Italian star defender Fabio Grosso has been ruled out of Saturday's European Championship qualifier against Ukraine due to a thigh strain.

The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has said it is wrong for the referees officiating the lower division league to boycott officiating of matches as a way of pressing for their payment.

The Kenyan government has lived up to its promise to pay the national women volleyball team outstanding dues.

Malaysian sepak takraw team are determined to avoid a repeat of four years ago when three players tested positive for morphine at the Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea.

Former Hopman Cup winner and world No.8 Tommy Robredo will once again represent Spain in the mixed team tennis tournament later this year, partnering Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Some 71 referees from 30 Asian countries and regions will attend the Asian water polo referee workshop to take place in the resort island of Bali, Indonesia, on October 5-9.

Thirteen Zimbabwean karatekas left on Monday for Cape Town, South Africa, for the Len Barnes Memorial Kyokushin Full Contact Knockdown Championships to be held over the weekend, local newspapers reported on Wednesday.

The Australian Formula One Grand Prix suffered a loss of 15.6 million US dollars in 2006, due partly to Melbourne's staging of the Commonwealth Games earlier the same month.

British top tennis player Andy Murray suffered a 6-3, 7-6 defeat to big-hitting Czech Jiri Novak in his opening match at the Japan Open on Wednesday.

Malaysian police has recently crippled a football betting ring run by two brothers, the biggest one smashed by the city police here this year, local newspaper reported Wednesday.