Brendan Rodgers has denied any knowledge of an agreement with Luis Suarez which would allow the striker to leave Liverpool at the end of this season, should the club fail to qualify for the Champions League.
The Anfield side staved off interest from Arsenal in the summer and there were suggestions Suarez had been persuaded to stay for another season to help Liverpool attain Champions League football, on the proviso that he could leave if they were to fail.
Rodgers said: “There never was that before and there never was that this summer.
“I didn’t sit in on the conversations but as I understand it there is no agreement of any kind.”
Sassuolo stadium
Sassuolo are set to complete the rest of their home matches in Serie A this season at a new venue after club supremo Giorgio Squinzi won a bid for the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia.
Reports said Squinzi’s offer of €3.65 million was €100,000 more than the bid of Reggiana.
Sassuolo do not have a stadium of their own as the only venue available in the industrial town in Reggio Emilia – the Stadio Enzo Ricci – holds a capacity of 4,000 which is not accepted by the Serie A.
Between 2008 and this summer Sassuolo used Modena’s Stadio Braglia for home games.
Kroenke Jr joins Arsenal board
The son of Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke has been appointed a non-executive director at the Premier League leaders.
Arsenal confirmed yesterday that Josh Kroenke will take on the position in a move the 33-year-old said would “reaffirm our family’s long-term commitment to the club”.
Kroenke, a financial management graduate of the University of Missouri, is set to combine the role with his duties with the family’s sporting empire in the US.
Josh Kroenke has been heavily involved with the family’s three sporting franchises in Colorado and is in his seventh year at Denver Nuggets, the past three serving as the NBA club’s president and governor.
Ferdinand to be World Cup pundit
Former England captain Rio Ferdinand will be a pundit for the BBC at next year’s World Cup, the corporation has announced.
Ferdinand retired from international football in May 2012 after winning 81 caps.
He pulled out of England’s qualifiers in March this year because of a “pre-planned fitness programme”.
Ferdinand then decided to be a pundit for the San Marino game for Al Jazeera, flying out to the company’s base in Qatar to do so.
Ferdinand claimed earlier this year that England lack an identity and he criticised manager Roy Hodgson for not fielding younger players in his team.
Sevilla president handed jail term
Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido has been sentenced to seven years in jail for his role in the embezzlement of public funds in the Spanish town of Marbella.
Del Nido was originally sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison following an initial trial in 2011 but the case eventually made its way to the highest court in the land, which handed down a slightly reduced punishment.
Del Nido was a lawyer for the municipality of Marbella bet-ween 1999 and 2003.
The court announcement means Del Nido must now stand down as president of the Primera Division outfit, having refused to do so after his initial trial.
Sevilla vice-president Pepe Castro is expected to take over.
Cardiff City IPO bid hits a snag
Malaysian billionaire Vincent Tan could list British football team Cardiff City in Singapore next year after plans for a Malaysian IPO hit a regulatory snag over the team’s weak cash flow, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The Welsh team, which is now in 15th place out of 20 in the current Premier League season, may list on Singapore’s small-cap Catalist exchange.
The deal would follow Manchester United’s $233.2 million listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012, the largest sports team initial public offering (IPO) ever.
Tan, who owns 36.1 per cent of the club, had initially planned for an IPO this year on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.
Aussie scandal
A Malaysian national and two English players pleaded guilty to fixing matches in Australia’s second tier Victorian Premier Lea-gue yesterday.
The multi-million dollar racket had links with betting syndicates in Malaysia and Hungary.
Southern Stars defender Reiss Noel and goalkeeper Joe Woolley were convicted and fined for throwing games on the instruction of the syndicate.
Noel was slapped with a fine of A$2,000 while Woolley got a penalty of A$1,200 for his role in the crime.
The players avoided a stricter punishment after agreeing to help the prosecutors with evidence in the investigation.