Mexico: Jose Manuel De La Torre was yesterday named as the new coach of Mexico with a remit to guide El Tricolor to the 2014 World Cup. De la Torre, 44, succeeds Javier Aguirre, who stood down following this year’s World Cup.
Govou: Sidney Govou was fined €50,000 by Panathinaikos yesterday after breaking the Greek club’s rules governing nights out. Govou met with Panathinaikos boss Nicholas Pateras on Monday to apologise for his actions .
San Paolo: Napoli said their stadium, the San Paolo, will be ready in time for tomorrow’s Europa League match against Liverpool after ground staff found several holes in the turf following a vandal act by some youngsters. The police are treating the incident as mindless vandalism.
Mannone: Hull have signed Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone on loan until January 3. Mannone, 22, has found first-team opportunities hard to come by since arriving at the Emirates Stadium from Atalanta in 2005.
Palacio: Genoa said Rodrigo Palacio is facing three weeks on the sidelines to cure a thigh muscle injury. The Argentine asked to be replaced at half-time during Genoa’s 2-1 loss at Roma last Saturday.
MFA Div. Three: Swieqi vs Marsa-skala 3-2; Għaxaq vs Pembroke 1-1.
Boxing: A five-day charity visit to Prague by former world champion Mike Tyson has been called off because of poor ticket sales. The 44-year-old had been due to arrive in the Czech Republic yesterday and stay till Saturday. It would have cost €2,000 to train with the former champion, €1,000 for spending an evening with him and €120,000 for dinner with Tyson. The organisers were going to pay Tyson a million dollars a day with part of that going to a children’s hospital.
Horse Racing: A champion Australian jockey due to compete in the upcoming Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup races has been found dead in his home. Stathi Katsidis, 31, was discovered by his partner in their Brisbane home overnight. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances, with media reports noting the jockey’s long-running battle with alcohol and drugs.
Tennis: Veteran Lleyton Hewitt will play January’s Kooyong Classic for the first time in a revamped preparation for the Australian Open. Hewitt, 29, joins a strong field for the January 12-15 event in Melbourne although Open champion Roger Federer has opted to play Dubai instead and Rafael Nadal is another likely no-show.
Athletics: American 400m Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt received a 21-month ban for failing three dope tests the United States Anti-Doping Agency said. The 24-year-old – who is also the world champion at the distance – tested positive three times for an anabolic steroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) which his lawyer claimed was contained in an over-the-counter penis enlargement product. Merritt first tested positive on October 28, 2009, then on December 8 and finally on January 16 this year.