Hart: Portsmouth have shown faith in Paul Hart by naming him as manager until the end of the season after a 1-0 home defeat by Chelsea in the Premier League on Tuesday night. Hart, caretaker since Tony Adams was sacked in February with a win and a draw in his three matches in charge, will be joined by assistant Brian Kidd for the rest of the campaign.

Breakthrough: Doctors say they have discovered a gene which helps cause motor neurone disease ALS, which has afflicted a number of players in Italy including former Milan striker Stefano Borgonovo. "The route towards a cure is still long. But it is an important step forward," professor Adriano Chio told Italian media.

New coach: Togo have become the third African country in as many weeks to name a new coach before the start of this month's World Cup qualifying final phase, after former Belgian international Jean Thissen took over on an 18-month contract. The ex-Gabon coach's appointment follows Stephen Constantine taking charge of Sudan and Antoine Hey becoming the new Kenya coach.

Totti: Roma striker Francesco Totti is again feeling discomfort in his troublesome right knee and could be a doubt for next week's Champions League second leg at home to Arsenal. "It is difficult to talk about a timescale," physio Vito Scala told reporters. "He has inflammation behind the knee."

Pantelic: Hertha Berlin striker Marko Pantelic, who missed the last four league matches through a series of minor injuries, is fit to play against Energie Cottbus on Saturday. The Serb striker has scored six times for Hertha this season.

Amauri: The wife of Juventus striker Amauri has obtained Italian citizenship, meaning the Brazilian-born player can now apply for an Italian passport. Amauri has been hedging his bets on whether to make himself available to play for Brazil or Italy and last month Juve blocked his first call-up to the Brazil squad because the request came too late.

Bellamy: Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy will be out for up to three weeks after the Wales international injured his knee. Bellamy was injured in Sunday's 1-0 upset to West Ham.

Alpine Skiing
Defending champion Bode Miller will not return to the World Cup slopes at Kvitfjell, Norway this weekend after organisers said the American had failed to register for the season's penultimate meeting. Miller, who is 35 points behind Austria's Michael Walchhofer in the World Cup downhill standings, must apply to compete in the March 9-15 season-ending event in Are, Sweden by Sunday.

Formula One
Toro Rosso will launch their new STR4 Formula One car at a test in Barcelona on Monday. Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais and Swiss newcomer Sebastien Buemi will be the drivers this year, with the latter likely to be the only rookie on the starting grid this season. Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix with 21-year-old Sebastian Vettel who has since left for sister team Red Bull.

Basket, NBA
The Orlando Magic rallied for a 111-99 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, the home team winning a game highlighted by a physical tussle between Dwight Howard and former favourite son Shaquille O'Neal. Howard scored 21 points and eight rebounds to O'Neal's 19 points and 11 rebounds, but the latter drew a technical with three minutes remaining and Orlando took advantage by reeling off eight successive points to build a comfortable lead.