The NHL barred Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman 20 games on Wednesday for cross-checking a linesman last week, the second-longest suspension in NHL history for abusing an official.

Wideman was suspended for violating the league rule on physical abuse of officials after he knocked down linesman Don Henderson during the Flames' game against Nashville on Jan. 27. The league cited Rule 40 in handing out the harsh penalty.

Bayern Munich's bad luck continued on Wednesday as new signing Serdar Tasci suffered concussion in his very first training session and had to sit out his introductory press conference.

"He went into a collision with his head and was shaken, it means he has a slight concussion. It's a bit unfortunate," admitted Bayern's director of sport Matthias Sammer.

Atletico Madrid left-back Filipe Luis has been handed a three-game ban for his dangerous challenge on World Player of the Year Lionel Messi in Saturday's top of the table clash won 2-1 by Barcelona.

Luis was shown a straight red card just before half-time for catching Messi on his left knee with his studs, sparking wild protests from Barca boss Luis Enrique.

Seventeen-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer underwent "successful" surgery on his knee Wednesday and will be ruled out of action for one month, his agent said.

Federer underwent the surgery to repair a torn meniscus sustained the day after his semi-final match at the Australian Open, according to Tony Godsick.

Neymar and his father maintained their innocence after appearing before a judge on Tuesday in an investigation into alleged irregularities regarding the player's transfer to Barcelona.

The Brazilian striker was in court for more than an hour and a half, and his father — who is also his agent — was questioned for nearly three hours. Neymar left without giving any details about his testimony, but his father said their position has not changed and they again denied wrongdoing.

Mohamed Salah ended a three-month goalscoring drought to help Roma win 2-0 at Sassuolo and move provisionally fourth in Serie A on Tuesday.

Roma was almost made to rue its profligacy in front of goal when Sassuolo was awarded a penalty with three minutes left — and with the scoreline still 1-0 — after a foul on Lorenzo Pellegrini by Radja Nainggolan, who was sent off for a second yellow card.

Jamie Vardy's stunning volley set Leicester on its way to a 2-0 victory over Liverpool on Tuesday, keeping the unlikely title challengers top of the Premier League on a night Manchester United rediscovered its scoring touch at Old Trafford.

Manchester City and Tottenham also won to stay in touch with Leicester, but Arsenal was held 0-0 by Southampton and dropped to fourth place.

Pep Guardiola's imminent arrival in the Premier League is a game-changer not just for Manchester City but for English football, bringing a coveted, visionary coach to a club already having a stated aim of being a "leader in the world of football."

City has thrown down the challenge to England's other powers, and their response will be fascinating.

Guangzhou Evergrande of the Chinese Super League said Wednesday it has signed Atletico Madrid striker Jackson Martinez for a new record sum in the Asian transfer market.

The 29-year-old Colombian has signed to a four-year contract for a fee of $45.8 million (42 million euros), the club said on its website. It said Martinez will join winter training in Dubai on February 9 after completing his physical exam.

Canadian downhiller Erik Guay called it "awesome." American racer Travis Ganong raved over "Olympic-caliber" conditions. Even Christof Innerhofer, the Italian who only likes the most difficult of challenges, was satisfied.

The completely new downhill course developed for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics got mostly favorable reviews Wednesday from World Cup skiers testing it for the first time.