SPORTS

Barcelona will not be allowed to sign any players in 2015 after their appeal against a transfer ban was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Spanish club was handed a 14-month ban in April after being found guilty of breaching Fifa’s rules on the transfer of players aged under 18. Fifa rejected an appeal in August but ...

Reports suggest Zambia defender Christopher Munthali’s permanent move to Nkana is off and he will return to Power Dynamos in 2015. Munthali has been on loan at Nkana from Power for the last two years since joining them at the start of the 2013 season from their Kitwe arch-rivals. They were earlier indications from Nkana officials that they had signed ...

Alan Irvine has been sacked as West Brom manager after seven months in charge at The Hawthorns. The 56-year-old Scot was appointed boss in June following the exit of Pepe Mel and was on a 12-month rolling contract. Albion are 16th in the Premier League, a point above the relegation zone following Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Stoke, their seventh loss ...

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has avoided commenting on reports that he could become the new Crystal Palace manager. Former Eagles player Pardew, 53, failed to fulfil media duties after Sunday’s 3-2 win over Everton. Newcastle assistant John Carver, who did the post-match conference, said: “Alan didn’t say why I was doing the press, he just told me to do it.” ...

Jose Mourinho believes there is a campaign to influence referees’ decisions against his Chelsea side. Mourinho was angry at referee Anthony Taylor for not awarding a penalty during the 1-1 draw at Southampton. Midfielder Cesc Fabregas was booked for diving after going down in the area under Matt Targett’s challenge. After the game Mourinho told BBC Sport: “The media, commentators, ...

Leaders Chelsea could only pick up a point as they were held by a resilient Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium. Sadio Mane gave the Saints the lead when he pounced on John Terry’s hesitancy in defence before lifting his shot past Thibaut Courtois. Eden Hazard equalised seconds before the interval when he drifted in from the left before firing in ...

Australia captain Steve Smith scored a career-best 192 to help his side set an imposing target of 530 on day two of the third Test against India. Smith added to his overnight 72 to move on to his third consecutive century, with Brad Haddin (55) and Ryan Harris (74) further burnishing the tally. India lost opener Shikhar Dhawan for 28 ...

Ghana coach Avram Grant has named a 31-man provisional squad for the Orange Africa Cup of Nations Equatorial Guinea 2015. Grant handed surprise call-ups to un-capped quartet; Enoch Adu Kofi of Malmo of Sweden, Ibrahim Moro of AIK Stockholm also in Sweden, Daniel Amartey of Danish side, FC Copenhagen and Kwesi Appiah of Cambridge United in England. Goalkeeper Ernest Sowah ...

Power Dynamos coach Tennant Chilumba says they will be ready for Al Khartoum SC in the 2015 Caf Confederation Cup. The Kitwe side returns to continental club football for the first time since 2012, after they were drawn against the Sudanese side in the preliminary round of next year’s Confederation Cup. Power will travel to Khartoum for the first leg ...

While professional footballers in the rest of Europe sleep off their Christmas hangovers, the Premier League ploughs on regardless on Friday with a bumper schedule of traditional Boxing Day fixtures. For the first time in the 2014-15 season, all 20 English top-flight clubs will be in action on the same day, with leaders Chelsea’s home game against high-flying London rivals ...