Thierry Henry believes a replay would be the "fairest solution" after his handball set up France's clinching goal in their World Cup playoff with the Republic of Ireland.

The governing body of world football, FIFA, have turned down the request from the Irish Football Association (FAI) to replay their deciding World Cup play-off game against France.

Prosecutors in Germany are investigating a huge match-fixing scandal with over 200 games under scrutiny and 15 arrests made.

Tour de France champion Alberto Contador looks set to stay with Astana next year after reaching a preliminary agreement with the Kazakh-based squad.

A series of clashes between Egyptian and Algerian football fans has led to a diplomatic row between the two north African countries, with Egypt recalling its ambassador to Algiers.

Manny Pacquiao returned home to a hero's welcome in his native Philippines on Friday after wresting the WBO welterweight title from Miguel Cotto on a 12th round technical knockout in Las Vegas.

Sachin Tendulkar was unbeaten on exactly 100 and passed 30,000 international runs as India batted out for a draw in the opening Test against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad on Friday.

Thierry Henry's confession that he handled the ball in the build-up to the controversial goal by William Gallas, pictured, which sent France to next summer's World Cup, has done little to console a devastated Ireland team as the controversy rumbled into Thursday.

Lee Westwood claimed the halfway lead at the Dubai World Championship as two birdies on the final three holes gave him a two-shot advantage over a six-strong group tied for second place.

All of the 32 available places for the 2010 World Cup have been decided, after a dramatic night of play-off qualification which saw Algeria, Greece, Slovenia, Portugal, France and Uruguay book their berths.