John Terry has admitted he snubbed Football Association chairman David Bernstein's attempt to shake hands during the official Champions League trophy handover on Friday.

Terry ignored Bernstein in a show of contempt for the man who stripped the Chelsea defender of the England captaincy after he was accused of racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand during a match last season.

Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie have been nominated for the Premier League's Player of the Year award.

The Professional Footballers' Association has shortlisted six players for the prize, with Michael Carrick, Eden Hazard and Juan Mata completing the list.

Rafael Nadal was pushed all the way by Grigor Dimitrov to win his 45th straight match at the Monte Carlo Masters, reaching the semifinals with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 result on Friday.

Nadal dropped only his third set in his last five tournaments here, the previous times against Andy Murray in the 2011 semifinals and before that against Novak Djokovic in the 2009 final, and he was under pressure at 30-30 in the eighth game of the final set before nailing a crucial serve.

Bahrain's Shiite opposition are set to gather on Friday for mass rallies to highlight pro-reform demands as Formula One Grand Prix practice sessions kicked-off, unaffected by unrest away from the circuit.

Meanwhile, the world motorsport's governing body the FIA and promoters Formula One Management said the race should take place on Sunday, despite the demonstrations.

The Copa Libertadores match between Gremio of Brazil and Huachipato of Chile ended in a huge brawl on Thursday, with coaches fighting each other and players throwing punches and kicks.

The altercation began after the 1-1 draw in Talcahuano, Chile, which eliminated the hosts from the group stage and allowed Gremio to advance.

Brazil striker Neymar is now a comic book character in Brazil, joining other local football stars who have become a reading option to children across the country.

The 21-year-old player announced the "Neymar Jr." comic book on Thursday in a partnership with leading Brazilian cartoonist Mauricio de Sousa.

The Brazilian government plans to improve services at its airports during the Confederations Cup, bringing in more workers and expanding security for the increased passenger traffic expected during the warm-up tournament ahead of the World Cup.

The government says it will increase staff by 77 percent at the six airports used for the June 15-30 tournament, including the number of police, and custom and immigration officers.

The Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers are looking for new coaches.

Detroit fired Lawrence Frank and Cleveland sacked Byron Scott on Thursday, while Doug Collins downgraded his role at Philadelphia to adviser.

Eight-time defending champion Rafael Nadal extended his Monte Carlo Masters winning streak to 44 matches by beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-4 Thursday, while second-seeded Andy Murray was thrashed 6-1, 6-2 by Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round.

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic put his sore right ankle to the test again as he came back from a set down for the second straight match to beat Juan Monaco of Argentina 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Groups protesting Bahrain's Formula One race have put up makeshift roadblocks and barricades of burning tires during clashes with security forces in the violence-wracked Gulf nation.

The demonstrations on Thursday were mostly isolated to anti-government hotbed areas, however, and unlikely to disrupt preparations for Sunday's race, which is the premier international event in the kingdom.