Young Freeman: Gillingham's teenage striker Luke Freeman became the youngest player to appear in the FA Cup proper when he came on as a substitute against Barnet at the weekend. Freeman, aged 15 years and 233 days, beat the record set in January 2003 by Lee Holmes of Derby County by 44 days. The youngest ever player in the competition is Worcester City's Andy Awford, who played in a third round qualifying tie in 1987 aged 15 years and 88 days.
G14 legal battle: A bitter legal battle between the G14 and soccer's governing bodies is likely to be solved within months, the group representing 18 of Europe's most powerful clubs said yesterday. The group, which includes clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid and Milan, is at odds with FIFA and UEFA over issues such as the release of players for international duty and the international calendar. A row over compensation for players injured while playing for their countries has led to two court cases, one of which is pending at the European Court of Justice - Europe's highest court.
Strachan: Celtic manager Gordon Strachan believes the authority of world soccer's two most powerful organisations, FIFA and UEFA, will eventually be ended by rich businessmen. "There will be a new structure, a new body," Strachan said. "The powers that be, the businessmen coming into football now, will say 'forget FIFA, forget UEFA, we're so powerful we'll have three (European) leagues with the best 60 clubs.."
Cannavaro: Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro said yesterday he was glad he now played in Spain given the violent scenes surrounding Italian soccer. "I believe I am lucky to play abroad," the Real Madrid defender told reporters. "I play at Real Madrid, a club that has a perfect stadium, full of children, without violence. From the outside I realise the awful images Italian football gives itself. We cannot go on like this."
Anelka: Striker Nicolas Anelka is expected to stay with the France squad despite being hampered by a hamstring injury, coach Raymond Domenech said yesterday. Anelka, who has missed Bolton's last four matches because of the injury, has been included by Domenech in his squad for a friendly against Morocco on Friday in Paris and the Euro 2008 qualifier next week in Ukraine. Bolton manager Gary Megson had asked France on Monday to let Anelka return to his club.
Kanoute: Sevilla striker Frederic Kanoute will be out of action for around 14 days with a calf muscle strain in the right leg. The 30-year-old, Sevilla's second highest scorer with six goals in the league, picked up the injury during the side's 3-2 defeat away to Villarreal in the Primera Liga on Sunday. He will be a doubt for their home Champions League clash against Arsenal on November 27. Sevilla are a point behind the Londoners in Group H.
Transfer Ban: FIFA have banned Romania's Universitatea Craiova from buying players next year after they failed to pay three Brazilians who had contracts with the first division side. In 2004-2005, the Craiova board broke the contracts with goalkeeper Alesander Negri, midfielder Marcos Honorio Marquinhos and striker Eduardo Roberto Magri without paying them for the two months they played for Universitatea.
King's Cup: Last 32, first legs - Alcoyano vs Barcelona 0-3; Denia vs Sevilla 1-1.