Caillet: FIFA has stopped defender Jean-Philipe Caillet playing for Bulgaria because he represented his native France at youth level. "We asked FIFA whether Caillet can play for the national team and the answer was 'no'," Bulgaria coach Hristo Stoichkov said. The 28-year-old Caillet, who was invited to obtain Bulgarian nationality, joined Litex Lovech from Metz in the close season and has scored two goals in 12 Bulgarian premier league matches.
Romania: Bad weather has forced the Romanian Professional League (LPF) to postpone the resumption of the league scheduled for this weekend. A spokesman said the transfer period would also be postponed by one week. Dinamo Bucharest lead the standings by one point ahead of Steaua Bucharest after 15 games. The league closed down for a winter break in mid-December.
Sainz: Former world rally champion Carlos Sainz says he is considering standing for the presidency of Real Madrid. The 43-year-old Spaniard, who won the world championship in 1990 and 1992, has said before that he was interested in the job, but the shock resignation of Florentino Perez has led to speculation that he may bring forward plans to take charge at the club.
King's cup: The King's Cup semi-final second leg between Deportivo and Espanyol will be played at the Riazor on March 15. Depor said on their website that they were disputing the decision, preferring to play on March 9. Espanyol won the first leg 2-1 at home on February 9, thanks to a late Walter Pandiani strike, but had to delay the return leg due to their UEFA Cup commitments. In the final the victors will meet 2004 winners Real Zaragoza, who knocked out Barcelona and Real Madrid in previous rounds. The final is scheduled for April 12.
Kompany: Lyon hope to win the race to sign Anderlecht defender Vincent Kompany. "We are still very much interested in the player who is very talented and we hope we can get him," Jean-Michel Aulas told Reuters during a visit to Brussels. Lyon are among a number of top clubs including Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Barcelona that newspapers have linked with bids for the 19-year-old international. But the Belgian, who can also play in midfield, has been injured this season and is out of action for at least three months with a shoulder problem.
Berkovic: Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder Eyal Berkovic was banned for six matches by the Israel FA for verbally abusing a referee. Berkovic was sent off for failing to control his anger at referee Meir Levy in a league match against Upper Nazareth on Saturday. The former international was acting captain when Levy showed a controversial second yellow card to Berkovic's team-mate Elvin Bakhiri and awarded a penalty to Upper Nazareth which allowed them to draw 1-1.
Shailaja Pujari tests positive: Indian weightlifter Shailaja Pujari has tested positive for a banned substance and has been dropped from the country's Commonwealth Games squad, an Indian weightlifting official said. Pujari won gold in the women's 75 kg category at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Indian women have previously fallen foul of doping authorities. Lifters Pratima Kumari and Sanamacha Chanu tested positive at the Athens Olympics in 2004, while Asian Games discus champion Neelam Singh is under provisional suspension from the IAAF after a positive dope test at last year's world athletics championships in Helsinki.