's Thomas Rupprath in Vienna four years ago. Hurley's world record is the second to fall in two days, following fellow Australian Matt Jaukovic's new mark in the 50m butterfly on Saturday.