FIFA is pleased to announce the appointment of Massimo Busacca as the Head of the FIFA Refereeing Department. Having recently called time on his refereeing career, the former Swiss international referee will join the ranks of world football’s governing body on 1 August 2011.

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Rio de Janeiro’s Marina da Gloria will provide the setting for the Preliminary Draw of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ on 30 July. And as you might expect of a country that has been crowned world champions five times, the host nation has lined up some famous names to help the show go with a swing.

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Turkish police have detained more suspects, including two senior Besiktas officials, in the country’s expanding match-fixing probe.

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By Chigozie Chukwuleta in Nigeria

The performance of the Ondo state contingent at the 17th National Sports Festival has been a source of excitement to the government and people of the state as they continue to pour encomiums on the state governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko for giving the athletes needed leverage to perform.

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Celtic manager Neil Lennon and two high-profile fans of the club have had parcel bombs sent to them, according to Scottish police.

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The FIFA Emergency Committee has decided on Tuesday, April 12 2011 to appoint a normalization committee in order to solve the problems faced by the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FFBH), which is currently suspended by both FIFA and UEFA.

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Relegation-threatened La Liga club Almeria have appointed Roberto Olabe as interim coach in a desperate bid to save their season.

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Barcelona playmaker Xavi offered a blunt assessment of Arsenal following his side’s 4-3 aggregate victory in the Champions League on Wednesday.

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AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he will retire from football when he is 33.

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The cash-strapped Egyptian Football Association is reducing the salaries of all of its employees and considering a salary cap for players.

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Except the blood. On a March night 15 years ago in a boxing ring on the Las Vegas Strip it was bright red and it was everywhere, gushing from a freshly broken nose and forming a mosaic of stains on Martin’s pink trunks.

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Challenger Kazuto Ioka of Japan knocked out the previously unbeaten Oleydong Sithsamerchai of Thailand to capture the WBC minimumweight title on Friday.

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Defender Andrea Barzagli has completed his transfer from Wolfsburg to Juventus and signed a contract through June 2013.

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Brisbane Roar edged closer to setting an Australian domestic football record by stretching their unbeaten run to 22 games with a 2-0 win over Wellington Phoenix.

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The year was 1996, and Mike Tyson was out of prison and destroying everyone who climbed in the ring with him. Evander Holyfield was up next, and a lot of people in boxing were worried not only that Holyfield might take a serious beating, but that he might even die.

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Jarmila Groth of Australia has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Hobart International on a day when rain disrupted play in this Australian Open tuneup.

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Celtic have confirmed they will appeal a six-match touchline ban handed to manager Neil Lennon for misconduct.

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Rafael Nadal an d Roger Federer  remain on course to meet in the Qatar Open final after both won their quarterfinals in straight sets on Thursday.

Federer, a two-time champion in Doha, routed sixth-seeded Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-2 in just 65 minutes and will face third-seeded Jo-Wilfried T-songa in the semifinals. Top-ranked Nadal was given more of a test by Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis before he came through 7-6 (3), 6-3.

“It is always a difficult match against him,” Nadal said. “You have to play special against him. I did my best today and I am happy about it. … I pushed him hard and broke him many times. I am playing well. My target here is to win.”

Nadal plays defending champion Nikolay Davydenko or Ivo Karlovic on Friday.

The Spaniard broke Gulbis in the fourth game of the first set and, although Gulbis broke back, the 22-year-old Latvian could not maintain his form in the tiebreaker and Nadal won four points in a row to take it.

On Wednesday, Nadal dropped the second set 6-0 against Lukas Lacko after taking the first on a tiebreaker, but there was no repeat against Gulbis. He broke twice more to win easily.

Federer, who won the title in 2005 and 2006, had little trouble improving his win-loss record at the tournament to 21-3. He broke Troicki twice in each set while holding serve easily against a tired-looking opponent who has won just one ATP title.

The No. 2-ranked Federer did not serve a single ace but did not have to save a break point as he kept up his record of not dropping a set in the tournament.

“Look, I am happy with my form here and in this match,” Federer said. “It wasn’t a tough match and I was quite comfortable. … I was in control of my shots and created many opportunities. This was easy compared to the first two matches.”

Tsonga outlasted seventh-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (4), 7-6 (9) to continue his successful comeback from a knee injury that brought his 2010 season to an early end.

Federer has won two of his three previous meetings with the Frenchman.

“He’s a wonderful player, a great character,” Federer said. “He has performed well at the big tournaments, especially on the hard surface at the Australian Open.

“Unfortunately, he’s had injuries and didn’t play as much but he’s tough.”

Mexico’s new national team coach Jose Manuel de la Torre will make his debut on Feb. 9 when the team faces Bosnia-Herzegovina in Atlanta.

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