Ex-Premier League footballer Andrea Dossena has been arrested on suspicion of shoplifting at London department store Harrods, the BBC has learned. The Leyton Orient defender, who used to play for Liverpool, was held in Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, on Tuesday, the BBC reports. The Met Police said a 33-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman were arrested and taken to a west London police station. They have been bailed until late April. Dossena scored against Manchester United and Real Madrid while he was at Liverpool. After joining Liverpool for £7m in July 2008, Dossena scored in the Reds’ 4-0 win against Real Madrid in the Champions League in March 2009 and then again in the club’s 4-1 away victory at Old Trafford against Manchester United. The Italian, who won 10 caps, joined Napoli in January 2010 before a spell at Sunderland in 2013-14. He joined League One Leyton Orient in November last year.

Former Portugal midfielder Luis Figo does not believe the Confederation of African Football’s claim that all 54 votes from the continent will go to Sepp Blatter in the Fifa presidential elections in May. Figo, along with Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan and the Dutch football association president Michael van Praag, is standing against current incumbent Blatter. “I feel there’s a lot of respect for CAF among all the African federations but I’m positive that (CAF president) Mr (Issa) Hayatou did not speak in the name of the 54 members of the confederation. “Even when he (Hayatou) announced he would support Blatter, we could notice a difference from past congresses when a statement like that normally is followed by a standing ovation. “This time we heard just a normal applause, which confirms my idea that a lot of African countries understand and agree with the need to change for the better of everyone, especially the national associations.”

The draw for the 2017 African Cup of Nations is as below:

Group A: Tunisia, Togo, Liberia, Djibouti

Group B: Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Central African Republic, Madagascar

Group C: Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Benin, South Sudan

Group D: Burkina Faso, Uganda, Botswana, Comoros

Group E: Zambia, Congo, Kenya, Guinea Bissau

Group F: Cape Verde, Morocco, Libya, Sao Tome

Group G: Nigeria, Egypt, Tanzania, Chad

Group H: Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda, Mauritius

Group I: Ivory Coast, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Gabon

The winners of the 13 groups will book their place at the tournament along with the two best-placed runners-up excluding the group which contains hosts Gabon, whose matches will be considered friendlies and where only the winner will qualify.

Gabon have been chosen to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals. The 2012 co-hosts won a vote by the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee in Cairo on Wednesday ahead of Algeria and Ghana. It will be the second time as hosts for the country, which is located on the west coast of Africa, having previously shared duties with Equatorial Guinea. Original hosts Libya, where a civil war has halted football, withdrew last year from staging the tournament. Gabon will use four venues for the 16-team tournament, which will be played in January and February. They will be in Libreville and Franceville, which were used in 2012, plus Port Gentil and Oyem where the stadiums will be ready in 14 months, Gabon Football Federation officials said. All three candidate countries made presentations to the CAF executive committee on Wednesday before the ballot was taken. CAF did not make details of the voting immediately available. CAF have already designated the hosts of the 2019 (Cameroon), 2021 (Ivory Coast) and 2023 (Guinea) events.

Montreal Impact winger Dominic Oduro claims fans of Costa Rican side Alajuelense were racist towards him as the Canadian side reached its first Concacaf Champions League final. The Ghanaian, 29, set up the opener in a 4-2 second-leg defeat but the MLS team won the semi-final on away goals. Oduro tweeted: “So sad that in this generation some fans still make monkey noises when black players are playing the game. “Shame to all #alajuelense fans.” He later added: “Say no to racism on the field.”

Italian champions Juventus secured their place in the Coppa Italia final by overturning a first-leg deficit to beat Fiorentina, BBC reports. Massimiliano Allegri’s side trailed 2-1 going into Tuesday’s game but levelled on aggregate when Alessandro Matri fired home a rebound. Roberto Pereyra poked in a second before Leonardo Bonucci volleyed in. Juventus, who had Alvaro Morata sent off late on, will face either Napoli or Lazio in the final. Juve are looking to complete a treble this season. They have a 14-point lead at the top of Serie A and are in the Champions League quarter-finals where they face AS Monaco. Juventus’s win on Tuesday came despite the absence of the injured Carlos Tevez, Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba and Stephan Lichtsteiner. They are looking to win the Coppa Italia for the first time since 1995.

Swimming great, Michael Phelps is to return to competition after his six-month competitive ban for drink-driving ends. Phelps, 29, was stopped by police after being caught travelling at 84mph (135km/h) in a 45mph zone in Baltimore, Maryland, last September. The most decorated Olympian in history will compete in Mesa, Arizona from 15 to 18 April. He tweeted:  “My suspension is finally up! Time to get back in the pool and race again! Looking forward to #mesa!!” Phelps had previously been charged with driving under the influence in Maryland in 2004. Following the latest incident, he pleaded guilty to driving while impaired in exchange for 18 months’ probation as well as receiving a one-year suspended prison term. The 18-time Olympic gold medallist had also been banned from taking part in this summer’s World Championships in Russia. But in March, USA Swimming director Chuck Wielgus told ESPN  that there may be a “pathway” for Phelps to take part. Having initially retired after the 2012 Olympics, Phelps , a swimmer with 58 Olympic gold medals, changed his mind and had been preparing for the 2016 Games in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.