PARIS - CHELSEA'S Didier Drogba this entered this season having lost his passion for football, the Ivory Coast striker told French media.

'This summer, I no longer had a head for football. I had completely lost the fire. I no longer wanted to hear talk of targets or ambition. I felt completely extinguished. For the first time in my career, I had lost the passion for football. I was lost,' Drogba said in an interview with France Football magazine published on Tuesday.

LONDON - LIVERPOOL captain Steven Gerrard was charged with assault and affray by police early on Tuesday over an alleged brawl outside a bar that left a disk jockey hospitalised with facial injuries.

The England international - hailed as one of the world's best midfielders - was charged with two other men almost 24 hours after they were arrested in the seaside town of Southport, a police spokesman told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with official policy.

TOKYO - JAPAN'S top broker Nomura Holdings, which lost more than 1.5 billion dollars (S$2.16 billion) in the six months to September, said on Tuesday it will not renew its sponsorship of the Japanese Olympic Committee.

Nomura, an official sponsor of the JOC since 1999, said the current four-year contract would expire at year's end on Wednesday.