Robin van Persie has rejected the offer of a new Arsenal contract, the striker announced via his official website on Wednesday.

The Dutch international has a year left on his current deal with the English Premier League club, who could now be tempted to cash in on their prize asset, rather than see him leave for nothing on a Bosman free transfer at the end of next season.

Brazil's Corinthians won the Copa Libertadores for the first time, defeating Argentina's Boca Juniors 2-0 in the second leg of the final before an ecstatic home crowd of 40,000.

The Corinthians late Wednesday prevailed 3-1 on aggregate as the two teams drew the first leg 1-1 in Buenos Aires last month.

Roger Federer earned a record 32nd Grand Slam semifinal berth and moved closer to a record-tying seventh Wimbledon title when he beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 Wednesday.

Federer's opponent Friday will be defending champion Novak Djokovic, who beat Florian Mayer 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.

Rafael Nadal, knocked out of Wimbledon in the second round last week, is to take two weeks off because of tendonitis in his knee.

The Spaniard will miss a charity match against world number one Novak Djokovic in Madrid's Bernabeu stadium on July 14 but hopes, however, to have fully recovered in time for the July 27-August 12 Olympics in London.

Oscar Pistorius will become the first double amputee to compete at the Olympics after being included Wednesday in the South African 4x400-meter relay team for 2012 London Games, an official said.

The 25-year-old's selection comes five days after conceding defeat in a battle to run in the 400m at the Games as he finished 0.22 of a second outside the qualifying mark of 45.30 seconds when coming second at the African championships in Benin.

Andy Murray beat Marin Cilic to reach a fifth successive Wimbledon quarterfinal where he will meet Spanish bulldozer David Ferrer who has made the last eight for the first time at the 10th attempt.

British fourth seed Murray beat Croatian 16th seed Cilic 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 as organizers scrambled to make up for lost time caused by heavy rain.

Serena Williams produced a champion's display to knock out title-holder Petra Kvitova on Tuesday as Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber joined her in the Wimbledon semifinals.

Kvitova tipped Williams to win a fifth Wimbledon crown after the U.S. sixth seed used her experience and cool nerve to dethrone the Czech with a 6-3, 7-5 victory.

Olympic shooting gold medalist Russell Mark says the Australian Olympic Committee's decision to ban athletes from using strong sleeping pills in the lead up to the London Games will cost medals.

AOC president John Coates said Tuesday that Australian athletes will be banned from using insomnia treatments in London, after champion swimmer Grant Hackett revealed he became dependent on sleeping pills during his career.

Storied British football club Manchester United, overloaded with debt since their takeover by a billionaire American family of investors, is moving to raise cash through a U.S. share sale.

The U.S.-controlled Red Devils, Britain's all-time top team, filed papers in the United States on Tuesday for an initial public share offering, with the owners touting its value as one of the world's most recognized sports brands.

The medals for the 2012 Olympic Games were locked up on Monday in a vault at the Tower of London, where Britain's Crown Jewels are kept under armed guard.

The 4,700 gold, silver and bronze discs will not be seen in public again until they are hung around the necks of the winning athletes at the Games, which open in the British capital on July 27.