New League: Serie A will ask the Italian Football Federation to allow its reserve teams to play in lower leagues, the league said. Under the proposal, Serie A would have a team for each of its clubs playing in the Lega Pro, the third and fourth tiers of Italian football. The proposed league would be an U-21 championship, with space for some over-age players.
Chiellini: Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini could be out of action for the next two weeks after sustaining an injury during training. The 28-year-old complained of soreness in his knee. Chiellini will miss tomorrow’s match against Lazio and the clash against Milan next weekend.
Barry: Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry’s future at the club could be determined before the end of the season. The 32-year-old, a £12m signing from Aston Villa in 2009, will enter the final year of his contract in the summer. Boss Roberto Mancini said: “I think we have three or four players in this situation. We will decide this in the next month. I am very happy with Gareth because he is a good guy and a serious professional player.”
New coach: Irishman Johnny McKinstry has been appointed as the coach of Sierra Leone on a short-term contract until the end of their World Cup qualifiers in September. McKinstry has been working in the west African country for the last two years for the Craig Bellamy Foundation, which runs an academy and a league for youth teams.
Barnett: Norwich defender Leon Barnett will remain on loan at Championship leaders Cardiff for the rest of the season. The 27-year-old has helped the Bluebirds to two wins and two draws in his five games with the club, the only blip coming in a 2-1 defeat at struggling Peterborough.
Levski: Levski Sofia knocked Ludogorets off the top of the Bulgarian league yesterday after an ill-tempered 2-1 win over city rivals Lokomotiv. The result gave new Levski coach Nikolay Mitov a dream start a day after he replaced Ilian Iliev. But the game was marred by controversial decisions by referee Stefan Spasov, who dismissed Levski’s Rene Mihelic as well as Lokomotiv midfielder Tom and his team-mate Alexander Branekov.