Motta: Atletico Madrid's Brazilian midfielder Thiago Motta has torn the meniscus in his left knee. He will undergo surgery yesterday and is expected to be out for around a month, the Primera Liga club said. Motta had just made his debut for Atletico in the 1-1 draw against Real Murcia on Sunday, after moving from Barcelona.

Hitzlsperger: VfB Stuttgart will be without Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger for today's Group E game away to Rangers. Hitzlsperger suffered a toe injury in Germany's 3-1 friendly win over Romania last week and is still having treatment, the club said.

Magnusson: Billionaire Icelandic owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson is to tighten his control of West Ham, the English Premier League club said yesterday as the club's executive chairman Eggert Magnusson stepped down. The London club said Magnusson would move to a back seat role as non-executive chairman.

Fined: Northern Ireland players Keith Gillespie and George McCartney were fined by the Irish FA (IFA) yesterday after fighting with each other on the way back from a Euro 2008 qualifier in Iceland last week. The fight broke out between Sheffield United winger Gillespie and West Ham defender McCartney in front of other passengers as the Icelandair flight was leaving Reykjavik for London's Heathrow airport. The IFA did not reveal the size of the fines which, it said, would be donated to charity.

Nano: Real Betis defender Nano faces six months on the sidelines after tearing a cruciate ligament and damaged the lateral ligament in his left leg. The 28-year-old suffered a ligament injury to the same knee in a Champions League match against Chelsea in Nov. 2005.

2016 Olympic Games: Tokyo, Chicago and Madrid are among seven cities that have applied to host the 2016 Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee said. The applications are the first step in a bidding process that will end in 2009 when the winner is selected.

Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, Czech capital Prague, Doha in Qatar and Azerbaijan's Baku had also applied via their National Olympic Committees before last week's deadline.

Several are expected to drop out in June 2008 when the IOC officially announces the candidate cities. The winner will be announced during the IOC vote in Copenhagen in October 2009.

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