Argentine player ARRESTED: An Argentine footballer spent Wednesday night in custody after allegedly racially insulting a Brazilian opponent during a Libertadores Cup match, a Sao Paulo police spokesman said yesterday. Quilmes defender Leandro Desabato was arrested by police at the end of his team's 3-1 defeat by Sao Paulo on Wednesday night over a first-half incident involving rival striker Grafite, the official told Reuters.

Belgian Cup: Germinal Beerschot booked a Belgian FA Cup semi-final date with Lokeren next week thanks to a 3-1 extra-time victory in the second leg of their quarter-final at home to Racing Genk on Wednesday. The setback has damaged Genk's chances of European soccer next season and now nothing less than maximum points from their last six league games will ensure a European spot for the Limburg side, while a UEFA Cup place is still in Beerschot's sights via the cup.

Motorcycling: Kawasaki's Alex Hofmann made a painful and embarrassing start to his Portuguese Grand Prix preparations by falling off his bike during a demonstration parade and cracking his wrist. The 24-year-old German was flipped off outside Estoril's seafront casino while promoting Sunday's MotoGP race. "It's bad enough crashing at any time but to do it at 40kph during a demonstration parade is incredibly embarrassing," he said.

Positive Test: German rider Danilo Hondo was sacked by the Geroslteiner team yesterday after his failed dope test at the Tour of Murcia last month was confirmed by the B-sample. Hondo, who won the first two stages of the race in Spain, tested for the stimulant carphedon. Pursuit world champion with Germany in 1994 as an amateur, Hondo was seen as Germany's second best sprinter behind Erik Zabel.