Ferrari received $38 million more in Formula One payments than runaway title-winners Mercedes last year, despite finishing just fourth in the constructors' championship, a report said.

Autosport.com disclosed usually secret details of the F1 payments which showed Ferrari pocketed $164 million last season, making them the highest paid team.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has welcomed the prospect of facing eternal rivals Real Madrid for the first time in a Champions League final in Berlin early next month.

The Catalans sealed their place in a fourth final in 10 years with a 5-3 aggregate win over Bayern Munich, despite losing the second leg 3-2 on Tuesday, whilst Madrid must overturn a 2-1 first leg deficit when they host Juventus on Wednesday.

Birmingham City's former owner, who was sentenced to six years in prison for money laundering, had his appeal against his conviction rejected by a Hong Kong court Wednesday.

Carson Yeung, 55, was jailed last March in a case that gripped the southern Chinese city and fans of the English football club with its tales of unexplained dealings and financial transactions involving local businessmen and an alleged triad member.

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are preparing for a fight.

The reigning Super Bowl MVP will appeal his four-game suspension, his agent said, and the team threw its "unconditional" support behind its quarterback after the NFL came down hard on its biggest star in the "Deflategate" scandal.

Stephen Curry scored 21 of his 33 points by halftime as the Golden State Warriors ended its two-game losing streak Monday by routing the Memphis Grizzlies 101-84 to level the NBA Western Conference semifinal at 2-2.

Atlanta and Washington are also even at 2-2 in their second-round playoff after Jeff Teague scored 26 points, including a key 3-pointer, to lead the Hawks over the Wizards 106-101.

Real Madrid must overcome a 2-1 first-leg deficit to keep their season alive when a Juventus side boosted by the return of Paul Pogba visit the Santiago Bernabeu in the return of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.

Los Blancos' La Liga title hopes are all but over despite coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Valencia on Saturday as Barcelona moved four points clear at the top with just two games remaining.

Police investigating the fire which killed 56 fans at a Bradford City match knew who dropped the cigarette thought to have started the tragic blaze, according to a new documentary.

The official inquiry into the tragedy on May 11, 1985 concluded that the fire was an accident and was probably started by a spectator dropping a cigarette into rubbish that had accumulated under the old timber stand.

Schalke released Ghana midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng and Germany winger Sidney Sam on Monday with immediate effect, while suspending Marco Hoeger, as their latest defeat threatens next season's place in Europe.

With one win in their last eight games, the Royal Blues' 2-0 defeat at Cologne on Sunday left Roberto di Matteo's Schalke sixth in the league.

After just five races, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner calls the season "pretty much of a write-off" with his team stuck in "no man's land" as it struggles with Renault engine reliability and performance.

Although both drivers from Red Bull and its junior team Toro Rosso — also supplied by Renault — completed Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix without further engine problems, the race pace is still sorely lacking.

Britain's Mark Cavendish powered past Slovakia's Peter Sagan just before the finish line Sunday to win the first stage of the Tour of California.

Cavendish, a 25-time Tour de France stage winner, raced to his 10th victory of the season, finishing the 126.2-mile flat road race in 4 hours, 43 minutes, 27 seconds. He also won Tour of California stages in Sacramento in 2010 and last year, also on the opening day.