In other sport….

TENNIS:  RAFAEL Nadal will appear in the ATP World Tour finals, it was confirmed this week.  The finals, which will be staged at London’s O2 Arena in November, are contested each year by only the top eight male players in the world.  Nadal’s tremendous form so far this season has ensured that he will be still in the top eight by November, regardless of how he performs between now and then.

RUGBY:  LEICESTER and Leinster meet in the Heineken Cup final in Edinburgh this Saturday and experts are anticipating a heated battle.

FORMULA ONE:  JENSON Button is anticipating a rough ride in Sunday’s Grand Prix in Monte Carlo.  The Brit, who drives for Brawn GP, leads the Formula One Drivers’ Championship having won four of the first five races this season.

SCOTTISH LEAGUE NEWS -

PREMIER:  KYLE Lafferty’s shocking antics in Rangers’ match against Aberdeen last weekend have once again brought the issue of diving into the limelight and the time is right for FIFA to make themselves heard.

DIVISION ONE:  St Johnstone’s Paul Sheerin, Graham Gartland and Kevin Rutkiewicz have all signed new one year deals.

DIVISION TWO:  AYR and Airdrie battled to a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the Division Two play-off final last night.

DIVISION THREE:  The Division Three promotion race will go down to the wire after a goal-less draw between Cowdenbeath and Stehousemuir in the play-off final last night.

Shakhtar secure last Uefa win

SHAKHTAR Donetsk won the last ever UEFA Cup, beating Werder Bremen 2-1 after extra time on Wednesday.  97th minute strike from Rodrigues Jadson won the tie for the Ukranian side.

Shaktar’s victory means that they will go down in history as the last winners of the  tournament.  The UEFA Cup is to be replaced next season by a new competition, the Europa League.

Ferrari consider FIA future

FERRARI have confirmed that they will consider leaving Formula One after their appeal against the FIA’s budget cap proposals was rejected on Wednesday.  The FIA want to introduce an optional £40m cap in 2010 to protect teams during the global financial crisis. Teams that accept the cap will receive greater technical freedom than those that don’t.  Ferrari said this would create a two-tier system favouring those who accept the budget cap.  The deadline for teams to sign up for next season’s competition is next week.  Several teams are backing Ferrari and may also withdraw from the FIA if a solution is not reached.

Football Round-up

Celtic will look to extend their one-point lead at the top of the SPL when they travel to Aberdeen on Saturday. Rangers face a tough tie at home to Hearts on Sunday. They know that they have to win to stay in the title race.

At the other end of the table Falkirk host Motherwell. The Bairns will be hoping to reduce the four-point gap on second-bottom Inverness who are away to St Mirren.

It’s a big weekend in the First Division. St Johnstone will win the league if they beat Morton at home. Second placed Partick need to beat relegation threatened Airdrie at home and hope that St Johnstone slip up. Partick will be up against it however; Airdrie need to beat them if they are to stand any chance of avoiding the play-offs. They will be up for the challenge.

The race for the second division title could also reach its final stage this weekend. Raith are top of the league, two points clear of second place Ayr United. Raith would win the league if they beat Queen’s Park and Ayr lose to Alloa. It’s been a roller-coaster ride for both teams and whoever wins the league will truly have deserved it.

It’s a similar situation in the Third Division where Dumbarton will be crowned champions if they win and Cowdenbeath lose. The league is perhaps the most open in Scotland however. Should Dumbarton lose both Cowdenbeath and East Stirling have the chance to take the title.