Van der Vaart: Injured playmaker Rafael van der Vaart will miss the Netherlands' final World Cup warm-up match against Australia tomorrow. The midfielder, who had ankle surgery in April, suffered a new ankle injury during training. Coach Marco van Basten believes Van der Vaart will be fit in time and is not considering replacing him. "Rafael is doing fine right now but it wouldn't be wise to use him on Sunday," Van Basten said.
King expelled: Jamaica striker Marlon King has been sent home from the squad for a breach of discipline. The 26-year-old has been replaced by Deon Burton in the squad for today's friendly against England. King's international team-mates Jason Euell and Jamal Campbell-Ryce have also been fined 50 per cent of their match fees. Jamaican Football Federation president Crenston Boxhill said Watford's King had refused to apologise after breaking a squad curfew.
Friendlies: Celtic will play Chelsea as well as Manchester United and Everton in pre-season friendlies in July and August. Celtic will travel to Stamford Bridge on August 9 after home games against Everton on July 23 and United on July 26.
Lopez Caro: Racing Santander have appointed former Real Madrid coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro as coach for next season. Lopez Caro was promoted from Real's B team to replace the sacked Vanderlei Luxemburgo last December and led Real to second place in the league.
Facism fine: Romanian soccer authorities have cut the punishment imposed on Dinamo Bucharest for their fans' racist taunts after the player targeted urged forgiveness. Last month, Dinamo Bucharest fans abused Arges Pitesti's Ivorian defender Mariko Daouda during a first division match. The sport's governing body originally fined Dinamo more than $24,500 and ordered the team's next home match to be played behind closed doors. The football federation cut the fine to just over $890 and switched Dinamo's home match today against National Bucharest to Ploiesti, 60 km north of the Capital. Fans will be allowed to go.
Kallstrom: Sweden midfielder Kim Kallstrom has joined French champions Olympique Lyon from Ligue 1 rivals Stade Rennes as expected. The two clubs reached an agreement after days of negotiation and Kallstrom signed a four-year contract for a transfer fee of over eight million euros.
Loan Payments: Beijing Guo'an are suing German second division club TSV 1860 Munich for 600,000 euros in a dispute over loan payments for China midfielder Shao Jiayi. Shao, 26, was loaned to TSV 1860 Munich by the Chinese Super League club in 2003, but state media reported last August that the German club had failed to make a scheduled payments on the four-year deal. The Beijing News said the club had consulted a sports lawyer at Real Madrid, who have a co-operation deal with Guo'an.