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Goalkeeper Allan McGregor’s Scotland return has been delayed because of an injury sustained during an incident in Glasgow on Saturday.

The 28-year-old was omitted from Craig Levein’s 24-man squad for the friendly against Czech Republic on 3 March.

McGregor has not played for his country since being dropped for a breach of team discipline last April, but will be considered for future selection.

Rangers team-mates Kris Boyd and Lee McCulloch have been recalled.

McGregor and former Rangers team-mate Barry Ferguson were axed following the ‘Boozegate’ scandal affair while on Scotland duty.

The goalkeeper was poised to return to the national side but there was no place for Birmingham City midfielder Ferguson.

Levein revealed McGregor had been left out because he is an injury doubt for Sunday’s Old Firm derby at Ibrox.

"I got a phone call from Walter Smith last night explaining what had happened and that he was a doubt for the Rangers game next weekend," said Levein.

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There might never have been a coach more intent on turning his teams into a sideshow to his own performance than José Mourinho. Yet he is not the pretty sight he imagines.

On Saturday night in the San Siro, his Inter Milan was reduced by foul play and gamesmanship to nine men before halftime for the second match running. No matter, Mourinho applauded them, mocked the referee, and boasted that a team of his would have to be reduced to six players to lose a home game.

He is a bitter and twisted man — and a successful one.

Saturday was the 130th consecutive time a team coached by Mourinho — from Porto to Chelsea to Inter — has remained unbeaten at home in league play. It is a run built on stubbornness and good organization, yet scarred by an attitude that is inimical to the game.

What Mourinho was applauding from the touchline Saturday was a match without goals or grace. It was anti-soccer at its worst, aided by Sampdoria’s failure to make numerical advantage count, or even threaten to score.

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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – The Dalai Lama commented on Tiger Woods’ sex scandals Saturday, saying self-discipline is among Buddhism’s highest values, one day after Woods said he had strayed from his Buddhist faith.

Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader told The Associated Press during a brief interview in his hotel suite in Beverly Hills that he had not heard of Woods, but when the circumstances were explained to him he said that when it comes to adultery, "all religions have the same idea."

"Whether you call it Buddhism or another religion, self-discipline, that’s important," he said. "Self-discipline with awareness of consequences."

In his first public comments since the Nov. 27 car accident that set off a series of shocking allegations of rampant extramarital relationships, Woods said Friday that he was raised Buddhist but needed to focus anew on finding balance between his religion and professional life.

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Four major sports governing bodies have made public their displeasure with Ofcom’s plans for the price of premium live sport on television. The embattled communication industry regulator has drawn the wrath of the Premier League, the England and Wales Cricket Board, the Rugby Football Union and golf’s PGA European Tour over its intention to force Sky to slash the wholesale price – the amount it charges rival pay-TV platforms – for its premium live sports by up to 30%.

The broadcaster currently sells only to Virgin Media, with a subscription to Sky Sports 1 costing Richard Branson’s company £13.88 a month before its charge to the customer is added – 37% cheaper than if a consumer buys the channel direct for £22.17 (before VAT).

The outspoken reactions from the governing bodies are best summed up by the Premier League’s outraged response: "Ofcom’s consultation is fatally flawed. The remedy will be highly detrimental to consumers by significantly devaluing content rights. The remedy will reduce or remove the incentives on others to bid for content rights including live PL rights. This will devalue PL rights which will harm the PL’s member clubs, football and most importantly consumers. The same is true for other UK sports and can only lead to less investment in UK sports, to the detriment of consumers."

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Next week October 28th, 2009 the charitable organizations of two Chicago sports icons, Jerry Azumah(ASAP Foundation) and Tyrus Thomas(Tyrus Thomas Foundation) have come together for the event of the year. "Athletes Across Borders" is a charitable event that is dedicated to raising funds to assist our youth gain the resources necessary to excel academically. I must say I’m impressed at the commitment that is being given to the issue of education and other social issues that affect our youth. Last month NBA All-Star Dewayne Wade held a weekend full of charitable events that turned out to be a huge success, and I’m glad Jerry Azumah and Tyrus Thomas are keeping the ball rolling. I personally am looking forward to "Athletes Across Borders" not only because of the beautiful Laura Izibor is performing, but because it is a genuine opportunity to do some good for the community.

