SPORT | IN BRIEF
No freestyle final for Thorpe
OLYMPICS: Five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe suffered a blow on his first freestyle race since 2004 by failing to qualify for the 100m freestyle final in Beijing. The Australian finished sixth in his heat and 15th overall at the World Cup meet. The 29-year-old also competed in the 100m individual medley heats but finished ninth overall.
Tevez to accept charges
FOOTBALL: Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez is ready to accept his misconduct charge and press ahead with his attempts to engineer a move away from the club in January. The Argentine has not featured for his club since he refused to warm up having been ordered to do so by manager Roberto Mancini during the Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich in September. Afterwards, an internal investigation found the 27-year-old to be guilty of five separate breaches of contract. Meanwhile, team-mate Kolo Toure has accepted a £740,000 six-week fine from the club after failing a drugs test earlier this year which resulted in the Ivory Coast defender being banned for six months.
Warburton set for return
RUGBY UNION: Inspirational Wales captain Sam Warburton is expected to return for Cardiff Blues in their Heineken Cup opener against Racing Metro on Friday. The 23-year-old has completed a three-week ban for a “dangerous tip tackle” on Vincent Clerc in Wales’ agonising World Cup semi-final defeat by France last month. “It really is a pleasure to have him here,” said Blues coach Justin Burnell.