Sporting Digest: Football

The Ipswich Town manager George Burley has been awarded the Nationwide Manager of the Month award for August. The Portman Road club sit at the top of the First Division table after four wins and one draw from five games. Wigan Athletic's John Benson collects the Second Division award while, in the Third, Peter Fox becomes Exeter City's first recipient of the accolade.

TSV 1860 Munich are hoping that Lothar Matthaus, currently with their German Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich, will decide not to move to New York-New Jersey MetroStars in the United States next year but join them instead. "I have talked to Lothar many times and he knows he can join us any time," the 1860 coach Werner Lorant said. "There will always be a place for him in our team." MetroStars have suffered a series of poor results in Major League Soccer and there has been speculation in the German press that Matthaus might not join them after all.

Sturm Graz signed the Yugoslav striker Marko Pantelic from the Spanish club Celta Vigo ahead of the transfer deadline for the Champions' League. The Austrian club are in Manchester United's group.

The midfielder Ivailo Yordanov is to miss Bulgaria's European Championship qualifier against Sweden on Saturday because of an ankle injury. The Sporting Lisbon player, who also captains his country, suffered the injury in Bulgaria's friendly against Ukraine two weeks ago.

The Spanish club Seville will have to play one home match away from their Sanchez Pizjuan stadium after a bottle was thrown at a referee's assistant during their opening Spanish League game of the season.

The Zhemchuzhina Sochi goalkeeper Gennady Tumilovich has been banned for five matches by the Russian Professional Football League for verbally abusing a referee. The league said the Belarus international repeatedly swore at officials during a Premier Division match at Krylya Sovietov Samara 10 days ago.

NATIONWIDE FOOTBALL LEAGUE: Postponed: Sat 4 Sept: Wolves v Charlton (international call-ups). Re-arranged matches: Tue 16 Nov: Swansea v Cheltenham (from 4 Sept). Tue 23 Nov: Colchester v Cardiff (from 24 Nov).