Racism: Italy's soccer federation president Giancarlo Abete has clashed with Interior Minister Roberto Maroni about who should halt matches in the case of racist chants. Both the goverment and federation agree matches should be suspended immediately if racist chanting is heard but Abete says the referee cannot act alone. "As long as the rules are as they are, the federation, and therefore the referee, can do nothing against racist chants because right now the power to stop a game lies with the police," Abete said.
Voronin: Russian top flight side Dynamo Moscow have signed Ukrainian striker Andriy Voronin on a three-year contract from Liverpool. The 30-year-old forward, who spent last season on loan at Hertha Berlin, has signed his personal contract with the Russian side after meeting his new coach Andrey Kobelev.
Szalai: Real Madrid have loaned Hungary striker Adam Szalai to Bundesliga team Mainz until the end of the season, the club said. The 22-year-old, who plays for Real's youth team Castilla in the Segunda B (third tier), made his international debut in a friendly against Israel last year.
Caicedo: Malaga have reached an agreement with Manchester City to take Ecuador striker Felipe Caicedo on loan for the remainder of the season, the Primera Liga strugglers said. The 21-year-old Caicedo, who has already passed his medical with Malaga, had been on loan from City at Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon since the start of this season.
Kapo: Wigan forward Olivier Kapo has joined French Ligue 1 side Boulogne on loan until the end of the season. The Frenchman has made just one substitute appearance in the Premier League this season after sustaining a serious knee injury during the pre-season tour to Austria. Kapo has not figured in the first team squad since early December.
Nice: Nice became the first top-flight side to fall to a club from a lower league in this season's French Cup when they lost 2-1 at Plabennec in the round of 64 yesterday. Nice opened the scoring through forward Loic Remy but the home side, second from bottom in the third division, responded with two goals from striker and captain Jean-Michel Abiven late in the second half.
Snooker: China's Ding Junhui crashed out of The Masters tournament after losing 6-1 to England's Mark Selby in the first round at Wembley yesterday. Ding, who last month won the UK Championship by beating John Higgins in the final, was swept aside as Selby raced into a 5-0 lead. Selby will now face either Higgins or Mark Allen in the quarter-finals of snooker's leading invitational event.
Alpine skiing: Lindsey Vonn, of the US, pulled off a clean sweep of the women's World Cup programme in Austria yesterday after winning the closing super-G. The World Cup leader had already won the two downhills on Friday and Saturday. With one month to go for the Winter Olympics, Vonn underlined her supremacy with what was her sixth victory of the season.
Tennis: A leg injury has forced Justine Henin to pull out of this week's Sydney International, jeopardising her chances of playing in the Australian Open. The Belgian, making a comeback after retiring in early 2008, said she felt pain while playing in the Brisbane International last week.
Basket, NBA: Orlando Magic crushed Atlanta Hawks 113-81 in a one-sided showdown of the Southeast Division's top two teams yesterday. Magic blew out the Hawks with a 37-point second quarter performance to snap a four-game losing streak and stretch their division lead to one-and-a-half games.
Commonwealth games: One woman was killed and 12 other people injured when a fire broke out at the athletes village under construction for this year's Commonwealth Games. Yester-day, India media said that the blaze occurred at the residential quarters of on-site construction workers. New Delhi is preparing to host more than 100,000 foreign visitors during the October 3-14 event.