IN BRIEF

UEFA rejects

Sion appeal

UEFA have rejected Swiss club FC Sion's appeal against their expulsion from the Europa League, allowing Celtic to remain in the competition, European football's governing body confirmed yesterday. The Swiss club were thrown out of the tournament on September 2 after being found guilty of fielding ineligible players, with the Scottish club handed their place in the group stages despite losing the play-offs 3-1 on aggregate.

Chelsea's Delac on loan to Ceske Budejovice

CHELSEA'S Croatian goalkeeper Matej Delac has been loaned to Ceske Budejovice until the end of the season, the Czech first division side said yesterday. "Delac is one of the biggest European goalkeeping talents," Ceske Budejovice president Karel Poborsky estimated. Delac, 19, joined the English Premier League side in 2009 before being loaned to Dutch first division outfit Arnhem in 2010-11.

Injured Kaka misses Real trip to Zagreb

KAKA has failed to recover from a bruised heel and was left out of Real Madrid's squad on Tuesday for their Champions League opener at Dinamo Zagreb. The Brazilian playmaker has been working apart from the rest of the group since Saturday, when he came on as a substitute in Real's 4-2 home win over Getafe in La Liga.!

Ferdinand to miss opening CL match

MANCHESTER United defender Rio Ferdinand will miss the Premier League champions' opening Champions League Group C match against Benfica in Lisbon on Wednesday, the club said yesterday.

Agencies