Bastos: Lyon’s Brazilian international attacking midfielder Michel Bastos has returned to Brazil to undergo knee surgery. “We preferred to move quickly in taking a decision to allow him time to recuperate for the final matches of the season,” said Lyon coach Claude Puel. Lyon play nine-time European champions Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16 at the Santiago Bernabeu today for the second leg of the knockout tie.
Hummels: Germany defender Mats Hummels has extended his contract with Borussia Dortmund until 2014. The 22-year-old Hummels, who joined Dortmund from defending champions Bayern Munich, won the last of his three caps in last month’s 1-1 draw with Italy and is tipped as a future star of the national side.
Schuster: Bernd Schuster has resigned as coach of Besiktas, according to reports in Turkey. National daily newspaper Hurriyet have reported that the German, who has previously coached Real Madrid, has stepped down from his post. The Black Eagles have won just once in seven Super Lig games and are 21 points adrift of joint leaders Fenerbahce and Trabzonspor.
Mokoena: South Africa coach Pitso Mosimane axed captain Aaron Mokoena yesterday for a 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Egypt next weekend. Tottenham midfielder Steven Pienaar was promoted from vice-captain to lead Bafana Bafana in a match they must win to be sure of retaining top place at the halfway stage in a group including Niger and Sierra Leone.
Kazim-Richards: Galatasaray striker Colin Kazim-Richards was yesterday handed a two-month suspended prison term and a fine of €3,000 by a Toulouse court after being found guilty of resisting police questioning and contempt. Kazim-Richards was playing for French first division side Toulouse when the incident occurred. The court heard the 24-year-old Turk grew angry after plain clothes police stopped him for speeding in a powerful 4x4 in the centre of the town.
Yilmaz: Bayern Munich striker Deniz Yilmaz has agreed to join Mainz this summer on a free transfer. The 23-year-old under-went a medical yesterday and has signed a three-year deal effective from June this year to June 2014.
Olympics: French sports minister Chantal Jouanno has called on the country’s athletes to bring back 14 titles from the 2012 Olympics, double the haul won in Beijing in 2008. Speaking at France’s national sports institute (INSEP) in Paris to mark 500 days before the start of the London Games, Jouanno said: “The aim is to double the number of gold medals we won in Beijing, to 14. In Beijing, we won plenty of medals (40) but few golds (7). That means we have extraordinary potential, but plenty of room for improvement.”
Basketball, NBA: Kobe Bryant shrugged of a sprained left ankle and the two-time defending NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers rolled to a 97-84 victory over Orlando yesterday. Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 23 points and Bryant added 16 despite the injury he suffered in a victory over Dallas on Saturday. The Lakers, playing the team they vanquished in the 2009 NBA finals, turned it on in the second half as they notched their 10th victory in 11 games.
Cricket: England captain Andrew Strauss and strike bowler James Anderson were in doubt for the key World Cup clash against the West Indies after missing training yesterday. An England spokesman said both players were suffering from stomach illness. England must beat the West Indies at Chennai’s Chidambaram Stadium tomorrow to have a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals – and even then they will need other results to go their way.
American Football: Battling NFL players and the league will face each other in court on April 6 in a hearing on a players’ lawsuit seeking to bar owners from locking them out of work. US District Judge Susan Richard Nelson scheduled the hearing on Monday. A group of players, led by superstar quarterbacks Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, filed their request last week, hours before contract talks broke down, the collective bargaining agreement expired and the NFL said it was locking players out of team facilities.