* Olympiakos Piraeus pulled off a stunning 3-1 Europa League win over AC Milan that put them into the last 32 and sent the Italians crashing out as the remaining places in the knockout stage were decided on Thursday.
* Wimbledon's plans to expand the size of its grounds took a step forward on Thursday when members of a local golf club voted to sell their land to the Grand Slam tournament's organisers. The All England Lawn Tennis Club had made a 63.75 million pounds offer to buy out early the lease of the adjacent Wimbledon Park Golf Club.
* Chad le Clos saw off American golden boy Caeleb Dressel to win the 100m butterfly at the short course World Swimming Championships on Thursday (Dec 13). In one of the most eagerly anticipated duels in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, the South African star romped to victory in 48.50sec and a fourth consecutive title in the event.
* FINA plans to launch a "Champions Swim Series" in 2019 with US$3.9 million prize money, saying that the event will consist of a three-leg competition between March and May and include the Olympic and world champions, as well as world-record holders and top-ranked swimmers.
* India's P V Sindhu pulled off a shock at the badminton World Tour Finals in Guangzhou on Thursday (Dec 13) as she fought back to defeat top-ranked Tai Tzu-ying 14-21, 21-16, 21-18 for the first time in over two years.
* FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday (Dec 13) that a majority of national soccer federations were in favour of expanding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams.
* Five top-flight French soccer matches have been postponed this weekend due to security concerns following anti-government protests, depleting the league program for the second week in a row, Ligue 1 said on Thursday.
* All Blacks coach Steve Hansen announced on Friday (Dec 14) that he will retire after next year's World Cup in Japan, saying the world champions needed some "fresh thinking".
* Former Juventus chief executive Giuseppe Marotta, whose astute transfer dealings helped the Turin team win seven successive Serie A titles, joined their great rivals Inter Milan on Thursday. Marotta was officially presented by the club as chief executive for sport and said he would bring the same qualities to the job which marked his eight years with Juventus.
* Spain’s La Liga said on Thursday that UEFA’s plans for a third club competition “endanger the future” of European soccer and risk domestic leagues becoming uncompetitive.
