The English Football Association has fined Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson 12,000 pounds ($18,900) for implying a referee's assistant was motivated by bias.

After a 1-1 draw at Tottenham last month, Ferguson was angry that linesman Simon Beck didn't award a penalty when United was leading 1-0.

Rafael Nadal's knee held up for a third straight day as he won a doubles match at the VTR Open on Thursday, and he will get twice the workout on Friday.

The Spaniard teamed with Juan Monaco to reach the doubles semifinals with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over Guillaume Ruffin and Filippo Volandri; his third match in three days after being away from the game for seven months with an ailing left knee and a stomach virus.

Just when Tokyo was getting a boost in its bid to host the 2020 Olympics, an ugly scandal has surfaced within the Japanese sporting culture and threatened to undermine the nation's hosting hopes.

Tokyo bid officials were thrilled last month when a poll showed that public support for the bid had risen to 73 percent, given that low public support had derailed the 2016 bid.

The offices of the Beitar Jerusalem football team were set on fire early Friday in an apparent arson attack, police said, a day after four of the club's fans were charged with anti-Muslim chanting at a recent game.

The attack also followed an announcement by police that it would begin deploying undercover units and beefing up police presence at games to track down those fans involved in racist chants.

The Hong Kong-based owner of Birmingham City says it has been approached by a group that wants to buy the English Championship club.

Birmingham International Holdings Ltd. said in a brief statement Friday that its lawyers were in touch with the group, led by a sports management company, to clarify the offer.

A U.S. insurance firm filed a lawsuit against disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong on Thursday, demanding he return $12 million in bonus money paid for his Tour de France triumphs.

Texas-based SCA Promotions wants the confessed dope cheat to repay money the firm paid out after insuring his Tour victories in 2002, 2003 and 2004, because he was stripped of his record seven Tour titles last year.

Lionel Messi has signed a new contract that will tie him to Barcelona until 2018, the club announced on Thursday.

Barca had already signaled Messi's intent to sign a new deal, along with teammates Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernandez, back in December and the four-time World Player of the Year has now put pen to paper.

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher will retire from football at the end of this season, the English Premier League club said in a statement on Thursday.

"This will be my last season at Liverpool and my last as a professional footballer," said Carragher.

Rafael Nadal has taken a few shaky steps in a comeback he hopes will give him a fighting chance of winning his eighth French Open title.

After being away from singles tennis for more than seven months while getting therapy on an injured left knee, Nadal defeated Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the VTR Open.

A pair of Australians won a race to the top — or to the 86th floor, anyway.

Aussies captured the top spots in the men's and women's races in the annual Empire State Building Run-up on Wednesday night.