Sir Alex Ferguson could face FA action after launching a verbal attack on assistant referee John Flynn following Manchester United's controversial 1-1 drew with Newcastle at Old Trafford.

Rio Ferdinand was judged to have brought down Hatem Ben Arfa after 61 minutes although television replays suggested the England defender had been hard done by as referee Mike Jones consulted with his assistant Flynn before awarding the spot kick.

Defending champion Roger Federer will take on France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Sunday's World Tour Final, looking to win the title for a record sixth time.

The showpiece, season-ending match at London's O2 Arena will be Federer's 100th final and he got there by beating David Ferrer 7-5, 6-3 in Saturday's semis, making it 12 wins from 12 matches against the Spaniard.

Novak Djokovic is in danger of being eliminated early from the ATP World Tour Finals after losing to fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 Friday in their final round-robin match.

The loss means the top-ranked Djokovic fell to 1-2 in group play and will miss the semifinals if Tomas Berdych beats David Ferrer in the late match, with the Spaniard having already advanced. Berdych would join Ferrer, Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last four with a win.

Chelsea coach Andre Villas-Boas revealed on Friday that he has held talks with owner Roman Abramovich, as he bids to turn around a spell of worrying form that threatens to derail the Blues' season.

Chelsea have lost four of their last seven games in all competition and are experiencing their worst start to a Premier League season since Abramovich bought the club eight years ago.

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta hasn't recovered from a leg injury and will miss Saturday's Spanish league match at Getafe.

Iniesta skipped Wednesday's 3-2 Champions League victory at AC Milan with a bruised left thigh, and coach Pep Guardiola left the Spain international out of Friday's squad for the trip to the Spanish capital.

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone says he is "not really" optimistic about the U.S. Grand Prix taking place next year and has set American organizers a Wednesday deadline to guarantee its long-term financial backing.

Organizers for the proposed race in Austin, Texas, say they have agreed to pay the sanctioning fee to secure a spot on next year's F1 calendar, but that's not enough for Ecclestone.

Atletico Madrid coach Gregorio Manzano says injured striker Radamel Falcao hasn't recovered in time to play in Saturday's Spanish league derby against Real Madrid.

Atletico was hopeful the €47 million-signing ($67 million) would recover from a leg muscle tear to play at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, but Manzano ruled out the Colombian international on Friday.

At a time when Germany is playing its best football in years, the organization behind it is trying to tackle problems threatening to tarnish its image.

Referees under probe by tax authorities and the plague of fan violence, especially in lower-tier leagues, are keeping the football federation busy half a year before Germany goes to the European Championship as a favorite for the title.

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said on Friday that he was happy to have a headache over whether to field Karim Benzema or Gonzalo Higuain in Saturday's derby with Atletico Madrid.

The strike duo were paired together for the first time this season in the 6-2 Champions League humbling of Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday, with Benzema scoring twice and Higuain also on target.

Despite only being in fifth place ahead of the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton describes 2011 as "a year of growth" and is expecting McLaren to field a competitive car from the start of the next Formula One season.

The 26-year-old Briton is coming off his third victory of the year after winning at the Abu Dhabi GP, but he has struggled most of the season behind the Red Bulls and its winner of the drivers' championship, Sebastian Vettel.