Spanish great David Villa's 10-match loan stint has galvanised his rebranded Melbourne City club into one of the favourites to land this season's Australian A-League title ahead of Friday's kick-off.

World number 17 Fabio Fognini was fined $2,000 for making an obscene gesture to fans following his embarrassing exit from the Shanghai Masters, a tennis official said Thursday.

Borussia Dortmund striker Ciro Immobile insists absent compatriot Mario Balotelli won't be missed when new-look Italy host Azerbaijan for the first of two Euro 2016 qualifiers on Friday.

FIFA vice-president Eugenio Figueredo appeared before a Uruguayan judicial inquiry on Wednesday probing alleged financial irregularities involving South American football's governing body CONMEBOL.

Figueredo stepped down as CONMEBOL president in August to replace Julio Grondona on FIFA's executive committee following the Argentine powerbroker's death in July.

The campaign to qualify for Euro 2016 intensifies with two rounds of matches played back-to-back over six days, starting from Thursday, offering the chance for those countries who started badly last month to play catch-up.

That is the case for Guus Hiddink's Netherlands, who entertain Kazakhstan and then go to Iceland looking to bounce back from a defeat in the Czech Republic, and for Group A rivals Turkey, who were beaten in Iceland last time out and now host the Czechs before an awkward trip to Latvia.

Having launched their 2016 European Championship qualifying campaign with an impressive win in Switzerland, England face a thankless task on Thursday when perennial whipping boys San Marino visit Wembley Stadium.

Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane claims he was offered the club's iconic No.7 shirt by then manager Alex Ferguson so as to prevent David Beckham getting it.

Keane, who left United in acrimonious circumstances in 2005 after years of dedicated and inspirational service, reveals the incident in his updated autobiography “The Second Half”, which is published on Thursday, but which embarrassingly has mistakenly already gone on sale in a supermarket in Manchester.

Jules Bianchi is suffering from a serious brain injury sustained in his sickening crash at the Japanese Grand Prix, his family says, as specialists warn the chances of recovery from this kind of condition are slim.

Wales star Gareth Bale has declared that he believes football can overtake rugby union as the most popular sport in his homeland.

Whereas the Welsh rugby team are one of the world's strongest sides, winning three Six Nations Grand Slams in the past 10 years, the national football team have not reached a major tournament since the 1958 World Cup.

The referee at the center of Juventus's controversial 3-2 win over title challengers Roma is set to be sidelined until November as the fall-out from Sunday's bad-tempered Serie A clash continue to divide Italy.

Giancluca Rocchi, considered Italy's number two referee, was slammed for his handling of the top-of-the-table encounter in Turin which allowed Juventus to pull three points clear.