Barcelona and Argentina defender Javier Mascherano has appeared in court aiming to avoid going to prison over a 1.5m euros (£1.1m) tax fraud.

Mascherano, 31, previously admitted two counts of fraud after failing to declare earnings in 2011 and 2012.

A judge will now rule if Mascherano can pay an increased fine to avoid jail, according to reports in Spain. 

He is alleged to have attempted to conceal earnings from his image rights by using companies he owns abroad.

Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams cruised into the Australian Open third round, but sixth seed Petra Kvitova was knocked out.

Women's number one, Williams, thrashed Taiwan's Hsieh Su-Wei 6-1 6-2 while men's top seed, Djokovic, beat France's Quentin Halys 6-1 6-2 7-6 (7-3).

Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova also made it through safely.

African Nations Championship host, Rwanda, booked their place in the quarter-finals of the tournament with a 2-1 win over Gabon at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali yesterday.

Striker Ernest Sugira scored both goals in the 42nd and 47th minutes to put the hosts comfortably ahead before Gabon pulled one back in the 55th minute through Aaron Boupendza.

The win is Amavubi’s second in the 2016 CHAN, following their 1-0 victory over Ivory Coast on the opening day, and ensures that they will finish in the top two of Group A. However, they were given some scares in the final quarter of the match by a 10-man Panthers team that simply refused to give in.

Table tennis top seed, Derek Abrefa, will defend his title during the National Top 8 tournament at the Accra Stadium Tennis Court on Saturday.

Abrefa, who won last year’s competition, would be joined by fellow national greats such as Felix Lartey, Emmanuel Commey, Bernard Joe Sam, Jacob Saikom, Emmanuel Asante, Ernest Mawutor and Ishmael Addy after their qualification from the four invitational justifiers.

The announcement of the date was made yesterday during the launch of this year’s competition at the Accra Stadium.

Ghana's 1965 African Cup of Nations winning team last Tuesday received GH¢51,000 from Prolux Ghana Limited, being a pledge made by the electronic appliance company.

The CEO of Prolux, Prosper Kwame Appiah, made the pledge last December at the 50th anniversary dinner held in honour of the 1965 Black Stars squad at the Sun Lodge Hotel in Accra.

His company joins the likes of Black Stars’ Captain Asamoah Gyan ($13,000), NPP Presidential Aspirant, Nana Akufo-Addo (GH¢25,000), MD of Kofata Motors, Young Kofata (GH¢15,000), Mr Osei Kwame Despite of the Despite Group of Companies (GH¢80,000) and the Founder of Glorious Waves Church International, Prophet Emmanuel Badu Kobi ($10,000) who have fulfilled their promises to the former Black Stars players.

Hat-trick hero Chisom Chikatara, midfielder Usman Mohammed and defender Orji Kalu, have pushed for starting shirts with Nigeria’s Super Eagles at the CHAN on the strength of their displays against Niger, officials have disclosed.

Chikatara came off the bench in the 58th minute to replace the hugely ineffective Tunde Adeniji and he showed his class with three well-taken goals and could even have scored more against Mena.

He has done more than enough to lead the Eagles strike force against Tunisia next Friday afternoon.

Usman Mohammed did more in the 20 minutes he was on the pitch than the older and more experienced Bartholomew ‘Mosquito’ Ibenegbu produced in 70 minutes.

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet signed a new contract with the club until 2021 yesterday, but the news did not go down well with all of the Merseyside faithful on social media, with many questioning the club's decision.

The Belgian stopper has come in for criticism on numerous occasions this season for some error prone displays.

Mignolet, 27, joined the Reds from Sunderland in 2013 for £9m and has made 122 appearances for the Anfield club.

Borussia Dortmund will allow Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to leave the club if their valuation of £53.5m is met, a top Spanish journalist has claimed.

 The Bundesliga top scorer, who has a return of 17 goals in 18 games this season, has been the subject of a reported £44.6m approach from Premier League leaders Arsenal this window.

Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers revealed the club's owners thought Mario Balotelli was a "£50million player" that they could bring in for cheap and develop.

Rodgers, who was sacked in October last year, signed Balotelli with the money Liverpool received from the sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona.

The Italian striker cost the club £16million but was one of the Rodgers' last options after he failed to sign Alexis Sanchez.

"We played AC Milan in a friendly in America because what we needed was a replacement for a player who could press from the top end of the field," he told Sky's Goals last Sunday programme.

West Ham striker Diafra Sakho had his £200,000 Lamborghini Huracan "written off" after crashing into a wall in east London last Monday night.

The incident, which happened in the Emerson Park/Hornchuch area close to Sakho's home, saw the Senegalese collide with an oncoming Mini Cooper and career into a wall at about 9pm

David Haye has urged British heavyweight rival Anthony Joshua to make the fans happy and step in the ring with him this year but has labelled it as a 'risky fight' for his potential opponent.

Haye made a dream return to boxing on Saturday night when he knocked Mark de Mori out within three minutes of his comeback at London's O2 Arena.

The former world champion had not fought for three-and-a-half-years but returned in style and sent a timely reminder to his heavyweight rivals.

Defending London Marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya will renew his rivalry with 2014 winner and compatriot Wilson Kipsang at this year's race after both confirmed their participation in the April 24 event, organisers said yesterday.

Kipchoge, who currently leads the world rankings, clinched victory over Kipsang, 33, at last year's London Marathon by just five seconds and also won the 2015 Berlin Marathon, where he clocked a personal best of two hours and four minutes.

Tottenham could be forced to continue paying Emmanuel Adebayor even if he signs for a new club this month.

The Togo striker is on the lookout for a new team with a switch to the Premier League his top priority.

Spurs are still paying the striker £100,000 per week despite the fact he left the club in September after falling out of favour in north London.

And the White Hart Lane outfit is facing the prospect of forking out for the 31-year-old even if he finds a new club.

Crystal Palace is leading the chase for the former Arsenal hitman, while Watford is also keeping tabs on the forward.

Opoku Nti, the General Manager of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, has lauded the healthy competition in the club’s squad, explaining that it is the secret behind their recent successes.

“It’s a new development in our team which is bringing out the best from the players”, he added.  

“The players we have at our disposal are all fighting to cement their positions in the team and I think it’s a good sign for the club”, he explained.

Former assistant coach of the Black Stars, Abdul Karim Razak, has made a passionate appeal to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to offer him an appointment to coach any of the national teams.

According to Razah, ever since his appointment as assistant to Giuseppe Dossena, (a former Italian-born Stars head coach), was truncated in 2001, he had always been sidelined at the national level in spite of his expertise and experience in the art of football coaching.

Expressing concern about the situation during an interview with the Graphic Sports, Razak, who also captained the Stars in the 80s, said his appointment as deputy to Dossena came at the time when he was engaged by the Dragons in Benin.