Abramovich: The Kremlin has invited Russia's richest man Roman Abramovich to seek a further term as governor of a remote Siberian region in a sign President Vladimir Putin still trusts the owner of Chelsea soccer club. Interfax news agency reported yesterday that Abramovich was one of eight candidates approached by Putin's envoy in the Far East over the job of governor of Chukotka, an icy eastern outpost across the Bering Straits from Alaska. Abramovich has sold most of his Russian assets and rumours have swirled in the business community that he felt increasingly out of Putin's favour and wanted to pull out of Russia altogether.

Rangers: Rangers have signed 21-year-old Argentine striker Federico Nieto on loan until January. The club announced the move at a media conference yesterday while the first team squad are on a Canadian tour. Nieto scored nine goals in 11 games for Almagro in the Argentine Clausura championship which has just ended.

Celtic: Celtic have signed Poland striker Maciej Zurawski for two million pounds on a three-year deal from Wisla Krakow. The 29-year-old finally put pen to paper after protracted negotiations and interest from Turkish side Trabsonspor and Italians Fiorentina. Zurawski will join up with his new team-mates at their Bisham Abbey training camp next week.

Chile Strike: Chile's professional soccer players are to go on strike from next week in protest at unpaid wages. The players' union says the clubs owe their members a total of around $1 million in outstanding wages. The players staged a three-week strike in 2002 for the same reason but said the clubs had not stood by the agreement signed at the time.

Home Ban: River Plate have been given a two-match home ban by government authorities after crowd trouble at the Libertadores Cup semi-final tie at home to Brazil's Sao Paulo last week. Former referee Javier Castrilli, who heads the Buenos Aires region's department for safety at sporting events, announced the decision after studying police reports and videos at the game on June 29. Sao Paulo complained that their team bus was stoned by River fans on its way to the game while rivals supporters threw stones at each other during the second half of the match.

Ligue 1 runners-up Lille are still without a stadium after a French court turned down a project to renovate their ageing venue. The municipal authorities of the northern city said they would appeal against the ruling but the club said that for them the Grimonprez-Jooris chapter was closed. "That stadium will no longer host professional matches," the club said in a statement. "The club and our fans now want a new, large stadium that meets European standards and we want it fast." The court ruled this week that the project to renovate the Grimonprez-Jooris stadium would damage a historic site featuring a citadel built in the 17th century.