Barcelona: Lionel Messi gave leaders Barcelona a 1-0 win at Getafe yesterday. Messi got his 20th league goal this season after 19 minutes in a dominant Barca display at the Coliseum stadium to seal the Champions League semi-finalists' sixth straight Liga win. The Argentina forward picked up Xavi's pass in the area, skipped around a group of defenders and struck a deflected shot that had enough power to beat goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic.
Gillett: American George Gillett is seeking a partner willing to invest $400 million into a sporting empire that includes Liverpool football club and the Montreal Canadiens NHL team, a newspaper said yesterday. The French-language La Presse, citing sources involved with the proposed sale of the Canadiens, said such an investment would enable the financially-pressed businessman to hold on to the teams.
Pizarro: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has scrapped a $10,000 fine imposed on Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro as part of his punishment for allegedly partying at a team hotel. CAS said on Friday it had partially upheld an appeal filed by the Werder Bremen player who served a three-month ban for the incident, which according to the Peruvian Football Federation (PFF) followed a World Cup qualifier against Brazil in 2007. "The CAS Panel noted that the facts put forward by the PFF in relation to Pizarro were not supported by concrete evidence," the top sports court said.
Becali released: A Romanian court freed football tycoon Gigi Becali on Friday after he spent two weeks in detention, but prosecutors are still looking into allegations he illegally detained three people he said stole one of his cars. Becali, who owns Steaua Bucharest, received a 29-day detention order on April 3, but he denied any wrongdoing and successfully appealed the order.
Ligue 1: Monaco vs Stade Rennes 3-1; Caen vs Nancy 1-2; Nantes vs Nice 2-0; Sochaux vs Auxerre 0-1; Grenoble vs Toulouse 1-0; Valenciennes vs Le Mans 0-2; St Etienne vs Lille 2-1.
Primera Liga: A. Bilbao vs Deportivo 0-1; Atl. Madrid vs Numancia 3-0; Getafe vs Barcelona 0-1; Malaga vs R. Mallorca 1-1; Rec. Huelva vs R. Madrid 0-1.
Formula One: Formula One drivers united yesterday in support of charity efforts to help tens of thousands of people made homeless by this month's earthquake in Italy. "The F1 drivers agreed to participate actively in charity events organised by 'Abruzzo nel cuore' (Abruzzo in the heart) and to donate memorabilia to be auctioned for the Abruzzo region," the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA) said in a statement. The GPDA said at the Chinese GP that its 27 members would be supporting the initiative. Ferrari have 'Abruzzo nel cuore' on their race cars this weekend.
Cycling: Former world road race champion Mario Cipollini has been convicted of tax evasion in 2003 and 2004 although he will not serve a 22-month prison sentence because of an Italy-wide pardon. A court in Lucca ruled that he had lived in the Tuscan city during that time despite stating he was a resident of Monaco. He was found not guilty of tax evasion in 2001 and 2002. The 42-year-old, who won the world title in 2002 and 12 stages on the Tour de France, retired in 2005 but made a short-lived comeback in 2008.