Refs banned: Two referees were handed four-match bans by the Bulgarian Football Union for committing "significant errors" in domestic league matches. Hristo Ristoskov was punished for errors during CSKA Sofia's 3-1 win at city rivals Slavia on Saturday, while Ivaylo Bozev was also suspended for his mistakes during Cherno More Varna's 1-1 draw with Pirin Blagoevgrad last week.
Metzelder: Germany defender Christoph Metzelder is to join Schalke 04 from Real Madrid at the end of the season. The 29-year-old, who has spent three seasons at Real and is currently out of favour with Germany coach Joachim Loew, will sign a three-year contract.
Mexico: Mexico, who play hosts South Africa in the World Cup's opening match on June 11, will stage a four-team tournament as part of their independence celebrations. Mexico, which gained its independence from Spain 200 years ago, will stage the September 4-8 tournament including Chile, Colombia and possibly Argentina at the new Guadalajara stadium.
Carr: Birmingham defender Stephen Carr is the subject of a police investigation after allegations he made gestures towards Aston Villa fans at the end of Sunday's derby clash at Villa Park. The FA have confirmed they are aware of the incident and will study referee Martin Atkinson's match report and other evidence before deciding whether to take action.
Match-Fixing: The identities of five Greek clubs suspected of being involved in a UEFA match-fixing report have been made public. Panthrakikos, PAS Giannena, Panionios, Atromitos and Kavala are the top-flight teams involved in the list of suspicious matches identified by UEFA, which was surprisingly revealed during a parliamentary session.
Brazil: With less than two months to go to the start of the World Cup Brazilian supporters are not convinced about their team's chances under coach Dunga, an opinion poll showed. Although 64 per cent of those polled believed the Selecao can bring home a sixth trophy from South Africa, that was down from 73 per cent in December.
Rugby Union: French rugby club Montauban filed for bankruptcy and will automatically be relegated from the Top 14. The club from the Toulouse area had already been relegated by the financial watchdog of professional sports (DNACG) on April 1. They appealed against the decision and have until May 4 to clear the 1.9 million euros deficit in their budget this season.
Golf: South Korean golfers voted to boycott all OneAsia Tour events, including those in China and Australia, in protest at how the tour is being run. "The players will boycott every OneAsia event in the Asian region, not just in Korea," Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) director of operations BJ Song told a meeting in Seoul. It means there will be no Korean players in any of the remaining nine OneAsia tournaments this year.
Davis CUP: Talented teenager Bernard Tomic has been omitted from Australia's Davis Cup team for next month's Asia-Oceania second round tie against Japan in Brisbane. The 17-year-old, widely touted in Australia as the heir apparent to Lleyton Hewitt, became the country's youngest Davis Cup player when he debuted with two singles victories against Taiwan last month.
Baseball: Slugger Ryan Howard and the Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to a five-year contract extension worth at least $125 million for the two-times All-Star. The deal includes a club option for a sixth year and will pay the first baseman $20 million for the 2012 and 2013 seasons and $25 million for each season from 2014-16.
Doping: Olympic bobsleigh medallist Randal Jones has been given a two-year ban for refusing an out-of-competition doping test. Jones, who won silver with the United States' four-man team at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games and another at the 2003 world championships, refused a United States Anti-Doping Agency test on January 26 citing his retirement from competition.
Basket, NBA: The Orlando Magic completed their first best-of-seven post-season sweep, dispatching the Charlotte Bobcats with a series-ending 99-90 victory. Vince Carter dug himself out of a recent scoring slump with 21 points to help the Magic become the first team to advance to the second round of the play-offs. They will now face either Milwaukee and Atlanta, whose series is locked at 2-2 following the Bucks' 111-104 win on Monday.