Seventeen of Libya's top football figures, including national team goalkeeper Juma Gtat, have defected to rebels battling to oust the country's leader Moammar Gadhafi, the BBC reported on Saturday.

Three other national team players and the coach of Tripoli's top club al-Ahly, Adel bin Issa, have also defected, in what the BBC described as "clearly a propaganda blow" for Gadhafi in "football-mad North Africa."

With the help of an audacious between-the-legs trick shot, Andy Murray will head into the second week of Wimbledon again carrying the hopes of a nation for a first homegrown men's champion in 75 years.

The fourth-seeded Murray advanced to the fourth round by defeating Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) in a match that ended at nearly 10 p.m. Friday under the roof on Center Court.

Lebanon failed to qualify in the final round of the Asian Olympic qualifiers after losing 2-1 against Malaysia in Kuala Lampur Thursday.

China also crashed out of London 2012 Olympics qualifying in controversial circumstances while Asian champions Japan survived a scare to make it safely through to the next stage.

Roger Federer scorched into the third round at Wimbledon, dropping just seven games in a brisk straight sets dismissal of French journeyman Adrian Mannarino.

The Swiss former world number one served notice that he is in prime form as he chases a record seventh Wimbledon crown after routing Mannarino 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in just under 90 minutes to delight the Centre Court faithful.

Russia's football authorities vowed to step up the fight against racism Thursday after a fan threw a banana at Roberto Carlos in the latest apparent racial attack on the Brazilian former World Cup winner.

Carlos, a defender for revamped Caucasus side Anzhi Makhachkala since February, received a pass from the goalkeeper and was about to pass it when a banana was thrown on to the pitch, landing nearby.

Britain's Andy Murray has found the perfect way to unwind after another stressful Wimbledon day - by watching the whole series of hit U.S. slasher film series Scream.

Murray, bidding to become Britain's first men's champion since Fred Perry in 1936, has reached the third round with little difficulty, buoyed by his evening TV viewing habits.

Two-time Formula One world champion and avid poker player Fernando Alonso has his eyes set on a possible triumph on home soil this weekend when he leads Ferrari into the European Grand Prix on the hybrid street circuit.

The 29-year-old Spaniard, who has not tasted victory in Valencia since the 'European' race moved to eastern Spain three years ago, last won the event when it was held at the Nurburgring in Germany in 2007.

Chelsea have appointed FC Porto boss Andre Villas-Boas as their new manager in a record-breaking deal, a club statement announced on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old, who emerged as the front runner for the job after resigning as Porto coach on Tuesday, has signed a three year contract.

Inevitably, the sequel didn't live up to the original. Not even close.

The replay of the longest match in tennis history turned out to be a ho-hum Part II, with John Isner beating Nicolas Mahut in straight sets in two hours in the first round at Wimbledon.

Mohammed bin Hammam tried to bribe officials in his campaign to oust Sepp Blatter as FIFA president, according to a secret report by the organization’s ethics committee obtained by Britain's Press Association.

There was "comprehensive, convincing and overwhelming" evidence against Bin Hammam, the head of the Asian Football Confederation, and former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner was "an accessory to corruption", the report said.