Davids cleared for pre-season

Dutch international mid-fielder Edgard Davids' hopes of avoiding a long-term ban as a result of a positive test for nandrolone in March of this year have received a boost after he was cleared to play in a number of pre-season friendlies for his club, Juventus.

Davids was banned in May by the Italian FA pending a full hearing of his case by the authorities there, and the suspension was extended to the international arena by FIFA two weeks later.

But the professional football league president, Franco Carraro, has ruled that Davids and 14 other players under suspension for a variety of offences are free to take part in their clubs' pre-season programme.

The question of when Davids' case will receive a full hearing remains unclear, although it is expected that it will happen before the start of the Italian league campaign.

Meanwhile, Liverpool will play the Finnish side Haka Valkeakoski for a place in the lucrative group stages of the Champions League next week after Israel's Maccabi Haifa were disqualified from the competition for fielding an ineligible player.

Haifa, who have appealed against the decision, forfeited the home leg of their second qualifying-round tie with the Finns after selecting the former Wimbledon midfielder Walid Badir, who was still serving a three-match suspension carried over from last season's UEFA Cup. The Israelis won Wednesday's home tie 4-0 to complete a 5-0 aggregate win, but yesterday's decision by the UEFA disciplinary committee instead saw Haka progress 3-1.

The Israelis' appeal will be heard on Monday, just two days before Liverpool are due to play Haka in Helsinki's Olympic stadium. Haifa claim the Israeli Football Association informed them that Badir had been suspended for only two matches after he was sent off in a UEFA Cup tie with Vitesse Arnhem last September.

The Haifa president Yaacov Shahar has placed the blame for the mix-up - which could have cost the Israelis up to £11 million sterling - firmly with the IFA, although it insisted it had reminded the club that Badir still had not completed his suspension.

Haka's preparations will be hampered by a league game scheduled for tomorrow evening.