A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Swiss FA dock Sion 36 points after Fifa threat

SWITZERLAND’S soccer federation have docked FC Sion 36 points following an ultimatum from the sport’s governing body that they penalise the team for fielding ineligible players or find themselves banned.

The Swiss Football Association said it made the deduction based on a formula demanded by Fifa that Sion lose three points for every game it played while using six players it signed while under a transfer ban for breaching regulations in 2009.

If the Swiss body hadn’t sanctioned Sion, it would have been “automatically suspended by Fifa from January 14th”, the federation said in a statement.

Before yesterday’s decision, the Swiss national team and all the country’s qualifiers in European club competitions like Basel, who eliminated Manchester United at the group stages of the Champions League, faced bans.

“The Swiss FA asks Fifa today to confirm that the suspension won’t now come into force,” the organisation said in its statement.

Sion labelled the decision “cowardly” and said the Swiss federation had “bowed to the blackmail of Fifa”.

The deduction drops Sion from third down to last place in the 10-team Swiss Super League with minus-5 points.

Ancelotti confirmed as Paris St Germain manager

PARIS St Germain displayed their ruthless ambition by appointing Italian Carlo Ancelotti as their new manager yesterday having parted with Antoine Kombouare despite the club lying top of the French league at the mid-season break.

PSG, who also want to recruit David Beckham as a player but say “nothing is signed”, confirmed the arrival of the former AC Milan and Chelsea manager at a news conference.

“I think I can do good work here. We have all the conditions to succeed. I am delighted and very enthusiastic about this project,” Ancelotti said. “It is a project that appealed to me. I am not here to turn everything on its head. I am here to bring my knowledge.”

Former player Claude Makelele will be the Italian’s assistant.

“He is a former PSG great and the club can benefit from his experience,” Ancelotti said of the former Real Madrid and Chelsea midfielder.

Kombouares position had come under intense scrutiny after the club’s new Qatari owners bankrolled a close-season spending spree of around €85 million.

Almost half of that was spent on Argentina international Javier Pastore from Palermo, whose sparkling early-season form tailed off as the club, who had made a strong start to the campaign, began to stutter at home and in Europe.

They suffered an embarrassing 3-0 league defeat to arch-rivals Olympique Marseille in November and were knocked out in the group stages of the Europa League. They recovered in Ligue 1 to be top.

McCoist claims no offers for Jelavic

RANGERS manager Ally McCoist claims no offers have been made for Nikica Jelavic. The striker has been tipped for a January exit.

Reports earlier in the week suggested QPR had made a written offer for the Croatian, who is also reportedly a target of Liverpool.

Asked if there has been any bids for the player, McCoist said: “No, certainly not to my knowledge.

“There was a rumour knocking about on Wednesday evening before the Celtic game. That was all it was. I haven’t heard anything to confirm or deny that rumour. Nobody has told me that any club has made an offer at all.

Jelavic – who was the subject of a failed €7.8 million bid from Leicester in August – has netted 14 goals so far this season for the Scottish champions.

And McCoist made it clear he would not welcome any interest in the forward next month.

Swansea complete Donnelly signing

SWANSEA have secured the signing of teenage Cliftonville striker Rory Donnelly on a three-and-half-year deal.

The 19-year-old’s move will be officially completed once the necessary paperwork is processed when the transfer window opens tomorrow, and he is set to join up with his new team-mates next week.

Swansea had already agreed an undisclosed fee with the Belfast club, as well as personal terms with the player, who completed his medical yesterday.

Swansea had been in pole position to sign the Northern Ireland Under-21 international, who has scored 17 goals so far this season, when they had an initial offer of around €120,000 accepted by Cliftonville, but interest from Merseyside giants Everton and Liverpool saw the Swans told to up their bid.

Manager Brendan Rodgers revealed on Thursday a new fee had been agreed, with Donnelly understood to have favoured a move to south Wales

Larsson the spur for Celtic new boy Lustig’s move

CELTIC new boy Mikael Lustig has revealed he caught the Parkhead bug by watching fellow countryman Henrik Larsson play in the hoops.

The 25-year-old Sweden defender will officially become a Celtic player tomorrow after his transfer to the SPL leaders was completed yesterday.

Lustig, who agreed a three-and-a-half-year contract in November after leaving Norwegian side Rosenborg, almost inevitably referenced legend Larsson, who starred at the Parkhead club between 1997 and 2004.

“Henrik Larsson put Celtic on the map in Sweden,” said the right back. “I watched many Celtic games when he played here and Celtic have many fans cheering for them in Sweden.

“I haven’t spoken to him, but he has spoken a lot about the club and Glasgow. I have known about this for two months.

“I always thought it was a great club for me and I have been waiting for this moment, so now I am here it is perfect.”

Meanwhile, Beram Kayal is out of Celtic’s trip to Dunfermline in the SPL on Monday.

The Israel midfielder was carried off on a stretcher in the 1-0 win over Rangers on Wednesday with an ankle injury that will keep him out for at least a month.

Ferguson to extend Berbatov’s stay

MANCHESTER United will be exercising their option to extend club record signing Dimitar Berbatov’s contract by a further season, manager Alex Ferguson said yesterday.

The Bulgarian striker, who became United’s most expensive player when he joined from Tottenham Hotspur in 2008 for €37 million, had been linked with a move to Bayer Leverkusen or Fulham.

“We’ll be exercising it (the option to renew),” Ferguson said. “I think it kicks in in March.”

Speaking ahead of United’s Premier League match with Blackburn Rovers today when he celebrates his 70th birthday, Ferguson dismissed reports that defender Chris Smalling was suffering from glandular fever and could be out for three months.

He has tonsillitis, Ferguson said, adding that Smalling should return to action next week.

Berbatov (30) has struggled to find a place in the United starting line-up but he has netted four times in his last two appearances.

O’Neill has simple new year pledge

MARTIN O’NEILL has made a solitary new year pledge. “I have only one resolution and that is to try to get into a decent position in the league, if we can,” Sunderland’s manager said. “To avoid relegation is the most pressing issue for us.”

After recording two wins and a draw in the four games since O’Neill succeeded Steve Bruce, Sunderland appear on an upward curve but, although they have risen to 15th in the Premier League, they remain a mere four points above the relegation zone.

“We are still in a dogfight, we really are,” said the former Aston Villa and Celtic manager, whose side are at home to Manchester City tomorrow and at Wigan on Tuesday.

“My hopes for Sunderland in the new year are just to get out of bother. That’s the most pressing issue for us. We’re still in a spot of bother,” he added.