Bacary Sagna expects a “crazy game” when France travel to Dublin to face the Republic of Ireland in the first leg of their World Cup qualifying play-off on Saturday.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter believes referees in charge of major matches should come from fully professional leagues in the wake of Chelsea’s controversial UEFA Champions League defeat against Barcelona on Wednesday evening.

Galway 1-18 London 1-07

Sligo 0-19 Antrim 1-11

Speculation over the future of Burnley manager Owen Coyle intensified after he missed the press conference following the Clarets’ 2-1 FA Cup win at MK Dons.

Gloucester 19 Glasgow Warriors 6

The uncertainty over Togo’s involvement in the African Nations Cup was ended last night when the team failed to appear for their opening match against Ghana and they were later excluded from the tournament.

Nick Easter last night provided an insight into England’s true feelings after their 17-12 victory over Italy when he said: “God, that was boring”.

Dynamo Kiev 3 Paris St Germain 0 (Dynamo win 3-0 on aggregate)

Robbie Keane saluted his Republic of Ireland team-mates after snatching a vital late equaliser to deny world champions Italy victory.

Cork 1-20 Limerick 2-16

Armagh 0-10 Mayo 0-7

England manager Martin Johnson was frustrated by the feeble defending that helped Argentina level the Test series with a 24-22 victory in Salta last night.

Nelson Piquet Junior claims his former team Renault had “threatened” to withdraw his contract unless he agreed to purposefully crash during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Preston boss Alan Irvine has admitted he is powerless to prevent highly-rated defender Sean St Ledger joining Coca-Cola Championship rivals Middlesbrough.

Derby manager Paul Jewell fears Chelsea counterpart Avram Grant could be out of a job this summer – even if he brings silverware to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea cruised into the quarter-finals of the Champions League by defeating Olympiacos last night but the evening was soured by news of an ankle injury to Petr Cech.

After a marathon 82-game competition, St Gall's of Antrim made amends for last year's final defeat as they were crowned Kilmacud Crokes All-Ireland Senior Football Sevens champions at sunny Pairc de Burca in Stillorgan today.

A closed doors challenge match between the Down and Cork senior footballers caused consternation yesterday for both officials, supporters and players at Pairc Esler in Newry.

Romania 0 France 0