High hells: Brazilian club Vitoria blamed a fan wearing high heels for the trouble on the terraces that caused panic during Sunday's derby match at home to Bahia. "A female fan, who was wearing high heels, lost her balance and fell on top of another fan and this led to a domino effect," said the Salvador-based club. "This led to some panic and some fans were slightly injured. They were quickly treated in the five ambulances by four doctors and eight nurses."

Adebayor: Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor was named African Footballer of the Year last night. The Togo international beat Chelsea's Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien and Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Aboutrika.

Arshavin: Andrei Arshavin's move to Arsenal will benefit the playmaker, his club and his country, said Russia manager Guus Hiddink. "If you consider all parts of the equation, Zenit, Arsenal, Arshavin, it was a good decision for everyone," Hiddink said. "Zenit did a lot for Arshavin but he paid them back and at his age it was time to move."

Terry: Chelsea captain John Terry said he was extremely surprised by the sacking of coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. "I was very shocked by what's happened," Terry said. "He's a great man but we weren't playing well and that unfortunately falls on his head."

Friendlies: Cyprus vs Serbia 0-2; Slovakia vs Ukraine 2-3.

Boxing: A Japanese mother of two's bid to emulate George Foreman by winning a world title at 45 has been floored after the World Boxing Council (WBC) ruled she was too old. Kazumi Izaki, who became Japan's oldest professional boxer last year, was poised to fight Mexico's Ana Maria Torres for the world superflyweight crown on Feb. 28.

Badminton: India's world junior champion Saina Nehwal is hoping she will recover from a shoulder injury in time for next month's All-England championships. The 18-year-old, ranked world number 10, will miss this week's National Championships, dashing her hopes of claiming a hat-trick of singles titles. The Beijing quarter-finalist is aiming to make the top five this year.

Horse racing: Jumps jockey Tony McCoy reached his landmark 3,000th career victory at Plumpton this week. The 34-year-old Northern Ireland native, 13 times champion jockey, claimed his second winner of the afternoon when Restless D'Artaix, trained by Nicky Henderson, won the 16.20 race on Monday. McCoy had been poised to land the record in the previous race but his mount Miss Sarenne fell at the final fence.

Rugby Union: France coach Marc Lievremont dropped lock Sebastien Chabal and made three other changes to the starting side that lost 30-21 to Ireland last weekend for Saturday's Six Nations game against Scotland. Chabal, wing Julien Malzieu and loosehead prop Lionel Faure have been demoted while tighthead Benoit Lecouls has been ruled out through a neck injury.

Baseball: President Barack Obama said New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez admitting the use of performance-enhancing drugs was depressing and such scandals had tarnished an entire sports era. Rodriguez admitted using banned substances while playing for the Texas Rangers in 2003, although there were no penalties for a positive test at that time. "It's depressing news on top of what's been a flurry of depressing items when it comes to Major League Baseball," Obama said.