Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil has been named the best "German abroad" by influential magazine kicker.

The "kicker ranking of German football" is published on a biannual basis, and ranks players in all positions, and also those plying their trade abroad.

It divides them into four categories: world class, international class, players of note and players in focus.

Ozil is the only "German abroad" to be called up into the international class following his impressive displays for the Gunners in 2015-16.

All other German players in foreign leagues -- including World Cup winners Toni Kroos, Sami Khedira, and Bastian Schweinsteiger -- were only in third or fourth categories.

Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona came from behind to beat Espanyol, who finished the first leg of their Copa del Rey last-16 tie with nine men.

Felipe Caicedo put the visitors ahead after good play by Marco Asensio.

Messi equalised and then put Barca ahead with a fantastic 25-yard, off-the-bar free-kick, before setting up Gerard Pique to slide in a third.

FIFA's ethics judges announced yesterday they had opened formal proceedings against suspended Secretary General Jerome Valcke over alleged corruption involving World Cup ticket sales, one of many scandals now surrounding soccer's governing body.

The announcement came after an ethics investigation into the case recommended a nine-year ban for Valcke, former right-hand man to FIFA president Sepp Blatter who himself has been banned for eight years.

Valcke, who is suspended pending the final outcome and has denied wrongdoing, has been invited to submit evidence to the panel, FIFA's independent Ethics Committee said in a statement.

Sloane Stephens knocked out the player who was embroiled in a racket-throwing controversy at the ASB Classic in Auckland.

The American ended Naomi Broady's impressive run in New Zealand on yesterday with a 7-6 (6), 6-3 win to advance to the semifinals.

British No.3 Broady had followed up a win over former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic with a battling second-round victory over Jelena Ostapenko to book a clash with fifth seed Stephens.

Roger Federer took 55 minutes to dispel all injury doubts with a 6-2 6-1 routing of unheralded German Tobias Kamke in the second round of the Brisbane International yesterday.

Media speculations swirled around the fitness of the world number three less than two weeks before he launches his bid for a fifth Australian Open title and the Swiss maestro dismissed them by dropping only three games in a lop-sided contest.

"I'm going to do my best to stay injury free and give myself a chance to win another grand slam," Federer said after setting up a quarter-final against Grigor Dimitrov.

Didier Drogba is considering ending his playing career to aid a move back to Chelsea as part of Guus Hiddink's backroom staff - but reports of him having retired are wide of the mark.

Reports surfaced last Wednesday night that the Stamford Bridge icon had informed his club Montreal Impact of his decision, but the club and the player's representatives say those are wide off the mark.

Drogba wrote on Twitter: 'I have not yet announced my retirement & am still in discussion with @impactmontreal about my future.'

The Ghana Weightlifting Federation (WTF) is moving into full gear as it prepares for its boardmeeting and annual congress in January and February respectively this year.

The gathering will also open the floodgates for the federation to begin preparation in earnest towards its participation in a number of domestic and international competitions outlined for the year.

These include the First Indomie Youth and Junior Championship which will be held in Ghana, the Arnold International Championship in Columbus, USA, the Australian Open International Tournament also in Brisbane, Australia, a test event for the Rio Olympics in April and the African Rio Olympic qualifier in May, among other competitions.

The Ghana Taekwondo Federation (GTF) will this year continue to intensify its efforts to get to every corner of the country by encouraging the formation of more clubs within communities and schools.

To this end, the federation under the leadership of its president, Federick Otu Lartey, is urging the various regional chairmen to brace themselves up for another exciting and successful year by working assiduously to improve upon the achievements of last year in which practitioners and, for that matter, the federation, won three silver medals and a bronze from both international and domestic competitions.

Earlier, last year, the team won two silver medals when members of the federation took part in the 2015 Las Vegas Open and the 2015 US Open Championships respectively and later won silver and bronze medals at the All African Games (AAG) held in Congo Brazzaville in September.

A former board member of Accra Hearts of Oak, Alhaji Braimah Sulemana, aka Alhaji Hearts, has taken umbrage at the appointment of Vincent Sowah Odotei and Alhaji Akambi on the board of the  club in one of the latest decisions taken by the board.

He contended that the decision to introduce the two, particularly Alhaji Akambi, was a recipe for disaster and wondered what the board considered before arriving at the decision.

“What is all about Akambi that he should be on the board of Hearts at all cost?. I believe that if broader consultations were held the board would not have taken this decision”, he stressed in an interview with the Graphic Sports.

Ghanaian Foreign-based Athletes Association (GFAA), in consultation with coaches based in Ghana, has named Coach Anselm Nyavadzie as the 2015 Athletics Coach of the Year.

The award is in recognition of the pivotal role played by local coaches towards the development of athletics in the country.

Coach Nyavadzie is the head of the Physical Education Department of TI Ahmadiyya SHS and is credited with nurturing national long jumper, Richard Seklorwu, to win Ghana’s first gold medal at the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa.

Michael Ayitey Okine aka Ayitey Powers stands accused in an alleged assault of one Paul Ansah, described as an accomodation agent, at Korle Gono in Accra.

According to the victim, the incident took place on December 28 last year when he was in a discussion with a client in his car, which was packed in front of his home at Korle Gonno.

He said some boys, in an unprovoked act, forced him out of the car and descended on him on the orders of Powers.

The 32-year- old Ansah told the Graphic Sports that “both my client and I were scared so he drove me to the Korle Bu Police Station to report the case”, he recounted.

Borussia Dortmund have no desire to sell prolific forward Pierre Emerick Aubameyang.

Arsenal are among many of Europe's elite clubs to have discussed the prospect of signing the Gabon international who has scored 17 goals in 18 appearances this season.

Aubameyang has long been admired by Arsene Wenger who flirted with the prospect of signing the striker when he was at St Etienne but Dortmund were the club that took the chance.

Speculation was rife last Wednesday that Arsenal had made an offer after 26-year-old Aubameyang missed training.

Barcelona striker Luis Suarez faces a ban of up to three Copa del Rey matches after being cited in the referee's report for calling Espanyol players "a waste of space" at the end of a heated Catalan derby.

Barca won the first leg of the Copa de Rey last-16 tie between the sides 4-1 on Wednesday as Espanyol had two players sent off and were lucky to escape further punishment as goalkeeper Pau Lopez's violent stamp on Lionel Messi went unseen.

However, it is Suarez, who was also booked for a clash with Lopez, who is expected to receive a one to three-game Cup ban for sparking a brawl in the tunnel after the game that security personnel had to break up.

It is no mean feat to consistently qualify for the FIFA World Cup. However, does consistent qualification for the World Cup imply an automatic demise in our Premier League?

Since Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi took over the helm of the FA in 2005, the only thing he can boast of is overseeing the qualification of the Black Stars to the World Cup. Should the GFA consider this as its greatest achievement? Is qualification to the World Cup the only agenda on the books of the FA?

The state of the Premier League even makes the populace wonder if we have a football association at all. Strikingly, the poor turnout to stadiums, exodus of our key players to other African leagues, disgraceful wages received by players, deplorable state of pitches even at the national stadia, inadequate sponsorship for the league and a lack of classic players are the hallmark of our league presently.

The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the just-ended “Rush Community Basketball” Tournament, Emmanuel Kwame Dickson, has received a brand new sleek Huawei P8 Lite from global telecommunications and ICT firm, Huawei Technologies Ghana, as part of a sponsorship agreement.

Mr Dickson, who helped eventual winners, Osu Hawks, to defeat Ashaiman Tigers in the grand finale, was voted the best player of the competition.

On receiving his award, Mr Dickson commended Huawei for their efforts in the development of sports in the country.