FIFA bans: Chile U-20 international Jaime Grodona was banned for nine months by FIFA after being found guilty of assaulting match officials during the U-20 World Cup finals in July. Nigeria U-20 coach Laden Bosso was also banned from all football-related activities for four months for what FIFA described as "offensive behaviour" towards English referee, Howard Webb during the same tournament in Canada.

Gerrard: Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard sustained a foot injury during his team's 1-0 victory at Toulouse in their Champions League qualifying third round match yesterday. Gerrard was replaced by Momo Sissoko after Toulouse midfielder Achille Emana stepped on the England midfielder's right foot 20 minutes into the second half. A Liverpool official said that Gerrard had received a kick on his toe and could not say whether he would be doubtful for this weekend's game against Chelsea.

Record fine: Bulgaria's CSKA Sofia were given a record fine and ordered to host their next two premier league matches behind closed doors because of fan violence during their league match at Litex Lovech on Saturday. The Bulgarian Football Union's disciplinary commission fined CSKA $26,060 and handed them a one-match crowd ban relating to the display of discriminative and abusive banners.

Ranieri: Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri believes his side are on the right track despite a lacklustre showing in a friendly tournament with Milan and Inter on Tuesday. "The team has made another step forward, we are growing. The group is more compact, the lads continue to get to know each other and the problems we had two or three games ago are no longer there," he told reporters.

Kuqi: Finland striker Shefki Kuqi, who plays for Crystal Palace, is poised to win his 50th cap after he was named in a 23-man squad by coach Roy Hodgson yesterday for a Euro 2008 qualifier against Kazakhstan in Tampere on August 22. Finland are fourth in qualifying Group A with 14 points behind Poland, Serbia and Portugal.