Fiorentina beat 10-man Hellas Verona 4-3 in an eventful Italian league game on Monday to boost its hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League, while Napoli won 3-2 at Lazio to stay in touch with Juventus and Roma.

Four of the goals came in the opening 15 minutes in an open match at the Stadio Franchi as Fiorentina captain Borja Valero scored twice, either side of goals from on-loan Fiorentina midfielder Romulo and Juan Iturbe for Verona.

Organizers of the 2014 World Cup say football great Pele will make an appearance at Friday's draw in Brazil but his role is being kept a secret.

It hadn't been clear whether Pele would be participating in the event that will determine the schedule for next year's tournament, but organizers confirmed Monday he will be part of the show broadcast to about 250 million viewers in more than 190 countries.

Less than three years after Assem Allam rescued Hull from falling into financial ruin, the goodwill toward the Egyptian businessman has turned into open hostility.

Allam was feted as a savior after injecting about 40 million pounds ($61 million) into the club when it was close to bankruptcy while playing in the second-tier League Championship in 2010. The team then secured a surprise return to the Premier League last season.

Bayern Munich has given Austria defender David Alaba a three-year contract extension.

The Bundesliga and Champions League title holders announced the extension will keep the 21-year-old Alaba with the club until June 2018.

One of the four Olympic gold medals won by track and field star Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Games is up for sale in an online auction that runs through December 7.

The medal recalls both the Nazi propaganda myths that Owens busted with his world record-setting 100-yard dash, and the American segregation that he came home to when he returned to the U.S. after the Games.

David West scored 14 of his 24 points in the third quarter and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Paul George had 27 points as the league-leading Indiana Pacers improved their best start in club history to 16 wins from 17 games with a 105-100 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.

Roy Hibbert added 19 points to the Pacers' seventh straight win.

Barcelona lost its second straight game without injured star Lionel Messi when Athletic Bilbao handed the defending Spanish league champions a 1-0 loss Sunday at San Mames.

Forward Iker Muniain scored the winner in the 70th minute after Bilbao's incessant pressure recovered the ball and sparked a counterattack inside Barcelona's half.

Chelsea recovered from conceding a goal after only 13 seconds to move to second in the Premier League with a 3-1 win over Southampton while defending champion Manchester United and Liverpool lost ground in the title race on Sunday.

John Terry scored on his 400th Premier League appearance after Gary Cahill canceled Southampton's opener from Jay Rodriguez at Stamford Bridge, and substitute Demba Ba sealed the victory in the 90th.

The struggling Brooklyn Nets seized a much-needed NBA victory Saturday with a 97-88 triumph over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Brook Lopez, in his second game back from an ankle injury, took charge in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of his 20 points in the final period to help the Nets seal the win.

Gareth Bale insisted that Cristiano Ronaldo remains the world's best player in his eyes as the Welshman ably filled the Portuguese's shoes with his first Real Madrid hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Valladolid on Saturday.

Ronaldo was forced to sit out a second consecutive game with a slight muscle strain, but his absence proved no problem for Madrid as Bale took his tally to eight goals in his last seven games.