Sporting briefs

Maradona: The earring that was confiscated from Diego Maradona as part payment of his tax arrears in Italy has been sold to an anonymous woman at auction for 25,000 euros, a spokesman for the agency organising the sale said yesterday. The piece of jewellery was taken by police while Maradona was in Italy at a weight-loss clinic in September.

Dunfermline: Dunfermline Athletic were kicked out of the Scottish FA Cup yesterday just days after celebrating a 7-1 fourth round victory over Stenhousemuir. The first division side were punished after bringing on banned Calum Woods as a substitute after 61 minutes when they were already 4-0 ahead. Woods was ineligible after picking up two bookings last season. The FA ruled that Stenhousemuir would be re-instated.

Sionko: Czech international Libor Sionko has left FC Copenhagen to return to Sparta Prague. The 32-year-old midfielder, who was previously at Sparta between 1999-2003, signed a two-and-a half year contract with the Prague club.

Essien: Ghana will decide if Michael Essien is fit to play in today's African Nations Cup Group B clash against Ivory Coast after training yesterday, coach Milovan Rajevac said. Chelsea midfielder Essien, who has recovered from a hamstring injury, only joined his team-mates on Wednesday after bad weather delayed his arrival in Angola.

Sturridge: Chelsea must pay Manchester City an initial fee of £3.5 million ($5.70 million) for striker Daniel Sturridge, a Premier League tribunal ruled yesterday to end a dispute between the clubs over the fee. The eventual cost of the transfer could rise to around 7 million because the League's Compensation Committee ruled that additional payments of 500,000 pounds ($814,500) would be due after each of 10, 20, 30 and 40 first-team competitive appearances.

Redknapp charged: Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has been charged with two counts of cheating the public revenue. The CPS said it had charged Redknapp regarding two payments made during his time as manager of Portsmouth. The payments, totalling $295,000, were made by the club's former chairman Milan Mandaric to Redknapp via a bank account in Monaco, evading tax and national insurance contributions between Apr. 1, 2002 and Nov. 28, 2007, it said.

Berbatov: Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has been named Bulgaria's Footballer of the Year for a record sixth time. The 28-year-old Bulgaria captain eclipses Hristo Stoichkov who picked up the prize five times between 1989-94. Berbatov claimed 218 points in a poll of sports journalists. Aston Villa captain Stilian Petrov was second with 211 points.

Rio 2016: Rio de Janeiro won the right to host the 2016 Olympic Games on merit and not on its geographical location, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said. "We were happy to go to Brazil for the first time in South America with the knowledge that these will be good Games, but we did not choose Brazil because South America had never got the Games before," Rogge said.

Basketball, NBA: An ailing Kobe Bryant drained a game-winning jump shot with 28 seconds remaining to pull the Los Angeles Lakers to a 100-95 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Plagued by an injured finger on his shooting hand as well as back spasms, Bryant delivered the big shot to break a 95-95 tie and help Los Angeles (30-9) snap a four-game road losing streak.

Cycling: Lance Armstrong is considering taking part in the UCI Road Cycling World Championships in Melbourne later this year, Armstrong, the 1993 winner, is intrigued by suggestions the course may feature some potentially decisive climbs. He said: "I've definitely thought about it, I need to get more information on what the circuit is like."