Mexes: Roma centre-back Philippe Mexes underwent a successful operation on his torn cruciate knee ligament yesterday. The operation lasted about half an hour and was said to have been “perfectly successful” with the 29-year-old due to remain in hospital for two to three days. Mexes is expected to be out for four months.

Nainggolan: Milan are showing interest in Cagliari midfielder Radja Nainggolan as Massimiliano Allegri is keen to bring some of his former players to San Siro from Cagliari where he coached for two years. Nainggolan’s stock has risen partly because Milan see the 22-year-old Belgian as a cheaper alternative to Santos’ Ganso.

Fellaini: Everton manager David Moyes says his club have opened talks with midfielder Marouane Fellaini over a new contract. The 23-year-old has become a cult figure at Goodison Park since arriving from Standard Liege three years ago.

Higginbotham: Stoke defender Danny Higginbotham faces up to six months on the sidelines after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury. Stoke boss Tony Pulis said: “It’s a rupture and I’m devastated for the kid. It’s a big blow for the team because Danny had just come back into the side and was doing so well.”

Schalke: The German Football Federation (DFB) awarded a 2-0 victory to Schalke 04 following last week’s Bundesliga game against St Pauli which was abandoned after an attack on the assistant referee. The DFB judged that St Pauli lost Friday’s match “because the club is responsible for their fans and the interruption to the match was their fault”.

Parma: Parma yesterday announced they had hired Franco Colomba as their new coach until the end of the season. He replaces Pasquale Marino who was fired following Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at home to rock-bottom Bari.

Olympics: London 2012’s Olympic mara­thon chief David Bedford has revealed he quit his role due to his frustration with Games organisers. It emerged this week that the 61-year-old former distance runner, who is also race director of the London Marathon, resigned from his post in February. London Marathon chief executive Nick Bitel said Bedford’s decision was a personal one and the organisation would continue to work closely with Games organisers on the marathons and race walk events.

Golf: Japanese amateur Hideki Matsuyama has decided to accept an invitation to play in the Masters despite his anguish over the earthquake back home. The 19-year-old, who hails from the area hit by the March 11 disaster, qualified for the year’s first Major by winning the Asian Championship. When he tees off tomorrow, he will become the first amateur from Japan to play in the tournament.

Basket, NBA: Kemba Walker finished with 16 points as Connecticut Huskies beat Butler Bulldogs 53-41 on Monday to capture the American college basketball championship. Con-necticut coach Jim Calhoun became just the fifth NCAA coach in history to win three national cham-pionships. It was the second con-secutive year Butler lost in the final after losing 61-59 last year to the Duke Blue Devils.

Cricket: New Zealand Cricket welcomed a $1 million donation from the International Cricket Council to rebuild facilities destroyed in the Christchurch earthquake. The NZC’s headquarters were wrecked in the 6.3-magnitude quake that rocked New Zealand’s second largest city on February 22, forcing it to operate from temporary offices. NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan said the ICC donation, announced Monday after world cricket’s governing body met to review the recent World Cup, was an unexpected bonus.