Reuters Sports Schedule at 0001 GMT on Sunday, Sept 27

Reuters sports schedule at 0001 GMT on Sunday: - - - - FIFA Blatter could face FIFA ethics investigation FIFA president Sepp Blatter, already facing a criminal investigation from Swiss prosecutors, may now come under scrutiny from his organisation's own ethics investigators if they find evidence of potential wrongdoing, according to the ruling body's ethics procedure. (SOCCER-FIFA/BLATTER, moved, by Simon Evans, 400 words) - - - - RUGBY World Cup (to Oct. 31) England try to regroup after morale-sapping defeat LONDON - England will wake up wondering how they lost to Wales but attention now quickly turns to next week's must-win match against Australia. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/ENGLAND, expect by 1000 GMT/6 AM ET, by Mitch Phillips, 400 words) - - Never write off Gatland's Wales LONDON - Coach Warren Gatland urged people to write off Wales before the start of the World Cup after they suffered injuries to key players but their victory over England showed the belief he has instilled in the side. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/WALES, expect by 1000 GMT/6 AM ET, by Justin Palmer, 400 words) - - Fringe Wallabies get their chance against Uruguay BIRMINGHAM, England - Australia's fringe players get their chance to press for inclusion in the first-choice team for more heavyweight Pool A encounters to come when the Wallabies take on Uruguay at Villa Park. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/AUSTRALIA-URUGUAY (PIX), expect by 1245 GMT/8:45 AM ET, by Rex Gowar, Mark Gleeson and Nick Mulvenney, 400 words) - - Ireland back-ups get chance to impress Schmidt LONDON - Ireland coach Joe Schmidt will test the depth of his squad after making wholesale changes for their second Pool D game against Romania at Wembley on Sunday. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/IRELAND-ROMANIA (PIX), expect by 1745 GMT/1:45 PM ET, by Justin Palmer and Toby Davis, 400 words) - - Springboks count the cost of battle with Samoa BIRMINGHAM - South Africa will assess their injury count after a bruising clash with Samoa and could have several players in doubt for their next game against Scotland. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/SAFRICA, expect by 1700 GMT/1 PM, by Mark Gleeson, 300 words) - - Namibia eye first World Cup win against Tonga LONDON - Namibia bid for their first World Cup win in their 17th match against Tonga in Exeter on Tuesday after restricting defending champions New Zealand to a respectable 58-14 victory in their opening Pool C game. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/TONGA-NAMIBIA (PREVIEW), expect by 1545 GMT/11:45 AM ET, by Ed Osmond, 400 words) - - - - SOCCER Premier League Watford v Crystal Palace (1500) LONDON - Crystal Palace, 10th in the table, travel to Vicarage Road to take on promoted Watford who are two places below them. (SOCCER-ENGLAND/ (PIX), expect by 1700 GMT/1 PM ET, by Steve Tongue, 400 words) - - Bundesliga Eintracht Frankfurt v Hertha Berlin (1330) Borussia Dortmund v SV Darmstadt 98 (1530) Dortmund out to cut Bayern's lead BERLIN - Second-placed Borussia Dortmund want to bounce back from their midweek draw by beating promoted Darmstadt to slash Bayern Munich's five-point lead at the top. (SOCCER-GERMANY/ (PIX), expect by 1530 GMT/11:30 AM ET, by Karolos Grohmann, 400 words) - - Serie A Genoa v AC Milan (1030) Bologna v Udinese (1300) Sassuolo v Chievo Verona (1300) Torino v Palermo (1300) Verona v Lazio (1300) Inter Milan v Fiorentina (1845) Top two square up at the San Siro MILAN - Leaders Inter take on second-placed Fiorentina at the San Siro while Sassuolo, who are third, entertain fifth-placed Chievo Verona. (SOCCER-ITALY/, expect by 2100 GMT/5 PM ET, by Ed Dove, 400 words) - - Ligue 1 Olympique Marseille v Angers (1200) En Avant Guingamp v Monaco (1500) Montpellier v Lorient (1500) St Etienne v Nice (1900) Second-placed St Etienne look to stay in the hunt PARIS - St Etienne aim to reduce the gap on leaders Paris St Germain to one point when Ligue 1's second-placed club host Nice. (SOCCER-FRANCE/ (PIX), expect by 2100 GMT/5 PM ET, by Julien Pretot, 300 words) - - La Liga Sporting Gijon v Real Betis (1000) Deportivo Coruna v Espanyol (1400) Getafe v Levante (1615) Real Sociedad v Athletic Bilbao (1830) Copy on merit - - Dutch championship Graafschap Doetinchem v Willem II Tilburg (1030) ADO Den Haag v Excelsior (1230) Feyenoord v PEC Zwolle (1230) Twente Enschede v Roda JC Kerkrade (1445) Feyenoord chase second place in table AMSTERDAM - Feyenoord can climb to second by beating PEC Zwolle at home for the second time in four days after a 3-0 victory over the visitors in the Dutch Cup on Thursday. (SOCCER-DUTCH/, expect by 1700 GMT/1 