Vicente: Valencia winger Vicente returned to training with the first team yesterday after recovering from an ankle injury that has kept him out for most of the season. The Spanish international, who was one of Valencia's top performers as they won the Primera Liga and UEFA Cup last year, sustained the injury during his side's 2-1 Champions League defeat by Werder Bremen last September. The 23-year-old made a brief return to action in December but was forced to have an operation in January which ruled him out until now.
Peru: Paulo Autuori quit as coach of Peru's national soccer team days after being hauled before lawmakers to discuss his $30,000-a-month salary. The Brazilian's resignation comes amid an investigation by lawmakers into the Football Federation's financial affairs which raised the question of whether his salary - about 150 times the average minimum wage - represents good value for money, given Peru's poor results on the pitch. Peru are seventh in the 10-nation South American group, with 14 points. Argentina lead the table on 28 points and reigning champions Brazil are second on 24.
Hostage offer: An Iraqi who plays soccer for a club in Romania has offered himself as a hostage to kidnappers in his home country if they will release three Romanian journalists they are threatening to kill. "If I were sure that the Romanian journalists would be released, I would offer myself in exchange," Salih Jaber, a striker with second division Gloria Buzau, was quoted as saying yesterday. Jaber, who defected to Syria as a teenager to escape Saddam Hussein's rule, has played for Iraq's international A team since the US invasion that toppled the dictator two years ago.
Fined for racist statements: A Romanian mayor has been fined less than 300 euros after saying black players were responsible for the city football club's poor results. Craiova mayor Antonie Solomon was fined by the Romanian National Council to Combat Discrimination (CNCD) for his remarks about first division club Universitatea Craiova. Ivory Coast defender Mariko Daouda has threatened to quit the club over racist abuse.
Cipollini retires: Italy's Mario Cipollini, one of cycling's most celebrated riders, announced his retirement yesterday. The 2002 world champion has been the sport's leading sprinter for the last 16 years and holds the Giro d'Italia record for the most stage wins, having crossed the line first 42 times. He has won 12 stages in the Tour de France. The 38-year-old, who rides for Liquigas, said: "Announcing my retirement just over a week before the Giro is a difficult but honest decision. Hopefully people will understand."
In England: Premier League - West Brom 1 (Richardson 32) Blackburn 1 (Emerton 64). The Championship - Leicester vs Derby 1-0. League One - Port Vale vs Wrexham 0-2.
Michelle Wie could qualify: Teenage American golf prodigy Michelle Wie could qualify for this year's British Open, even though women are barred from playing in the world's oldest championship. Organisers said yesterday they were not opposed to the principle of women competing and that Wie would book her place in the field if she won the PGA Tour's John Deere in July. Hawaiian schoolgirl Wie, 15, has a sponsor's invitation for the July 7-10 event at Silvis, Illinois. Wie, then aged 14, stunned the sporting world last year when she narrowly failed to become the first female to make the cut in a men's PGA Tour event at the Hawaiian Open, missing out by a shot after firing a second-round 68. This year's British Open will be played at St Andrews, the home of the R&A, from July 14-17.