CARDIFF: Champions League matches next season will feature two extra assistant referees after the experiment was approved by Wednesday`s meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB).The additional assistant referees system was used in the Europa League last season and

GALLE: Hosts Sri Lanka were well-placed to win the first Test against India after spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan wreaked havoc in his final match on Wednesday.The world`s leading wicket-taker grabbed 5-63 in the first innings as India were forced to follow on after being shot out for

LEEDS: Australia, after winning the toss, were bowled out for 88 by Pakistan on the first day of the second Test at Headingley here on Wednesday.Australia`s score was their lowest Test innings total since being bowled out for 76 by the West Indies at Perth in 1984.Tim Paine was last man

TOKYO: FIFA officials inspecting Japan`s bid for the 2022 World Cup gave the thumbs-up to a major football stadium outside Tokyo Wednesday, according to the Japanese bid chief.A five-member team from the sport`s world governing body visited the 64,000-seat stadium in the satellite city of

GLASGOW: Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson is set to sign highly-rated young Rangers defender Danny Wilson in a deal worth up to five million pounds (7.6 million dollars.Hodgson made his first signing since taking charge of Liverpool when he swooped for England midfielder Joe Cole earlier

MADRID: Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has the "total support" of his Spanish team despite being placed under formal judicial investigation on allegations of sex with an under-age prostitute, a source close to the club told AFP on Wednesday.The 22-year-old was put under investigation

SYDNEY: Japanese midfielder Hirofumi Moriyasu has signed a one-year contract to play for Australian A-League champions Sydney FC, the club said on Wednesday.Moriyasu, 24, impressed Sydney coach Vitezslav Lavicka in four pre-season matches, including a substitute appearance against

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool rubber-stamped the signing of Joe Cole on a four-year contract after the England midfielder passed his medical on Wednesday.Cole had already agreed personal terms on Monday after being released by Chelsea and flew to the club`s training camp in Switzerland to undergo

BUDAPEST: Hungarian border guards have recovered a black Bentley belonging to Cameroon striker Samuel Eto`o that was stolen in Italy in March, police said Wednesday.Guards at the border between Serbia and Hungary became suspicious when they checked the papers of two Ukrainians wanting to

KUALA LUMPUR: Muslims must not wear the famous Manchester United red jersey because of the "devil" emblem on its team crest, Malaysian clerics said Wednesday.Manchester United and the rest of the English Premier League are massively popular in Muslim-majority Malaysia and the rest of the

SEOUL: South Korea said on Wednesday that Gyeongnam FC coach Cho Kwang-Rae will take over the national team. The Korean Football Association said its technical committee unanimously approved Cho to replace Huh Jung-Moo. Cho, 56, was a midfielder for the national squad in the 1970s and

PARIS: France international footballers Frank Ribery and Karim Benzema were charged with having had sex with an under-age prostitute Tuesday, as magistrates cracked down on an alleged celebrity vice ring.The indictments are the first stage of a formal judicial investigation that could

LIVERPOOL: The capture of England midfielder Joe Cole shows Liverpool mean business, defender Jamie Carragher warned the club`s Premier League rivals on Tuesday.Former Chelsea midfielder Cole agreed terms on a four-year contract on Monday and has flown to Liverpool`s Switzerland training

BERLIN: Germany`s national coach Joachim Loew and his three right-hand men have agreed two-year extensions to their contracts following the team`s World Cup success, press reports said Tuesday.Loew was due to sign a new deal with the German Football Federation (DFB) later on Tuesday ahead

MANCHESTER: Claims by Didier Drogba`s agent that Manchester City had held talks about signing the Chelsea superstar were dismissed out of hand by a City spokesman on Tuesday.Drogba`s agent Thierno Seydi had suggested in a radio interview that Drogba could leave Stamford Bridge before the

LEEDS: Salman Butt has insisted captaining a young Pakistan side shouldn`t be "that much of a hassle" when he leads the team in the second Test against Australia here at Headingley.Butt was thrust in to what is widely regarded as one of the most difficult jobs in world cricket after

LONDON: Nationwide, Britain`s top home-loans provider, confirmed Tuesday they will not renew their sponsorship of the England football team, as a pre-World Cup gamble backfired on the FA.Nationwide said it was "re-focusing its marketing priorities", leaving the Football Association -- the

LIVERPOOL: Steven Gerrard has hinted he will stay at Liverpool after the Reds captain revealed he was delighted by the club`s capture of England midfielder Joe Cole.Gerrard had been linked with a move to Real Madrid after Liverpool endured a dismal campaign last season, finishing seventh

GALLE: Retiring spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan dismissed Sachin Tendulkar cheaply as Sri Lanka seized control of the rain-ravaged first Test against India on Tuesday.The world`s most successful bowler, who was eight short of the 800-wicket mark in his final appearance, trapped batting

LEEDS: Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik has said the support for his team in the series against Australia has come as no surprise, saying even England fans like to see Ricky Ponting`s team beaten.Pakistan were cheered on to victory in two back-to-back Twenty20 victories over Australia