Guardiola: Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola's acquittal over a 2001 drugs ban has been appealed by Italy's anti-doping prosecutor. The Italian soccer federation said in May Guardiola had won his appeal with its disciplinary body against a four-month ban for failing tests for nandrolone while a Brescia player in 2001. CONI said the anti-doping prosecutor had appealed against that decision with a hearing due on Sept. 15.
West Ham: West Ham signed Switzerland Under-19 defender Fabio Daprela from Grasshoppers for an undisclosed fee yesterday. The 18-year-old left-back agreed a five-year contract with the Premier League club after flying to London straight from the European Under-19 Championships.
Mido: Egyptian club Zamalek announced the signing of a one year loan agreement bringing striker Mido back to his home club from Middlesbrough. "The deal was done after extensive efforts by club president Mamdouh Abbas, who succeeded in completing it for Zamalek for four million pounds," the club said.
Kanu: Nwankwo Kanu is close to agreeing a new one-year contract with Portsmouth. Kanu's present deal ran out at the end of last season but the former Arsenal striker and his agent Samuel Okoronkwo have been in discussions with Fratton Park chief executive Peter Storrie and expect a new contract to be settled soon.
Castillo: UEFA Cup holders Shakhtar Donetsk have loaned Mexican international forward Nery Castillo to Ukrainian league rivals Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk for a year. "He will be the first Mexican player in our club's history," Dnipro said .
Malaga: Malaga have agreed to sign forwards Albert Luque from Ajax and Edinho from AEK Athens. Former Spain international Luque, 31, played on loan with Malaga last season, and arrives as a free agent after rescinding the year he had left on his contract with the Dutch club. Portugal international Edinho, 27, will be presented along with Luque today.
Friendlies: Porto vs Aston Villa 1-2; FC Eindhoven vs Bolton 2-2.
Winter Olympics: Hundreds of tourists were evacuated from a mountain venue where several events for the 2010 Winter Olympics are to be held, after a lightning strike sparked a fire at the site. Officials evacuated tourists from Blackcomb Mountain at Whistler Resort after the lightning strike ignited the wildfire. "There were 350 sightseers on the mountain, who were evacuated," resort spokeswoman Jessica Delaney said. Bobsled, luge and skeleton events are to be held at the site during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Cycling: British cyclist Bradley Wiggins' blood profiles from the last two years were released yesterday by his Garmin-Slipstream team, which said the data indicated no evidence of blood manipulation. Wiggins had said he would publish the tests to dispel any doubts about the legitimacy of his surprise fourth-place finish at the Tour de France.
Boxing: Former world champion Arturo Gatti committed suicide and was not murdered as initially suspected, a Brazilian police spokesman said. The 37-year-old Canadian was found dead in a holiday flat in north-eastern Brazil earlier this month and his wife Amanda Rodrigues, who was primarily charged with his murder, has now been released.
Motor racing: Mark Webber's maiden Formula One victory at last month's German Grand Prix is to be commemorated on an Australian stamp. Australia Post said three different images of Webber's victory would appear on 55 cent stamps, used for sending a standard letter in Australia. Webber joined former world champions Jack Brabham and Alan Jones as the only Australians to win a F1 Grand Prix with his breakthrough victory at the Nuerburgring on July 12.