PM ET, 300 words) - - Belgian league Lokeren v Club Bruges (1230) Anderlecht v STVV (1600) Kortrijk v Racing Genk (1800) Anderlecht can cut into Oostende's advantage BRUSSELS - Anderlecht will cut into leaders Oostende's advantage if they sink promoted St Truiden while Racing Genk can also move among the front-runners. (SOCCER-BELGIUM/, expect by 2000 GMT/4 PM ET, 250 words) - - MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER Houston look to maintain playoff push against Colorado The Houston Dynamos, on the outside looking in at eighth place in the Western Conference, will aim for a morale-boosting win in their late playoff push when they host the struggling Colorado Rapids in one of six games on the Major League Soccer schedule. (SOCCER-MLS/, expect by 0300 GMT/11 PM ET, 300 words) - - - - MOTOR RACING Japanese Formula One Grand Prix Rosberg on pole with Hamilton alongside SUZUKA, Japan - Nico Rosberg is on pole position, for the first time since May, with championship-leading Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton starting alongside. A Rosberg victory would cut Hamilton's 41-point lead but the German will be keeping a wary eye on the weather. (MOTOR RACING-PRIX/, (PIX), expect by 0700 GMT/3 AM ET, by Alan Baldwin, 500 words) We will also have stories from around the paddock. - - - - GOLF PGA Tour: Tour Championship (to 27) Spieth leapfrogs Stenson to snatch lead ATLANTA - Jordan Spieth used the magic of his putter to overtake Henrik Stenson and grab a one-stroke lead after a waterlogged third round of the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. (GOLF-PGA/ (PIX), moved, by Larry Fine, 600 words) - - European Tour: European Open, Bad Griesbach, Germany (to 27) Thongchai in command going into final round BERLIN - Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee takes a one-stroke lead over three players into the final round. (GOLF-EUROPEAN/, expect by 1800 GMT/2 PM ET, 300 words) - - Asian Tour: Asia-Pacific Open (to 27) Kim Kyung-tae leads the way Kim Kyung-tae of South Korea, chasing his fourth title in Asia this season, holds a two-shot lead heading into the final round in Japan. (GOLF-ASIA/PACIFIC, expect by 1300 GMT/9 AM ET, 200 words) - - - - TENNIS WTA Guangzhou Open, China Jankovic and Allertova square off Former world number one Jelena Jankovic meets giantkilling Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic in the final. (TENNIS-WOMEN/GUANGZHOU, expect by 1000 GMT/6 AM ET, 250 words) - - Pan Pacific International Radwanska to face Bencic in Tokyo final Rising Swiss player Belinda Bencic will meet Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the final. The in-form Bencic is chasing her third WTA title since June while Radwanska is bidding for her second Pan Pacific Open crown. (TENNIS-WOMEN/TOKYO, expect by 0900 GMT/5 AM ET, 250 words) - - Korea Open Begu and Sasnovich square off in Seoul final Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, who had never made it the quarter-finals of a WTA event before, faces Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu in the final. (TENNIS-WOMEN/KOREA, expect by 1000 GMT/6 AM ET, 250 words) - - ATP Moselle Open, Metz, France (to 27) Copy on merit - - - - CYCLING World road race championships (to 27) Prevot defends women's title RICHMOND, Virginia - Pauline Ferrand-Prevot of France defends the women's road race title against a top field that includes in-form World Cup champion Lizzie Armitstead of Britain. (CYCLING-WORLD/WOMEN, expect by 2100 GMT/5 PM ET, by Steve Keating, 400 words) - - - - BASEBALL Mets in playoffs after clinching NL East title The New York Mets are back in the Major League Baseball playoffs for the first time since 2006, after clinching the National League East division championship on Saturday. (BASEBALL-METS/PLAYOFF, moved, 300 words) see also (BASEBALL-HIGHLIGHTS/, expect by 0500 GMT/1 AM ET, 600 words. - - - - NORTH AMERICAN SPORTS Roundups of off-field developments in the major North American professional sports leagues. (moved, by The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - - - ATHLETICS Berlin Marathon Kenyan trio eye fast times BERLIN - Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge, Emmanuel Mutai and Geoffrey Mutai are set to dominate the Berlin Marathon, with eyes on the world record at the quick inner-city course. (ATHLETICS-MARATHON/BERLIN (PIX), expect by 0930 GMT/5:30 AM ET, by Karolos Grohmann, 350 words) - - - - CRICKET Zimbabwe and Pakistan clash in tour opener HARARE - Pakistan begin their limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe with the first of two Twenty20 internationals at the Harare Sports Club. (CRICKET-ZIMBABWE/, expect by 1500 GMT/11 AM ET, 200 words) - - - - (Asia Desk Editor: Patrick Johnston)