A California court on Monday ruled that the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers last year was legal, quashing former owner Donald Sterling's attempt to reverse the deal triggered by controversy over his racist remarks.

A three-justice panel of California's Court of Appeal ruled that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas had not erred in approving the $2 billion sale of the team to former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.

Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal produced emphatic responses to the critics as they kicked off their ATP Tour Finals campaigns in dominant fashion on Monday.

Murray silenced the doubters who claimed he was distracted by dreams of Davis Cup glory with a gritty 6-4, 6-4 win over David Ferrer, while Nadal, beset by problems during the worst year of his career, showed he isn't finished yet with a 6-3, 6-2 thrashing of French Open champion Stan Wawrinka.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and her cabinet are set to attend Germany's friendly with the Netherlands on Tuesday in a show of solidarity for the victims of the Paris terror attacks.

The world champions found themselves at the center of Friday's horrifying scenes in the French capital when 129 people died amidst a series of violent attacks that also left a further 352 injured.

Argentina coach Gerardo Martino says Tuesday's 2018 World Cup qualifier at Colombia is a must-win for his injury-ravaged side after they were left frustrated by 10-man Brazil.

The result Friday in Buenos Aires -- where arch rivals Brazil came from behind to snatch a 1-1 draw -- meant Argentina are winless after three games of South America's marathon qualifying campaign, with only two points from a possible nine.

New York forward Kevin Seraphin paid tribute to his French homeland with an inspired performance Sunday, helping the Knicks to a 95-87 NBA win over New Orleans just two days after Friday's attacks in Paris.

The 26-year-old Seraphin scored 12 points while sporting a "Paris" haircut with the image of the Eiffel Tower and a peace sign shaved on his scalp.

Former Real Madrid great Raul went into retirement in style on Sunday as his New York Cosmos beat the Ottawa Fury 3-2 to win the NASL title in his final match.

The 38-year-old, a multiple La Liga and Champions League winner with Real Madrid, played the full game, setting up third goal of Gaston Cellerino's hat-trick with a delicate flick.

Qatar coach Jose Daniel Carreno insisted his unbeaten team were "a long way" from reaching the 2018 World Cup finals as they flew to Bhutan Sunday for their latest Asian zone qualifier.

Carreno's side have won all five of their Group C matches so far and need -- at most -- six more points from their remaining three games to progress to the next stage of the qualification.

For Hatem Ben Arfa, France's friendly against England on Tuesday represents an opportunity to show both countries that they were wrong to think they had seen the best of him.

Ben Arfa left England almost a year ago following an unsuccessful loan spell at Hull City and subsequently spent nine long months in the sporting wilderness after a proposed return to French football collapsed.

Russia's Pavel Kulizhnikov and American Brittany Bowe set world records to capture the men's 500m and women's 1,500m at the speedskating World Cup stop in Calgary, Canada, on Sunday.

The 21-year-old Kulizhnikov clocked a time of 34.00 seconds to beat the previous record of 34.03 set by Jeremy Wotherspoon of Canada in 2007.

Sampdoria have confirmed ex-Fiorentina handler Vincenzo Montella as their new coach, as a replacement to Walter Zenga following his sacking last week.

Montella, who left Fiorentina under a cloud at the end of last season, has joined the Serie A club on a two and a half year contract after days of negotiations to resolve a compensation package were finally ironed out.