Xamax get stadium green light

Neuchâtel Xamax FC have been given the go-ahead to build a new 12,000-seater stadium. The Swiss first division club were told on Thursday that local authorities had approved a financial package of €1.27m to help fund construction, which will start at the beginning of October.

New complex
The new Maladière stadium, which should open in 2007, will be at the heart of a complex including an indoor sports halls and a shopping centre. Initial work will begin in the spring with large sections of the old Maladière expected to be demolished in the summer. It is not yet clear where Xamax will play their home games while the construction is going on.

Kientz surgery

FC Hansa Rostock

Sarpei extension
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, Ghanaian international Hans Sarpei has extended his contract with VfL Wolfsburg for another three years until 2007. The 27-year-old defender, who joined Wolfsburg in summer 2001 from MSV Duisburg, has made 15 appearances for the club this season.

Heubach stays put
Meanwhile in the Netherlands, FC Twente defender Jeroen Heubach has signed a new deal with the club which will keep him in Enschede until the summer of 2007. A product of the club's youth academy, the 29-year-old has spent his entire career with Twente, aside from two seasons he spent with MVV Maastricht between 1997 and 1999. Twente currently lie in sixth place in the Eredivisie.