Sports Digest: SOCCERThe English Football Association have revealed no formal action will be taken against the Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton for his controversial challenge on Dickson Etuhu.
Referee Martin Atkinson did not punish Barton's studs-high tackle on the Sunderland player in Saturday's 1-1 draw but did see the incident so the midfielder will not be disciplined. An FA spokesman said: "Whilst it is clear that the officials did not see the full extent of the incident, they did see players coming together and to take any further action would be tantamount to re-refereeing the game."
Platini shelves plan for Champions League
Uefa has agreed to drop proposals for domestic cup winners to qualify for the Champions League.
Uefa president Michel Platini is understood to have agreed to drop the domestic cup plan in return for securing a deal where from 2009 six spots in the group stage are reserved for league champions from the bottom 40 countries in Europe - a move that could potentially benefit League of Ireland clubs.
Uefa's strategy council agreed to the compromise, which will now go to Uefa's executive committee on December 1st for a final decision.
The change means the fourth-placed side in England will play two qualification rounds instead of one. The champions of Europe's leading 12 countries, currently including Scotland, will also be guaranteed a place in the group phase.
The six group places reserved for the champions of the 40 lowest leagues among Uefa's 53 member associations will be decided by three qualifying rounds.
A spin-off of yesterday's decision is that a new organisation for clubs is likely to be formed that is completely separate from G14, the group of 18 clubs from among Europe's elite, which is expected to be disbanded.
Dutch Rabobank 'right' to sack Rasmussen
Rabobank were right to expel Dane Michael Rasmussen from this year's Tour de France because he lied about his training whereabouts, an independent inquiry said yesterday.
"The rider claims he incorrectly stated his whereabouts due to private reasons. The committee does not deem this explanation to be credible," the inquiry, led by the former Dutch Olympic chief Peter Vogelzang, said in its report.
It said Rasmussen should not have been permitted to start in the Tour based on the information known to Rabobank.
"The committee concludes that the board of directors of Rabo Cycling Teams in general, and its chairman Theo de Rooij in particular, did not adequately assess the importance of multiple signs concerning Rasmussen's conduct prior to the Tour," the report said.
Last week, Rasmussen admitted he had lied about his training whereabouts before the Tour but insisted that the Dutch team had always known where he was. He also said he had never doped.
The Rabobank team sacked Rasmussen four days before the Tour's end, saying the 33-year-old had been in Italy while he said he had been training in Mexico.
