Ultimate punishment: Donating part of his salary to charity will not have hurt Argentina striker Carlos Tevez as much as being forced to wear a Brazil shirt in training. The 22-year-old Tevez was handed both punishments by his West Ham team-mates for storming out of Upton Park on Saturday after his substitution in their 1-0 home win over Sheffield United. Following an apology on Monday by Tevez, manager Alan Pardew decided to defuse the incident by letting the squad decide on the punishment. Having asked him to donate part of his wages to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for children, the players had a final laugh when they presented Tevez with a Brazil shirt and said he must wear it in training for two weeks.
Beckham: David Beckham resumed training with the rest of the Real Madrid first team squad yesterday after missing the club's last three games because of injury. The 31-year-old former England captain has been sidelined because of an inflammation in the cartilage in his left knee, but now looks likely to be available for this Sunday's league match at home to Athletic Bilbao.
Danilevicius: Livorno striker Tomas Danilevicius has been named as Lithuania's Footballer of the Year after an outstanding 2006. The Lithuania FA confirmed the 28-year-old won the award with 562 votes, well clear of his closest rival, Moscow Dynamo goalkeeper Zydrunas Karcemarskas, who polled 261 votes. Danilevicius, 28, was made captain of the Lithuanian national team during the year and scored five goals for the side. He has also scored three goals in four starts for Livorno in Serie A.
Gimnastic: Primera Liga basement side Gimnastic Tarragona have named former Real Zaragoza and Espanyol trainer Paco Flores as their coach, the club said yesterday. Flores replaces Luis Cesar who was sacked on Sunday night after his side's 3-2 defeat at home to Real Mallorca. Gimnastic returned to the Primera Liga for the first time in 56 years at the end of last season, but have only taken five points from their first 12 games and have been knocked out of the King's Cup by second division Valladolid.
Athletic Bilbao: Athletic Bilbao have appointed former Alaves and Levante boss Jose Manuel Esnal as their new coach. Esnal will become the club's fifth coach in the space of 18 months. The 56-year-old made his name with the Vitoria-based Basque side Deportivo Alaves. He guided the club to promotion to the Primera Liga in 1998 after a first-place finish in the second division and then oversaw their fairy-tale run to the final of the UEFA Cup in 2001 where they lost 5-4 to Liverpool.
Rapid Bucharest: European soccer's governing body have cleared Rapid Bucharest goalkeeper Edel Apula Edima Bete to play against Panathinaikos in their final UEFA Cup Group G match, an official at the Romanian club said yesterday. Rapid asked UEFA to add Apula Bete to their squad because club medical staff had not cleared injured goalkeeper Danut Coman to play in today's match in Athens, leaving them without a substitute.
Bellamy: Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy was cleared yesterday of assaulting two women in a Cardiff nightclub in February. Lawyer Matthew de Maid told Sky News that neither of the two women had wanted the case to come to court and that it was possible Welsh international Bellamy, 27, had been a victim of his high profile.
Basketball: Women Enemalta Shield SFs - Loyola vs Hibs 42-65; Luxol vs Depiro 41-48.
Beijing Olympics tickets: Beijing Olympics organisers are selling over half the tickets for the 2008 Games at less than $13 each to allow as many people as possible a chance to attend the event. Tickets to competition events would be priced from 30-1,000 yuan ($3.85-$128), with preliminary sessions starting from 30 yuan and finals tickets 60 yuan, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) said yesterday. Fifty-eight per cent would be no more than 100 yuan, BOCOG added on its official website. Tickets will be on sale in China in the first half of next year.