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Sports Shorts: European absence to cost Manchester United $50 million
Missing out on European soccer over the coming year will cost Manchester United more than 30 million pounds ($50 million), the club said on Thursday, while reassuring fans it still had the money to rejuvenate its squad after a poor showing last season.
There was no word from the club, owned by the American Glazer family, on the hotly discussed identity of a new manager after the departure of David Moyes last month following a failed first season in charge.
United, English champions a record 20 times, are expected to confirm Dutch national team coach Louis van Gaal as their new manager, according to media reports, after Moyes was ousted.
The appointment could be formalised after the Dutch play Ecuador in a warm-up match on Saturday ahead of the soccer World Cup, which starts next month in Brazil.
Speaking to financial analysts, Woodward said only that the club would make an announcement in "due course" on the new manager and remained active in the transfer market.
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CSKA Moscow pip Villas-Boas's Zenit to league crown
CSKA Moscow retained the Russian Premier League title with a 1-0 home victory over city rivals Lokomotiv as they celebrated a fairytale end to the season on Thursday.
Zoran Tosic struck early in the second half to secure a 10th successive league win for CSKA, who emerged from the slipstream of long-time leaders Zenit St Petersburg to top the table by one point and claim a fifth Premier League title.
Zenit, guided by former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur coach Andre Villas-Boas, won 4-1 at Kuban Krasnodar but were left to rue a defeat by Dynamo Moscow in their penultimate match that was marred by fan violence.
"It’s a fairytale," said CSKA coach Leonid Slutskiy. "No one could have scripted how this year’s championship would unfold.
"Last year’s campaign was difficult because we were leading for a long time. This is a lot of pressure. This season we had to catch up and we did this only right at the end of the season, which kept the pressure off us."
"We have a team that is capable of doing anything and that can achieve miracles, even when no-one believes in us."
Tosic struck after the break, the Serbia winger latching on to a mistake by ex-Tottenham Hotspur defender Vedran Corluka and sending a long-range drive creeping into the net off a post.
Lokomotiv, who created few chances, could have levelled in the closing stages when Dame N'Doye's shot hit the upright.
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Joshna loses in British Open squash quarters
Indian ace Joshna Chinappa lost to Joelle King of New Zealand in the quarter-finals of the Allam British Open Squash Championship in Hull, UK.
India's top-ranked Dipika Pallikal (World No 10) had bowed out in the first round itself, but Joshna was playing well.
World No 21 Joshna lost the last-eight battle 1-3 in 43 minutes thus ending India's campaign in the event.
Joshna, 27, came back well after trailing 0-2 but World No.4 Joelle reacted quickly to take the fourth game with ease - 11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 11-1.
In 2003, Joshna had become the first Indian girl to win the British Squash Championship title in the under 19 category, at Sheffield, UK and was also the youngest Indian women's national champion.
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Australia opener Warner to skip Zimbabwe trip
Australia opener David Warner will sit out a triangular One-day international tournament in Zimbabwe in August and September to remain with his partner as she prepares to have their first child.
The 27-year-old has received the backing of coach Darren Lehmann to miss the two ODIs against both South Africa and Zimbabwe as well as a potential tournament final.
"With the World Cup coming up next year and the fact that it's an ODI tri-series in Zimbabwe, I would normally immediately put my hand up for selection," Warner wrote in a blog on Cricket Australia's website.
"But that's what happens in life – you settle down, you get married and you have children.
"Since Darren Lehmann came on board as coach he's told us all that family comes first, and that's a big thing because we're on the road for a long time."
The explosive batsman, who is averaging 46.54 in tests and 31.39 in ODIs, is expected to return for the test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in October.
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Dynamo Kiev win Ukrainian Cup after mass brawl
Dynamo Kiev beat arch-rivals Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 in a feisty Ukrainian Cup final in Poltava on Thursday in which two players were sent off following a mass brawl in stoppage time.
Despite an initial decision to hold the game behind closed doors due to security concerns, supporters were in the stands after they forced the country's Football Federation to let them attend a much-anticipated game which was moved from the eastern city of Kharkiv.
"It turned out to be the right decision to allow supporters into the stands...We can unite our country through football," said Dynamo Kiev president Igor Surkis.
Kiev scored twice just before halftime, Shakhtar defender Olexandr Kucher deflecting the ball into his own net and Domagoy Vida stunning the newly-crowned Premier League champions and last season's cup winners with a header.
Speedy Brazilian midfielder Douglas Costa pulled one goal back and the game was marred by a brawl in the dying minutes involving almost every player on the pitch and the referee sent off one from each side.
Dynamo Kiev have won 10 Ukrainian Cups, one more than Shakhtar, but finished fourth in the league this season, their lowest finish since the Ukrainian championship started in 1991.
Amid the unstable political situation in Ukraine, fans ofDynamo and Shakhtar, representing Western and Eastern regions, put their mutual hatred to one side and held a peaceful march before the game in support of the country’s unity.
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NBA: Pacers ready to feel heat after banishing Wizards
David West delivered his strongest game of the playoffs with 29 points to help guide the Indiana Pacers into Eastern Conference finals with a series-clinching 93-80 Game Six win over the Washington Wizards on Thursday.
The veteran power forward was in an aggressive mood from the opening tip-off, taking 26 shots and sparking a fourth-quarter surge that helped the Pacers advance from the best-of-seven series with a 4-2 victory.
The top-seeded Pacers's next challenge starts on Sunday, against the two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat.
Feeding off their home crowd, the Wizards threatened to force a Game Seven when they rallied to take a 74-73 lead with about eight minutes remaining but West calmly sank two straight jump shots and the Pacers closed the game with a 20-6 run.
Marcin Gortat scored a team-high 19 points for the fifth-seeded Wizards, who can hold their heads high after ending a six-year playoff absence with a first round victory over the Chicago Bulls and causing the Pacers plenty of problems.