Friday 17th February 2012  | Premier League duo Manchester City and Manchester United recorded impressive away wins as they began their Europa League quest on Thursday night. | Football  | Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed Manchester United's Antonio Valencia is facing four weeks out after injuring his hamstring in Thursdays's 2-0 win over Ajax. |  | The president of Uruguay has defended Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, insisting his compatriot "is not a racist and never will be". |  | Harry Redknapp would be open to the idea of managing England at Euro 2012 this summer while remaining in charge of Tottenham. |  | Andre Villas-Boas insisted on Thursday he had no fear of being forced out of Chelsea by player power, despite admitting he may have lost the backing of some players. |  | Manchester City have informed the UEFA matchday delegate of their intention to complain about alleged racist abuse during the 2-1 Europa League victory over Porto. | Cricket | Former Australian player Dav Whatmore is almost certain to be appointed Pakistan coach in March. | | Is MS Dhoni the best finisher in ODIs? Or do you think the likes of Bevan, Klusener, Ranatunga and Harris were better. | | Former Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds has retired from cricket and will not play in this year's Indian Premier League. | | Sahara India Pariwar reached a compromise with the BCCI on Thursday, returning as the Indian cricket team's sponsors and agreeing to field the Pune Warriors for IPL 5. | Latest Headlines | Vivian Cheruiyot, the Kenyan world 5,000m and 10,000m champion, has pulled out of Saturday's Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham after coming down with flu. | | Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens were dumped out in the last 16 of the 888 Welsh Open to end home involvement in Newport. | | Britain's former heavyweight world champion Lennox Lewis has claimed Dereck Chisora was not ready for his shot at Vitali Klitschko's WBC belt. | | Manu Tuilagi has done a lot of growing up in the last six months and now feels ready to make a fresh start with England after overcoming a double injury setback. | | Phil Mickelson rode the conditions to lead the way at the end of the first day of the Northern Trust Open in Pacific Palisades, California. | | Victoria Azarenka extended her unbeaten start to the season to 14 matches by marching into the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open. | | Roger Federer was gifted a place in the quarter-finals of the World Tennis Championships in Rotterdam on Thursday when Mikhail Youzhny withdrew with a foot injury. | | Scotland's Peter Whiteford shot a six-under-par 66 to share the first-round lead with Spaniard Alejandro Canizares at the Avantha Masters in New Delhi. | |  Columnists  | Aussie football needs new masters | |
