Sabotage: A mysterious act of sabotage left thousands of Madrid football fans who had tuned in to watch arch rival Barcelona's Champions League semi-final with Inter in the dark. The black out was caused by a pirate signal which played havoc with regional public channel Telemadrid's live match coverage from the Nou Camp on Wednesday. "This strong signal from an unknown origin stopped a few minutes before the end of the game," Telemadrid reported.
Given: Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given hopes to be back in action by the start of next season following successful surgery on his injured left shoulder. Given will miss the rest of this season after dislocating the joint in City's goalless draw at Arsenal last weekend but a statement from the club predicted a speedy recovery.
Atlante: Atlante coach Jose Cruz, whose team played at the 2009 Club World Cup, has been sacked after a poor Mexican Clausura championship. Atlante, coached by Cruz since 2006, finished bottom of Group Three last weekend, missing out on the eight-team knockout phase for the title. Cruz steered Atlante, nicknamed the "Iron Colts", to the Apertura title in 2007 and the CONCACAF Champions League last year.
Oxygen masks: South Korea coach Huh Jung-moo has requested oxygen masks for his team to help them prepare for playing at high altitude during this year's World Cup finals in South Africa. Huh had requested the masks, which will reduce oxygen intake to replicate the thin air in parts of South Africa, but officials were also looking at other options, a Korean Football Association official told the Yonhap news agency.
Bochum: VfL Bochum yesterday fired coach Heiko Herrlich only days ahead of their most important match of the season. Herrlich, in charge for only 22 league games in his first senior coaching job, was dismissed two days before the relegation candidates visit treble-chasing Bayern Munich.
Kostadinov: Former Bulgaria international Emil Kostadinov will return to CSKA Sofia as sporting director only two years after leaving the post. Kostadinov, who won three league titles and four national cups as a CSKA player, has signed a three-year contract with the 31-times Bulgarian champions. "CSKA are my native and my favourite club and I want to see them back at the top of the table," Kostadinov told reporters.
Rugby: All Blacks winger Sitiveni Sivivatu has been ruled out of rugby for up to six months after it was confirmed he would need surgery to stabilise his left shoulder, which keeps dislocating. The 28-year-old, who has 43 All Blacks caps since making his debut in 2005, had similar surgery on his right shoulder in 2004. He is expected to have surgery within the next three weeks and then undergo rehabilitation, which could take up to six months, the Chiefs said.
Basketball: Dwight Howard became the latest victim of the National Basketball Association's tough stance against criticising game officials as the league handed the Orlando Magic centre a $35,000 fine yesterday. Howard, a four-times All-Star and the first overall pick by Orlando in the 2004 draft, was fined for public criticism of officiating that appeared on his personal blog on April 27. David Stern, commissioner of the NBA, said recently he would not only fine but consider suspending players or coaches from playoff games for speaking negatively about referees.
Golf: South Korean golfers have called off their threatened boycott of OneAsia tournaments after being assured of more entries for events on the fledgling tour, the Korean Golf Association (KGA) said yesterday. The threat of a boycott was a huge embarrassment to the Tour ahead of the first event in South Korea this year, next week's Maekyung Open.
Olympics: International Ice Hockey Federation chief Rene Fasel has admitted "making a mistake" after being reprimanded by the International Olympic Committee for a conflict of interest over broadcasting rights. Fasel escaped a more serious punishment and was allowed to keep his IOC posts after he helped a friend win a contract with the company controlling the IIHF's TV and marketing rights. "I accept the reprimand and I take note of it," Fasel told reporters. "It was poor judgment. I made a mistake... I do not feel well about it."
Sochi Games: Organisers of the Sochi 2014 winter Olympics were urged yesterday to keep up their construction pace as Europe's largest building site is still a long way away from resembling an Olympic city. Sochi, which won the Games in 2007 with the majority of its venues needed to be built from scratch, has pledged to start construction of every venue by the end of this year. It has also got to build sufficient accommodation for visitors and working staff, the IOC said.
Tennis: World number two Novak Djokovic battled into the Rome Masters quarter-finals yesterday with a 6-4 6-4 win over Thomaz Bellucci that was harder than the score suggests. Djokovic, the 2008 champion, had to come from a break down in each set against the Brazilian, who put up a lively display but at times had trouble keeping his big serve under control. He will face Verdasco in the last eight with a 6-4 7-6 win over his compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.