Phillips: Striker Kevin Phillips has signed a one-year contract extension with Birmingham. The 36-year-old had been tipped to leave St Andrew's but manager Alex McLeish has opted to keep him for another year just days after a move for Palermo's Fabrizio Miccoli fell through. Birmingham had been close to agreeing a five-million-pound fee with the Serie A club before Miccoli decided he wanted to stay in Italy.
Llorente: Villarreal's Spanish striker Joseba Llorente has signed a four-year deal with promoted Primera Liga club Real Sociedad. Llorente, 30, arrived at Villarreal from Valladolid in 2008.
Guarente: Tiberio Guarente has signed a five-year deal at Sevilla. Guarente has spent the past three seasons at Atalanta, where he has made 92 appearances in Serie A, but could not help them avoid being relegated last season. The Italian midfielder started with the Atalanta youth team but began his professional career at Verona before returning to Bergamo in 2007.
Castellazzi: Rafael Benitez has made his first signing as Inter coach after Luca Castellazzi put pen to paper on a two-year deal at the San Siro. Benitez was only unveiled as Inter coach this week but has wasted little time snapping up the veteran goalkeeper, who is a free agent after his contract with Sampdoria came to an end this summer.
Boa Morte: Luis Boa Morte has pledged his future to West Ham by signing a two-year contract at the Premier League club. Boa Morte, who played just one game last season due to a serious knee injury, could have walked away from Upton Park this summer when his contract expired but said he was persuaded to stay on by the arrival of new manager Avram Grant.
Burley: Former Scotland boss George Burley was appointed as the new manager of Crystal Palace. Burley, 54, was sacked by Scotland in November, two days after the national side's 3-0 friendly loss to Wales. South London club Palace, who earlier this month staved off the threat of liquidation, only stayed in the Championship on the final day of last season.
Food poisoning: Ninety World Cup volunteers were taken to hospital yesterday with food poisoning after eating breakfast at the stadium in the northeastern city of Nelspruit, organisers said. About 15,000 people from South Africa and abroad are volunteering at the World Cup, including 985 in Nelspruit, to help fans navigate stadiums, offer directions and help with administrative tasks.
Nobby Stiles: World Cup winner Nobby Stiles reassured fans about his health yesterday after suffering a "very minor" stroke. The England hero of 1966 spent two days in hospital last week but has been recovering at home, his agent Terry Baker said. Stiles, 68, who also won two league titles and a European Cup with Manchester United, was hospitalised after a period of "disorientation". Baker said: "The doctors have described it as a very minor stroke and nowhere near as serious as some strokes can be."
Rugby Union: Former Australia centre Tim Horan has warned England manager Martin Johnson he will live to regret not selecting Jonny Wilkinson for today's Test in Sydney. Wilkinson will be on the bench as England return to the scene of their Rugby World Cup triumph, with Toby Flood to start at fly-half. "I don't know what Johnson is trying to achieve in leaving Jonny on the bench again," Horan said. "Johnson should have picked the man who broke Australian hearts in the 2003 World Cup final and it's a decision he's likely to regret."
Tennis: Radek Stepanek has ruled himself out of Wimbledon after sustaining a left knee injury. The Czech, who is 25th in the ATP rankings and was seeded 22 for Wimbledon, said he suffered the injury in training on Monday. Stepanek was also scheduled to play in a Davis Cup quarter-final against Chile on July 9-11 in Coquimbo, Chile. The Czech has been sidelined from the courts since March due to fatigue. Wimbledon starts on Monday.
Cycling: Spanish rider Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez has been suspended for two years and fined €23,100 by the Spanish Cycling Federation for breaching anti-doping regulations. Serrano was suspended on the basis of his biological passport after samples of blood booster CERA were found in two blood samples last year.
Golf: Shaun Micheel wasn't sure he should be playing golf with his mother, Donna, so sick with cancer, but the American has found extra meaning playing with her in his heart. "It's nice because I'm playing for somebody else," said Micheel, who shot a two-under par 69 at Pebble Beach on Thursday to join a three-way tie for the first-round US Open lead. Micheel's mother was diagnosed with cancer a year ago. He had to hold back tears as he told reporters that the family had been told the disease had spread from her lung to her brain.