Manchester City forward Robinho has joined Brazilian club Santos on a six-month loan. The Brazil international will return to City on Aug. 4 and his wages and bonuses will be paid by Santos during the loan. City manager Roberto Mancini said Thursday that “Robinho is someone who needs to be playing regularly and we wish him well for the period of his loan.” Robinho reached stardom while playing for Brazilian club Santos, Pele's former club, before going to Spain in 2005. Robinho left Real Madrid to join Premier League club City for a British-record fee of 32.5 million pounds ($58 million) in 2008. After hitting 12 goals in his first 19 games for City, Robinho has scored one this season, at Scunthorpe Sunday. Ferdinand banned Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was banned for four games Thursday after being found guilty of elbowing Hull's Craig Fagan, but will be available to play in the League Cup final. A Football Association disciplinary panel ruled Ferdinand was guilty of violent conduct in Saturday's 4-0 win and dismissed his denial of the charge as “frivolous”. Mutu fails test Fiorentina and Romania striker Adrian Mutu has tested positive for the appetite suppressant drug sibutramine, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) said in a statement Thursday. Mutu, sacked by English Premier League club Chelsea in 2004 after using cocaine, gave a positive sample on Jan. 10 at the Serie A game between Fiorentina and Bari. “In the first sample analyzed, the presence of a metabolite of sibutramine has been revealed for Adrian Mutu,” the statement said. CONI, which acts as Italy's anti-doping body, gave no further details but has a long track record of pursuing bans for sportspeople who fail tests - even if they took drugs by accident. However, CONI did absolve Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro last year when documentation was not filed correctly by Juventus after he received emergency treatment for a wasp sting. Portsmouth shuts down site Portsmouth's financial woes have forced the club to shut down its website because it was unable to pay the service provider. The club is last in the Premier League and has struggled to pay its players on time this season. It also is subject to a liquidation order from the government's revenue and customs department. Reported to be 60 million pounds ($97.2 million) in debt, Portsmouth issued a statement Thursday saying the website was down because the club had failed to keep to the payment plan agreed with Juicy, the company responsible for running the site.
