Nice: Nice president Gilberto Stellardo confirmed that Didier Olle-Nicolle has left his post as coach of the struggling French side. Olle-Nicolle was absent from training on Monday, when coaches Eric Roy, Rene Marsiglia and Frederic Gioria deputised for him. Stellardo also revealed that Roy, Marsiglia and Gioria would retain their roles until the end of the current season.
Messi: Barcelona winger Lionel Messi has been appointed a goodwill ambassador for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). The 22-year-old FIFA World Player of the Year is the first Barcelona player to become a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. He follows in the footsteps of David Beckham, Colombian singer Shakira, US actress Mia Farrow and Latin pop star Ricky Martin.
Bekono fired: Former Cameroon goalkeeper Daniel Bekono has been fired by CSKA Sofia for what the Bulgarian club described as "disciplinary offences". Bekono, who has 37 caps, was part of the Cameroon team that won the 2000 African Cup of Nations and gold at the Olympic Games in Sydney several months later. The 31-year-old joined CSKA from Beroe Stara Zagora in 2008 and helped them win the league title and domestic Super Cup.
Production stopped: A Chinese factory has been ordered to halt production of a World Cup mascot because of sub-standard working conditions, FIFA's branding company said. Global Brand Group (GBG), the firm that manages branding for soccer's governing body, said the Shanghai-based factory would have to make changes before it was allowed to resume production of the Zakumi figurine.
Plymouth: Plymouth plan to sell Home Park to their holding company in order to reduce debts after revealing a loss of £2.8m. The Championship club have revealed plans to sell the ground to a newly-created property company, which is wholly owned by Plymouth Argyle FC Holdings Limited at a market value of £7.5m.
Duck war: Japan's Urawa Reds have declared war on a covert army of ducks that have been leaving their droppings and feathers all over the team's training pitch. The country's best-supported side have launched "Project Eagle," which involves the use of falcons, to keep the web-footed invaders at bay. The team's training pitch was littered with mounds of droppings on Monday with bite-sized chunks of grass nibbled off by the culprits.
Sumo: A 15-year-old Japanese schoolboy tipping the scales at 145 kilograms is set to make his professional sumo debut and is already being tipped as a future 'yokozuna.' National junior high school champion Ryoya Tatsu stands 6 feet 3 inches (1.93 metres) and is expected to take part in the Osaka grand sumo tournament beginning this weekend. The Japan Sumo Association said Tatsu passed his first health check and was waiting for the results of internal tests to determine if he can wrestle in Osaka.
Basket, NBA: The Cleveland Cavaliers overcame the absence of LeBron James to earn a 97-95 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. With James sidelined for the second game in a row due to an injured ankle, the Cavaliers sunk eight consecutive free-throws as time wound down to hold off the charging Spurs. Cleveland's Delonte West scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to help the NBA's top team improve to 50-15.
Olympics: China curling skip Wang Fengchun's sacking following his failure at the Vancouver Olympics was compounded by the fact he wore a US team cap on the plane home. The Chinese men finished eighth out of 10 teams in the opening round robin of last month's Winter Games. Wang was not allowed to join in the celebratory banquet on the Olympic delegation's return to Beijing, instead he was immediately dispatched to the railway station for the 12-hour train journey home to Harbin.
Sports Benefits: Kim Yuna's stunning win at last month's Winter Games will not only boost the career of the figure skating champion, it should help add several billion dollars to the South Korean economy. Economist Lee Dong-hun estimated Asia's fourth largest economy would benefit to the tune of $17.82 billion from the record haul of medals by its athletes in Vancouver. South Korea finished fifth, with six gold medals.