A strike by the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) is set to hit the English game early next month after the organisation's chief executive, Gordon Taylor, said yesterday that talks aimed at averting action had broken down.
Taylor said the players' union and the Premier League had been unable to reach agreement and that meant strike action was likely to take place on the weekend of December 1st and 2nd.
Taylor said that all league games with cameras present - live or recorded - would be affected.
The PFA have demanded a five per cent stake of the £1.5 billion pounds sterling television deal the Premier League recently negotiated with Sky and ITV, with the latest offer of £50 million over three years having been rejected last week.
Meanwhile, supporters' representatives have warned that armchair fans are getting too much of a good thing after latest figures revealed that ITV's rescheduled Premiership highlights programme attracted just 2.8 million viewers on Saturday night.
Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters' Association, said: "Our general view would be that there has been such an overload of televised soccer now, with such a wide variety of channels, that people are getting more than they need and are increasingly confused about where and when they can watch games."
Clarke warned that, if viewing figures across the board continue to fall, it could have severe consequences when contracts are renegotiated.
"I would imagine that the figures being talked about in the next round of deals will be a lot less than the last ones. People have said that the bubble will burst one day, and it looks like it's going to."
Lazio defender Jaap Stam says he is determined to clear his name following his positive test for nandrolone.
"I am proud of what I have achieved in football, but I know that will always come second when people talk about Jaap Stam if I do not prove my innocence," he wrote in his personal diary on the icons.com website.
The English FA and their technical director Howard Wilkinson have announced plans to build the most advanced training facility in the world.
Among the features of the 350-acre site in Staffordshire will be an indoor arena with a full-size synthetic pitch which, with television cameras implanted in the ceiling, will enable coaches to use instant video replays via a large screen on the wall, and have access to equipment used to track the movement of players. Video playback facilities will also be available on the 11 outdoor pitches. The centre will open in 2004.
Chelsea goalkeeper Mark Bosnich will be out for a month with a torn thigh muscle. Bosnich came off 10 minutes from time at Everton on Sunday as he injured himself trying to take a goal-kick.
Everton striker Duncan Ferguson had an operation on his damaged ankle yesterday and will be out for at least two weeks.
Wolves and Bolton are competing for Kenny Miller, the Rangers and Scotland Under- 21 striker currently on loan at Molineux.
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