India's wealthiest man Mukesh Ambani denied Tuesday a British newspaper report that he was in a race to take over Liverpool football club.

But another Indian businessman reportedly in the running for the Merseyside club appeared more circumspect.

Arsene Wenger has brushed aside a broadside from Michael Ballack over his grudging praise for Chelsea in the wake of their win over Arsenal at the weekend.

Chelsea midfielder Ballack has accused the Arsenal boss of making excuses for his side being outplayed when he reacted to the 2-0 defeat by caustically observing: "We didn't get a demonstration of football but they were highly efficient."

Ronaldinho's hopes of a Brazil recall received a sizeable blow on Tuesday when he was left out of Dunga's squad for the team's final friendly prior to the World Cup against Ireland on March 2.

The friendly match in London is the squad's last outing before they travel to South Africa for the tournament and Ronaldinho's omission suggests Dunga has been unmoved by the winger's recent return to form with AC Milan.

Manchester City are set to hand home debuts to Patrick Vieira and Adam Johnson as they look to revive their faltering Premier League campaign against Bolton on Tuesday.

A surprise 2-1 defeat away at struggling Hull on Saturday has dented City manager Roberto Mancini's hopes of sealing a top four Premier League finish and a spot in next season's Champions League.

Rio Ferdinand has withdrawn his appeal against the extra one-match suspension he received for a "frivolous" challenge to a violent conduct charge brought against him by the Football Association.

The Manchester United centre-back's decision announced Tuesday means the newly-appointed England captain will serve a four, as opposed to three-game ban, for his challenge on Hull striker Craig Fagan at Old Trafford last month.

National coach Joachim Loew ended his stand-off with the German Football Federation (DFB) on Tuesday as both parties agreed to plough all their efforts into Germany's 2010 World Cup campaign.

"We have agreed upon a clear strategy right up to the World Cup," Loew said during a televised press conference from the DFB's base in Frankfurt.

Wigan confirmed on Monday that they had reached an agreement with Erik Edman to cancel his contract in a move that frees the Swedish defender to return to his first club, Helsingborg.

Edman, who joined Wigan from Rennes in January 2008, had been under contract until the end of the season but saw little future at the club, where he is second-choice left back behind the highly-rated Maynor Figueroa.

Bolton defender Gary Cahill's chances of going to the World Cup with England have been destroyed by a blood clot in his arm which is likely to mean he misses the rest of the season.

Cahill, 24, missed his club's goalless draw with Fulham on Saturday after his arm swelled up on the morning of the match.

Former England star Paul Gascoigne has been arrested for the second time in two days, police confirmed Tuesday.

The ex-midfielder was taken into custody along with another man by police called to the Blackwell Grange Hotel in Darlington, northeast England, on Monday night.

Ricardo Fuller, the Jamaica striker who plays for Stoke City in the English Premier League, has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a man in a nightclub at the weekend, police said on Monday.

Staffordshire Police said a 21-year-old man had suffered minor facial injuries that did not require hospital treatment following an incident in a nightclub in the Stoke area at around 0100GMT on Sunday.