The National Football League beat out Bundesliga Football for the honor of being the best attended professional sports league in the world, Sportingintelligence.com reported Friday.

The NFL took the top spot with an average of 67,591 fans per game in 2012, an increase from 67,394 a year earlier.

Defending champion Andy Murray moved into the semi-finals of the Brisbane International on Friday when he downed a tenacious Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

Murray, back on court after playing the late match on Thursday night, took his chances against Istomin on a few key points, edging out the world number 43 in two tight sets in just over an hour and a half.

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini played down his row with Mario Balotelli and insists the striker still has a future with him by claiming he will give him another '100 chances' at the club.

The Italian pair were pictured grappling on the training ground in an apparent bust-up on Thursday in the latest in a long line of incidents involving the controversial striker.

English Premier League side Newcastle United on Friday said they had completed the signing of Lille and France defender Mathieu Debuchy for an undisclosed fee.

The 27-year-old, who has played more than 230 times for the Ligue 1 side during a 10-year spell, including in their league and cup-winning double year in the 2010-2011 season, has signed a five-and-a-half year contract at St James' Park.

LeBron James scored 32 points and finished one assist shy of a triple-double and Dwyane Wade added 27 points as the Miami Heat rallied to beat the Dallas Mavericks 119-109 in overtime on Wednesday.

Chris Bosh also scored 17 for Miami, which extended its NBA Eastern Conference-leading record to 22-8.

Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka wasted no time in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Kazakh qualifier Ksenia Pervak on Thursday, setting up a possible semifinal showdown with Serena Williams at the Brisbane International.

Azarenka, the reigning Australian Open champion, needed only 68 minutes to win her quarterfinal, breaking Pervak's serve seven times.

A South Korean club said it has acquired North Korea striker Jong Tae Se from Germany's Cologne.

The Suwon Samsung Bluewings announced Thursday they have agreed to pay Cologne 300,000 euros ($394,000) for the acquisition, but declined to say how much they will pay the 27-year-old forward. Bluewings official Lee Ho-seung said Jong had sought the transfer and the negotiations to acquire him lasted several months.

Rafa Benitez's decision to rotate his Chelsea side backfired as bottom-place Queens Park Rangers produced its first topflight win at Stamford Bridge since 1979 on Wednesday in one of the biggest shocks of the season.

Compounding Chelsea's misery, it was former winger Shaun Wright-Phillips whose goal in the 78th minute halted a four-match winning streak by clinching QPR's 1-0 west London derby win.

Real Madrid defender Pepe had surgery on his right ankle at a clinic in Portugal on Wednesday, the club said, without giving a timeframe for his recovery.

"Pepe, after showing discomfort in his right ankle and after a medical check, was operated on this morning in Oporto... at the Espregueira Mendes Clinic. The player had an arthroscopy of the ankle," Real Madrid said in a statement online.

Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova visited team players at their training ground on Wednesday, less than two weeks after he had cancer surgery, the club said.

The visit raised hopes that Vilanova, 44, may soon return to work with the team, which is flying nine points clear at the top of the Spanish league.