Denver, Colorado  - The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday urged world football governing body FIFA to agree to the World Anti-Doping Agency's "whereabouts" code for doping tests.

Under the rule, which took effect on January 1, athletes must make their whereabouts known for one hour on every day of the year.

FIFA has so far refused to implement the code, citing the invasion of player privacy during periods away from teams, such as holidays.

Austin, Texas - Lance Armstrong remains upbeat about his chances of being to race in May's Giro d'Italia despite suffering a broken collarbone in a racing accident on Monday.

The seven-time Tour de France winner crashed on stage one of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon and will undergo surgery in the United States to insert a metal plate to strengthen the bone.

Kolkata, March 25 : Sourav Ganguly today said that he was not consulted on the captaincy issue and that he came to know about it from the press, hours after being dropped as the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders.

"I was not consulted on the captaincy issue before the final decision was made. I learnt about it from the press," Sourav told a news channel.

Ganguly also added that a team could be expected to do well only if it has a set squad and that cricket was all about giving players confidence and security.

Dubai, Mar 25 : The presentation of ICC Test Championship mace and the ODI Championship shield plus prize money was made to the captains of the Australia and South Africa teams in Johannesburg today.

Captain Ricky Ponting accepted the mace and 175,000 dollars on behalf of Cricket Australia for leading the team that will finish top of the Test Championship table on the annual cut-off date of 1 April. He also picked up a cheque for 75,000 dollars for coming second in the ODI Championship on the same date.

Leipzig, Germany - German football federation DFB president Theo Zwanziger would like Joachim Loew to stay on as coach of the national team beyond the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

"There's no cause at the moment to think about any other solutions," Zwanziger told German Press Agency dpa.

Loew has said he wants to wait until Germany has qualified for South Africa before considering extending his contract beyond 2010.

Budapest - Ice hockey fans and players are mourning the loss of Hungarian international Gabor Ocskay, who died on Tuesday night of a heart attack.

"Gabor suffered a heart attack at midnight, and there was nothing they could do to help him," the player's father told the local news agency MTI.

Ocskay, 33, was diagnosed with a heart condition in 2004. He was given the green light to resume playing after a four-month break, subject to ongoing medical monitoring.