Fresh from wrapping up a 20th English league title for Manchester United, Robin Van Persie will make his first return to Arsenal looking to dent his former club's hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League.

Van Persie quit Arsenal last August in frustration at the team's lack of silverware in his eight years in London, and has scored a league-high 24 goals in helping United reclaim the Premier League title in his first season at Old Trafford.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believes Luis Suarez is being victimized by English football's authorities, saying the striker's 10-match ban for biting an opponent was given "against the man rather than the incident."

In his two years at Anfield, Suarez has also served an eight-match ban from the English Football Association for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.

An Indonesian player who punched a referee in the face has been banned for life by the country's football authority.

Pieter Rumaropen, a striker for Papua province club Persiwa Wamena, punched referee Muhaimin in the face after he awarded a penalty to Pelita Bandung Raya during a Super League match on Sunday in West Java's capital Bandung.

San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Indiana all took big strides toward the next stage of the NBA playoffs by winning their home games on Wednesday and taking 2-0 series leads.

San Antonio's Tony Parker had 28 points and seven assists as the Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers 102-91, Oklahoma City Thunder squandered a 15-point fourth-quarter lead but regrouped to edge the Houston Rockets 105-102 and Indiana's Paul George had his highest-scoring playoff game with 27 points to lead the Pacers to a 113-98 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has insisted his side can still reach the Champions League final, despite being routed 4-1 at Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final, first-leg.

Poland striker Robert Lewandowski netted all four of Dortmund's goals to strengthen the possibility of an all-German final at Wembley on May 25, but Cristiano Ronaldo's away goal gives Real a slim second-leg life line.

FIFA has extended bans for 23 players and one official previously found guilty of match-fixing in Lebanon to apply worldwide.

FIFA said the case involved "betting and corruption committed by some Lebanese officials and players during certain official matches of the Lebanese national team and other matches."

The Islamic Solidarity Games have been shifted to the Indonesian capital Jakarta after plans to hold the event in a city on Sumatra island collapsed in disarray, an official said Wednesday.

Laborers protesting at not being paid in full have shuttered the main stadium in the city of Pekanbaru, and the local governor has little power to resolve the dispute as he is embroiled in a string of corruption scandals.

Scottish football giants Rangers have appointed Craig Mather as interim chief executive after the resignation of Charles Green, they said on Wednesday.

The Glasgow club said that Mather, a shareholder and director of sports development since last October, would hold the position until a permanent replacement for Green was found.

If Chelsea are to salvage a trophy from their difficult campaign, they will have to succeed where their London rivals Tottenham Hotspur have already failed and beat Switzerland's FC Basel in their Europa League semi-final tie.

The two sides meet at the St. Jakob-Park in Thursday's first leg, with Chelsea wary of the threat posed by a side that eliminated Spurs on penalties in the quarter-finals.

Barcelona's assistant coach Jordi Roura has admitted his side need a miracle at the Camp Nou in the return leg after being hammered 4-0 at Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final, first leg.

Bayern are on the verge of their third Champions League final in four years after goals by German duo attacking midfielder Thomas Mueller, striker Mario Gomez and Dutch wing Arjen Robben floored Barca at Munich's Allianz Arena on Tuesday.