Letting out shrill cries, several young women in a Montreal taekwondo class kicked their way through the exercises, not a hair out of place as they were demurely covered by an Islamic sports hijab.

Their religion prohibits these female athletes from showing off their firm physiques, or their hair. Yet Western society also frowns on the wearing of traditional Muslim headscarves in sports competitions.

Roberto Mancini has warned Champions League-bound Manchester City not to take the gloss off their European success by messing up in Saturday's FA Cup final.

Mancini immediately set his sights on securing the club major silverware for the first time in 35 years after overcoming Tottenham 1-0 to seal a top-four finish.

Football legends from Diego Maradona to Luis Figo were expected in Russia's restive republic of Chechnya on Wednesday for an exhibition match sponsored by the local strongman leader.

The authorities of Chechnya have poured enormous financial and political capital into the unveiling of a new stadium in Grozny -- a city slowly rebuilding from two wars in the past 15 years.

The U.S. embassy hosted a group of 300 Lebanese boys and girls from the Bekaa valley for a day of basketball, festival games and music at the Saint Coeurs School in downtown Zahle, an embassy statement said.

The students competed in a medley of basketball events to demonstrate the fundamental skills that they have developed through the embassy’s 2010-11 Sports United Youth Basketball Program.

Rafael Nadal faces a fight to hold on to his world number one ranking after Novak Djokovic extended his victory streak to 34 matches with a 7-5, 6-4 win over the Spaniard at the Madrid Masters on Sunday.

Nadal had to swallow his first loss on clay in nearly two years, a run of 37 straight victories stretching back to the French Open fourth round in 2009 when he lost to Robin Soderling.

Football's ruling body FIFA is investigating claims that over 300 matches on three continents were influenced by match-fixers, according to The Daily Telegraph on Friday.

FIFA suspects match officials were paid as little as $10,000 to help engineer specific results in international friendly matches and European club games, netting fixers hundreds of millions of dollars on Asian betting markets.

Barcelona reached their second Champions League final in three years after a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid at the Nou Camp in their semi-final second leg clash here on Tuesday saw them progress 3-1 on aggregate.

Barcelona could now face Manchester United in a repeat of the 2009 final - which Barcelona won - as they hold a 2-0 lead over Schalke going into Wednesday's second leg in Manchester.

Celtic have the chance to take the initiative in the title race if they can claim a win away to Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Wednesday.

Victory would take Celtic back to the top of the Scottish Premier League and two points clear of bitter rivals and defending champions Rangers.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola says his team's weekend defeat by Real Sociedad was a timely warning ahead of Tuesday's second leg of their Champions League semi-final with Real Madrid, who they lead 2-0.

Last week they came out on top in a stormy first leg in Madrid that was characterized more by cynical challenges and play-acting than on-pitch excitement.

Rudi Garcia was in defiant mood as Marseille went top of the table for the first time in five months Wednesday, but the Lille handler knows there is little room for error if they are to stun the French champions to take the title.

"It was always going to be likely they went top, but what counts now is how we react," Garcia said after Marseille claimed a 4-2 win against Nice to push Lille into second by one point.