SPORT IN BRIEF
FAwarn Benitez over gesture
FOOTBALL: Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has escaped with a warning for making an offensive gesture in relation to referee Phil Dowd.
Benitez responded to a question about Dowd’s performance following a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in August by removing his glasses from a pocket and inspecting them.
The Football Association deemed the gesture “objectively offensive” and found him guilty of one charge of misconduct, but cleared him of two others.
Benitez had been angry at having two penalty appeals rejected in the match.
Sussex fall to ‘super-over’ defeat
CRICKET: English champions Sussex crashed out of the inaugural Champions League last night after a dramatic defeat to South African side Diamond Eagles.
The match went to a deciding ‘super-over’ after both teams made 119 from their 20 overs in Delhi. Eagles batted first and made 9-1 against Yasir Arafat. But Sussex’s reply collapsed instantly, CJ de Villiers clean bowling Dwayne Smith and Rory Hamilton-Brown in the first two balls, ending the contest.
Foxes look to snare Hoggard
CRICKET: Leicestershire are set to holds talks with former Yorkshire and England fast bowler Matthew Hoggard in the next few days.
Hoggard, 33, was stunned on Monday to discover he had failed to win a new contract despite spending 15 years with the Tykes.
Foxes chief executive David Smith confirmed: “Our head coach Tim Boon will talk with Matthew. The two know each other very well from their England days.”
Belgian cyclist found dead at 34
CYCLING: Belgian cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke has been found dead while on holiday in Senegal at the age of 34.
Vandenbroucke recorded over 50 wins in his 15-year professional career, which was marred by a doping scandal in 2002.
Reports suggest he may have suffered a blood clot in his lungs.