|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
English roundup FA will fine Arsenal; Ferdinand waived a million pounds
LONDON (Reuters) -- English Premier League side Arsenal faces an automatic fine of 25,000 pounds (US$35,180) fine after seven of its players were booked in Sunday's 1-0 defeat at Leeds. English Football Association (FA) spokesman Adrian Bevington said: "If a team has six players cautioned they automatically receive a fine so, yes, this will be the case for Arsenal." The seven players who received yellow cards were: Martin Keown, Oleg Luzhny, Thierry Henry, Ray Parlour, Tony Adams, Lauren and Silvinho. Olivier Dacourt, who scored the match-winning goal, received Leeds's only caution. The FA added said it would wait for reports from match officials before deciding whether to launch an investigation into an alleged tunnel incident following the game at Elland Road. Match referee Dermot Gallagher played down the allegations. "There is always a lot of noise, but it was no different to any other tunnel after a game," he told The Express newspaper. Bevington said that Arsenal's French coach Arsene Wenger had appealed against a 12-match touchline ban imposed by the FA for allegedly manhandling an official as he complained about Patrick Vieira's sending-off in the first game of the season at Sunderland in August. Ferdinand waived million pounds for Leeds moveLONDON -- Rio Ferdinand, the world's most expensive defender, passed up a loyalty payment from West Ham United to enable his 18 million pounds (US$25.28 million) transfer to Leeds United to go through on Sunday, British newspapers said on Monday. They said under the terms of his contract with West Ham, the England international center-back was due 1.3 million pounds (US$1.83 million) because he did not ask to leave the London club. But Ferdinand's agent Pini Zhavi told The Sun newspaper: "We decided there was no point in arguing any further. We have not got what Rio was entitled to but we reached an agreement. Everything is sorted." The player and his adviser sought help from the players' union (the Professional Footballers' Association) during their discussions with West Ham and he eventually decided on a "loyalty" payment of around 300,000 pounds (US$421,300). After signing a five-and-a-half year contract at Elland Road on Sunday, Ferdinand, 22, told a news conference: "It was a wrench to leave West Ham, but I am very pleased to be joining such a big and ambitious club in Leeds. I hope I can play a big part in the future of this club." The deal eclipsed the previous world record for a defender, set by Manchester United when it paid PSV Eindhoven 10.75 million pounds (US$15.10 million) for Dutch international center-back Jaap Stam in 1998. It also represented the biggest transfer involving a British club, overshadowing the 15 million pounds (US$21.07 million) paid by Newcastle in 1996 and Chelsea in 2000 for Alan Shearer and Dutchman Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink respectively. Vialli going to school in EnglandLONDON -- Gianluca Vialli, sacked as manager of Premier League side Chelsea in September, is to remain in England to begin his training to become a fully-qualified coach. English Football Association (FA) spokesman Adrian Bevington told a soccer news Web site that the former Italian international would soon start the lengthy qualification process. "Gianluca will commence his UEFA 'B' licence just before Christmas and he will take it with the FA as part of our fast-track coaching process," Bevington said. This is part of FA technical director Howard Wilkinson's plan to get all young coaches qualified for the UEFA professional license. "If Vialli is successful then he will go on to take his 'A' license in June, which will then allow him to go on to take the professional license," Bevington added. Vialli's qualification will be important should he decide to return to his native country for a job in Serie A. To qualify to work in Italy, the 36-year-old former Juventus and Sampdoria striker would have to possess a full UEFA coaching license or an Italian FA equivalent. Vialli, who won five trophies in his two-and-a-half year spell at Chelsea, was succeeded at the London club by fellow Italian Claudio Ranieri. Fans back Everton move to new stadiumLONDON -- Everton fans have overwhelmingly backed the English Premier League club's plan to investigate the possibility of moving from Goodison Park, their home since 1892, to a new 55,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof. Of the 17,410 share-holders, season ticket holders and fans who voted, just over 86.5 percent were in favor of relocating to the new ground at King's Dock close to the River Mersey, according to the official Everton Web site. The Liverpool-based club announced the project in October because expanding Goodison Park, which seats 40,260, was not possible. But owner Bill Kenwright was keen to get the fans' approval before making a final decision. Ex-Southampton boss pleads innocent to sex chargesLIVERPOOL, England -- Former Southampton manager David Jones pleaded innocent Monday to charges of assault and indecency against boys. Jones, 44, a former Everton player who also managed Stockport County, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court at the start of a trial expected to last three weeks. Jones faces a series of charges related to indecent assault against boys at a care home on Merseyside in the late 1980s. He was arrested following a long-running investigation by police into allegations of child abuse in northwest England.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
