Sporting Digest: Football

Ronnie Whelan, the former Liverpool and Republic of Ireland midfielder, has resigned as coach of the Greek club Panionios to take over at the Cypriot side Olympiakos Nicosia.

Yugoslav clubs will be allowed to take part in next season's Champions' League and Uefa Cup due to improved conditions in the country, Uefa announced yestersday. Partizan Belgrade will play in the first qualifying phase of the Champions' League and Red Star Belgrade and Vojvodina will play in the Uefa Cup.

Leslie Deans has stepped down as chairman of the Scottish Premier League side Hearts. He is replaced by Douglas Smith, who was previously vice- chairman at Tynecastle.

Scotland's Euro 2000 qualifier against Bosnia will now be played on 5 October at Ibrox. It is good news for Craig Brown, the Scotland manager, who was unhappy at the possibility of the match being played in August when players would not be fully match fit.