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(CNN) — Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic remain on course for a final showdown at the Shanghai Masters as both cruised into the quarterfinals with convincing victories in China on Thursday.

Rafael Nadal proved too strong for his compatriot Tommy Robredo in the Chinese event.

World No. 2 Nadal, top seed in the absence of the resting Roger Federer, crushed fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-1 6-4 to set up a clash with Ivan Ljubicic on Friday.

Ljubicic progressed when French 11th seed Gael Monfils retired with a back problem while trailing the unseeded Croatian 6-2 3-0.

Nadal romped through the first set but went 2-0 down in the second before quickly breaking back, then leveling at 4-4.

He broke Robredo to love in the ninth game and then went 40-0 up on his own serve before his 14th-seeded opponent saved a match-point.

Nadal then faulted with his next serve, but his wickedly-spinning second attempt forced Robredo to hit his return high and wide.

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(CNN) — Holders Barcelona recorded their first Champions League win of the season as goals from Lionel Messi and substitute Pedro secured a comfortable 2-0 Group F victory over Dinamo Kiev.

Lionel Messi celebrates his goal as holder Barcelona beat Dynamo Kiev 2-0 at the Nou Camp.

After a perfect five wins in the Primera Liga, Barca now replace Kiev at the top of Group F on four points after Inter Milan drew 1-1 with Rubin Kazan.

Barcelona, who were welcoming back midfield playmaker Andres Iniesta for his first start since the 2-0 final victory over Manchester United in May, went ahead in the 25th-minute when Messi drifted inside with a burst of pace before curling a trademark finish into the corner.

The second goal came in the 76th minute with the impressive Zlatan Ibrahimovic set up subsitute Pedro to slot home after neatly shifting the ball onto his left foot.

Meanwhile, in the other Group F match, Italian champions Inter Milan survived the second-half dismissal of striker Mario Balotelli for two bookable offences to earn a hard-fought draw at Russian champions Rubin Kazan.

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BC-CYC–Worlds-Men’s U23 Road Race,0122 Romain Sicard wins men’s U23 world road race title Eds: APNewsNow. AP Photos

MENDRISIO, Switzerland (AP) — Romain Sicard has won the men’s under-23 race at the road cycling world championships.

The 21-year-old Frenchman timed 4 hours, 41 minutes, 53 seconds, crossing the finish line 28 seconds ahead of the field and confirming the potential he showed when winning the Tour de l’Avenir for young riders this month.

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The NBA’s president of basketball operations is confident replacement officials would perform well if they are needed when games begin.

The players aren’t so sure.

The NBA and its referees union have failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. Without a deal soon, replacements would be used in games starting Oct. 1.

The officiating was criticized during the last lockout in 1995, but Joel Litvin says it will be better this time because the replacements are from the WNBA and NBA Development League and familiar with the NBA program.

But Lakers guard Derek Fisher, president of the players’ association, says the NBA’s referees are the best in the world and not having them on the floor is ”unacceptable.”

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PARIS – Renault escaped severe punishment Monday for ordering former driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to deliberately crash, receiving only a suspended two-year ban from Formula One’s governing body.

Flavio Briatore, who quit as team principal last week, was banned indefinitely from any F1 activities by the World Motor Sport Council. Engineering executive director Pat Symonds, who also left the French team last week, was banned for five years after expressing his "eternal regret and shame" that he participated in the conspiracy.

"We gave them a suspended sentence because Renault demonstrated that the team had no responsibility and the company even less," FIA president Max Mosley said. "The penalty for Briatore is that he is no longer associated with the FIA series."

FIA described the scandal as being of "unparalleled severity," but the departure of Renault’s top two men meant the team avoided being thrown out of F1 or handed a heavy fine, although it will pay for the investigation.

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