India's top competitor at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi says not being able to compete under the national flag because of a political dispute will not harm his performance.

"In my heart and mind I'm competing for India," luge competitor Shiva Kesavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. "Every day I'm flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me. This is enough to push me forward."

Mohamed Salah, Chelsea's new signing from Basel, has been named best player of 2013 at the Swiss Football League awards.

The Egypt midfielder was also voted the fans' favorite player.

Formula One ace Michael Schumacher remains in intensive care nearly a month after a ski accident that left him plunged into a medically induced coma whose outcome remains unclear.

After his December 29 fall at Meribel ski resort in the French Alps, Schumacher was sedated and cooled to around 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) to ease the risk of further damage to the brain.

Mercedes' new look car for the 2014 Formula One season will display a message of support for seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, who remains in a coma following a serious skiing accident last month.

The bodywork of the W05 model will display the words "KeepFightingMichael," which has been used as a hashtag on the social networking site Twitter for fans to send their messages of support to the German.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said the club had shown Michael Essien "respect" by letting him join AC Milan.

The 31-year-old Ghana midfielder's transfer window move to Italy was formally completed on Monday after Milan had announced Essien would be joining them on Friday.

Racing Santander players have threatened not to play in the club's Copa del Rey quarterfinal, second leg against Real Sociedad on Thursday if president Angel Lavin and the rest of the board don't resign.

The stricken Cantabrian club, which has spent the majority of its 101-year history in the top flight, is currently playing in the third-tier of Spanish football having suffered two consecutive relegations and falling into administration.

While he rotted away on Chelsea's substitutes' bench this season, Juan Mata could see his chances of playing for Spain at the World Cup slip away.

Mata had already been dropped from Spain's squad once this season and with the country blessed with so many playmakers, he was in real danger of being overlooked for the trip to Brazil to defend their title.

Arsenal has signed a sponsorship deal with Puma to replace Nike as its kit maker.

The agreement is reported to be generating 30 million pounds ($50 million) a year for the Premier League leaders. The length of the deal was not announced.

Seven years ago, Vladimir Putin traveled all the way to Guatemala to woo Olympic leaders with his grandiose vision: hosting the Winter Games in Russia's little-known Black Sea summer resort of Sochi.

Putin's personal pitch — delivered partly in English and French — did the trick as Sochi beat out bids from South Korea and Austria for the right to stage the 2014 Games on the so-called "Russian Riviera."

Ask a Brazilian how their national team will fare at the World Cup and chances are they will predict a run at least to the July 13 final, if not a win. Understandable optimism, given that Brazil will be playing at home and has won more World Cups (five) than any other football power.

But what if the host nation is booted out early? Very possible with defending champion Spain or 2010 runner-up the Netherlands looming for Brazil in the first knockout game and a tough path beyond that. Are Brazilians good losers? Would they sour the tournament mood in defeat? Or swallow their disappointment with a few morale-boosting caipirinha cocktails, crank up the samba and party on?