Referee attacker gets 27-game ban

Paraguayan footballer Jose Pedrozo has been handed a 27-game ban for attempting to choke a referee during a Chilean second division match. The Chile Football Association gave him 20 games for trying to choke Marcelo Miranda, five more for trying to attack him a second time, and two more for the red card he received moments beforehand.

Inter Milan, the Serie A and European champions, have signed Andrea Ranocchia, the centre-half, from Genoa on a five-year contract. However, Genoa will hold half of Ranocchia's sporting rights and the 22-year-old will be loaned back to Genoa for the coming season. A statement from Inter read: "Ranocchia will be under contract at Inter until June 30, 2015." Ranocchia was on loan at Bari for the last two seasons and had been tipped to make Italy's World Cup squad.

* Agencies