Bayern Munich: Bayern Munich want to nurture talent in India by setting up a soccer academy there, and not just tap into the country's growing economy, the club's executive director Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said yesterda. The Bundesliga club will collaborate with the regional West Bengal government in cricket-crazy India's soccer-loving hub to set up their first academy outside Germany later this year. Bayern Munich would offer technical support to the academy.
Riquelme: Argentina playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme has been left out of the squad for next week's friendly in Scotland, their first game under new coach Diego Maradona. Riquelme was not among the three home-based players named on Tuesday for the match in Glasgow on Nov. 19.
Hemdani: Rangers midfielder Brahim Hemdani has been named in Algeria's squad for the friendly against Mali in France next week despite having failed to start a Premier League game this season.
De la Red: Real Madrid have called for patience while the club's medical services complete their tests to find out why Spain midfielder Ruben de la Red briefly passed out during their King's Cup last-32 first leg defeat away to Real Union on Oct 30. The 23-year-old has not played since his collapse, and the statement on their website gave no indication of when he would return to action.
Free agent: Romania goalkeeper Daniel Coman has become a free agent after his club Rapid Bucharest failed to pay his wages, the Romanian Football Federation said. Coman, who has nine caps, is now free to join another club.
Davis Cup: Marcel Granollers, ranked 56th in the world, will replace injured number one Rafael Nadal in Spain's team for this month's Davis Cup final against Argentina. Captain Emilio Sanchez-Vicario handed Granollers a place alongside the more experienced David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez. Santiago Ventura will join the side as a reserve. Nadal ruled himself out on Monday after failing to recover from tendinitis in his right knee.
Golf: British Open runner-up Ian Poulter has pulled out of the Singapore Open after being unable to replace the driver he had stolen at the HSBC Champions Tournament in Shanghai which ended on Monday. "I am really gutted," he told reporters yesterday. "I have been thinking about it for four hours and I have decided to withdraw because my new driver will not arrive on time."
Cycling: Germany's former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has won a court ruling entitling him to €340,000 in back pay after testifying he did not take drugs when riding for Team Coast from January to March 2003. Ullrich, who has always denied doping, was withdrawn before the 2006 Tour after being linked with a Spanish doping investigation.