Berlusconi: Milan could boost the flagging morale of Italy’s embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi when they face Chievo tomorrow wearing shirts with his name embossed under the club’s badge. Berlusconi’s name will appear underneath the inscription ‘20 febbraio 1986-20 febbraio 2011’ to commemorate his 25-year ownership of the Serie A club.
Broughton: Former Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton has confirmed he plans to sue former co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett for defamation. Hicks alleged Broughton was part of an “epic swindle” when he oversaw the £300million sale of the club last year, claiming he lost £140m as a result of the sale against his wishes.
Cuellar: Aston Villa utility defender Carlos Cuellar will be sidelined for a month with a torn hamstring. Cuellar suffered the setback during last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Blackpool .
Giggs: Manchester United’s midfielder Ryan Giggs has signed a one-year contract extension. Giggs, 37, had already signalled his intention to prolong his Old Trafford career into a 21st season.
Bergessio: Catania received the international documents for Gonzalo Bergessio after an appeal at the CAS. The Argentine was signed from St Etienne last month but could not play because of delays in the paperwork.
MFA Div. Three: Pembroke vs Għaxaq 3-0; Sirens vs Gozo FC pp.
The Championship: Leicester vs Bristol City 2-1.
Snooker: Welsh Open QFs – Maguire bt Williams 5-3; Selby bt Dott 5-3; Ding vs Carter 2-5.
Davis Cup: Andy Roddick will make his return to Davis Cup after a two-year absence when the US take on Chile in a first round match on March 4 in Santiago. New team captain Jim Courier also named Sam Querrey, John Isner, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan to the team. The Bryan brothers are the No.1 ranked doubles team in the world. Roddick, 28, is the current world No.8 and has not played in the event since the first round of the Davis Cup in 2009. The winner will face either Belgium or Spain in the quarter-finals July 8-10.
Tennis: Milos Raonic hammered a career-high 38 aces defeating Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-7 (10/12), 7-6 (7/1) to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP/WTA Memphis event. After dropping a marathon second-set tie-breaker, Canada’s Raonic needed a tie-breaker in the third to oust the Czech opponent and post his sixth consecutive victory. He will next face American qualifier Robert Kendrick for a spot in the semi-finals.
Cricket: Hosts India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will play their knock-out matches at home if they get past the preliminary rounds in the World Cup. But if two host countries draw each other, the team placed higher in the pre-tournament seeding will get preference, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said. It means India, seeded higher in the rankings, will play the entire knock-out stage on home soil if they get that far.
Basketball: Chicago Bulls edged San Antonio Spurs 109-99 punctuating their performance with long jumpers and acrobatic drives and getting a career-high 42 points from Derrick Rose. Rose showed why he will represent the Bulls in tomorrow’s NBA all-star game and he got help from Luol Deng (19 points) and Carlos Boozer (15 points). Rose, who was serenaded with chants of “MVP, MVP, MVP”, will be the first Chicago player to start an all-star game since Michael Jordan in 1998. He also had eight assists and five rebounds.