Hamburg - A senior European Central Bank (ECB) warned Wednesday that cutting interest rates below 1 per cent could severely hit money markets and result in lending between banks freezing up.

In a speech delivered in Hamburg, Axel Weber, the president of Germany's influential central bank the Bundesbank, said that trimming rates in the 15-member eurozone to below 1 per cent could mean banks lending with each other would become "completely paralyzed." Weber is also a member of the ECB's governing council.

Munich - Bayern Munich must win the Bundesliga title and strengthen its squad, coach Juergen Klinsmann said on Wednesday in the wake of his team's Champions League quarter-final exit against Barcelona.

Confronted with "Klinsmann out" chants from the fans in the return leg against the Spanish league leaders the previous night, Klinsmann acknowledged that every coach is measured by success.

Warsaw - UEFA head Michel Platini was in Ukraine on Wednesday to gather information for a decision on which cities will host Euro 2012 matches in Poland and the former Soviet republic.

Platini at a Kiev press conference said the tournament could be played in "six to eight cities... the best venues possible, the country notwithstanding."

Johannesburg, Apr. 15 : South Africa have backed off-spinner Johan Botha as a key player in their Twenty20 World Cup plans despite him being placed under the scanner for suspect action.

The International Cricket Council says Botha, who was also reported following the Sydney Test of January 2006, has been cited following Monday''s fourth one-day international against Australia in Port Elizabeth.

Sydney, Apr. 15 : Noted cricket columnist Peter Roebuck is of the view that Australian selectors would need to carry out surgical changes in the national squad if the team is to regain its number one status in Tests and one-dayers.

Hamburg  - Hertha Berlin striker Andrey Voronin was banned for three Bundesliga matches and fined 10,000 euros (13,300 dollars) by the ruling body DFB on Wednesday over a red-card offence.

Voronin lost his temper in the 89th minute of Hertha's 2-0 league defeat at Hanover 96 on Saturday. He was dismissed for a foul on Hanover Leon Andreasen and then kicked the ball at Andreasen in disgust about the red card.