Football news

Adrian Mutu has lodged an appeal against the ruling made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport which ordered the Fiorentina striker to pay English club Chelsea £18.5 million in compensation.

Mutu was sacked by Chelsea in 2004 after the Romania player failed a drugs test. Chelsea went on to pursue their stance through the courts.

In August last year, the CAS calculated the compensation according to the value of the remaining period on his contract at Stamford Bridge that was terminated after he was found to have cocaine in his blood.

Mutu has now presented his appeal to a Swiss Federal Tribunal in an attempt to overturn the decision.

Eduardo relieved dive ban dropped

Arsenal striker Eduardo just wants to focus on today's Champions League clash against Standard Liege after his two-match ban was annulled by UEFA.

The Croatia forward was initially suspended for allegedly diving to win a penalty against Celtic in their Champions League qualifier at the Emirates at the end of August.

Eduardo said: "I'm very pleased that we have finally arrived at the truth. I certainly feel relieved now. I have had great support from my family, friends and of course everyone at the club.

"I just want to say that I'm a fair player. To score goals you must take your opportunities and I'm not the type of player who needs to be dishonest to score goals."

Clubs will be after Rafinha - Magath

Schalke manager Felix Magath believes Bayern Munich will be among the clubs who will move for full-back Rafinha in the next transfer window.

The Gelsenkirchen-based club are in the midst of a financial crisis which will force Magath to sell at least one of his best players when the transfer window opens in January.

"There is no better right full-back in the Bundesliga," he said.

"If Rafinha continues to perform like this, then Bayern will have no choice but to call us."

Schalke turned down an approach from Bayern in the days leading up to the transfer deadline when Magath was keen to hold on to his best players.

"If he continues to play so well, even a club like Barcelona may come in for him," added Magath.

Mascherano back for Liverpool

Midfielder Javier Mascherano is fit to return for Liverpool's Champions League opener against Hungarians Debrecen tonight.

Mascherano missed Saturday's 4-0 rout of Burnley with a pelvic injury sustained on international duty with Argentina.

"He went to South America with a slight problem and played," Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said.

"Afterwards he needed to check it out so we decided he should do it and miss our game at the weekend. It was not serious and he will be fit to play in the Champions League."

Yeung wants City to cure China's ills

Hong Kong billionaire Carson Yeung, who hopes to complete his $130m purchase of Birmingham City in the next three weeks, wants the Premier League club to spearhead a revolution in Asia.

Emphasising that stability at the English club would be their initial watchword, Yeung also spoke of his vision of City helping to cure China's football ills.

"China has had its sports boosted, but there has been no development for football," Yeung said.

"So, I would like to make my humble contribution. In the future when the team is stabilised, we will recruit Chinese players who have potential.

"My biggest wish is to bring in the club to China and let the Chinese know how an English football team is managed."

Player quota in Premiership

Clubs playing in the English Premier League from next season will have a 25-player squad cap and also have to introduce a quota on "home-grown" players.

"As of next season clubs will be required to have a squad named of up to 25 players, of which no more than 17 can be over the age of 21 and not home grown," Premier League chief Richard Scudamore said.

"The definition of home grown is trained for three years under the age of 21 by somebody in the English and Welsh professional system."

All 20 Premier League members also agreed to adhere to a set of financial reporting rules designed to protect the sustainability of clubs.

Hoeness proposes qualifiers reform

Football chiefs should adopt a system of pre-qualification for big events to cut down on disruptions to domestic leagues and serious injuries to players, according to Bayern Munich manager Uli Hoeness.

"Playing against Liechtenstein is like playing FC Tegernsee (an amateur club)," Hoeness said.

Pre-qualifiers in the Europe zone would reduce the time spent in qualifying for events like the World Cup or European Championship, he said.

Hoeness added that he would also like to see a change to the South America qualifying system: two pools of five teams rather than the one pool of 10 currently in place.

"The two top finishers in each pool would qualify. There would be eight matches instead of 18 and the third-placed team would go into the play-offs," Hoeness said.