The NBA set the stage for the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to Steve Ballmer on Friday, halting its efforts to strip Donald Sterling of the club.

Sterling's wife Shelly Sterling negotiated the sale of the club to ex-Microsoft chief executive Ballmer on Thursday in a deal that still must be approved by the league's board of governors.

LeBron James and Chris Bosh scored 25 points each as the two-time defending champion Miami Heat clobbered the Indiana Pacers 117-92 Friday to reach their fourth consecutive NBA finals.

Miami used a game six blowout Friday to join an elite NBA group by becoming the first team to reach the championship four straight times since the Boston Celtics did it from 1984-87.

David Luiz said Friday he was happy to start a new phase of his career at Paris Saint-Germain, after they reached a deal to buy the Brazilian defender from Chelsea.

"I made a point of wrapping everything up before coming to train with the national team," he told journalists at Brazil's base camp outside Rio de Janeiro, where they are preparing to launch their World Cup campaign on June 12.

With every soccer World Cup, it seems, there is controversy about the ball -- the Jabulani used in South Africa was said to be so unpredictable as to border on the "supernatural".

The Fevernova used in South Korea and Japan in 2002 was said to be too light and bouncy, while some complained that Teamgeist used in Germany four years later was slippery.

The only declared candidate for the FIFA presidency says he won't step aside if, as expected, Sepp Blatter confirms before the World Cup next month that he's seeking a fifth term.

In an interview with The Associated Press, former FIFA executive Jerome Champagne wouldn't accept that attempting to unseat Blatter, his former boss, was a lost cause.

Brazil is to deploy a 170,000-strong security force for the World Cup to deter hooligans from home and abroad.

Mass protests against the tournament and deadly fan violence have put authorities on alert ahead of the start of the tournament on June 12.

Filippo Inzaghi says he has not been contacted about becoming AC Milan coach but is ready to take over the managerial reins.

Current Milan coach Clarence Seedorf is only four months into a two-and-a-half-year contract, but Italian media reports claim that club owner Silvio Berlusconi has already decided to replace him with the Dutchman's former teammate, Inzaghi.

Next season's Spanish La Liga campaign will begin on August 24, the Spanish Football League (LFP) said on Thursday.

The official start date still has to be ratified by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) but that is little more than a formality.

Sunderland manager Gus Poyet has signed a new contract with the Premier League club, keeping the former Uruguay international at the Stadium of Light until 2016.

Poyet enhanced his burgeoning reputation at managerial level by guiding Sunderland to safety last season with four wins from its last five games and also to the League Cup final, where the team lost to Manchester City.

Poland goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski is moving from Arsenal to Swansea after his contract expired at the north London club.

The 29-year-old Poland international has signed a four-year deal to stay in the Premier League and become Swansea's first summer signing.