Soccer Shorts

Keane in appeal: Roy Keane has called for the introduction of "anti-diving" wristbands to eliminate the scourge of the modern game.

The Manchester United captain may have been half joking as he made his observation but there is no doubt he is becoming increasingly irritated by the number of players collapsing to the ground under no, or minimal, contact.

He was a victim himself at Highbury earlier this month when he pulled out of a penalty-box tackle on Ashley Cole, only for the England defender to go down anyway, an incident that left Keane bemused.

"I wasn't quite sure what he was up to," Keane told the official Manchester United magazine. "If I had known, I might have reacted differently. Before the game there was all this stuff about anti-racism and anti-bullying. It would be a good idea to start wearing wristbands for anti-diving.

"It's not just about foreign players because Ashley Cole is English but it's something that has crept into the Premiership.

"Players are going down far too easily and it seems to be getting worse."

Two of Keane's own team-mates - Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo - have in the past been accused of diving, while Wayne Rooney earned United a penalty in the first league clash with the Gunners at Old Trafford this season when he fell over Sol Campbell's outstretched leg.

Let off for Ben Haim

Bolton defender Tal Ben Haim was yesterday cleared of an English FA charge for allegedly over-reacting to being shoved in the face by Wayne Rooney. Rooney was banned for three matches after admitting a charge of violent conduct following their clash at Old Trafford on St Stephen's Day.

Fulham duo Collins John and Zat Knight were charged with improper conduct relating to their celebrations after Papa Bouba Diop's late winner in the 2-1 win at Birmingham January 22th.

Parkhead calls fans

The organisers of Jackie McNamara's testimonial game between a Celtic XI and a Republic of Ireland XI scheduled for May 31st at Parkhead have confirmed that the FAI have been given an initial allocation of 7,500 tickets with the option of increasing this at a later date if required.

Celtic will put tickets for the match on general sale from April 1st while the FAI has yet to confirm details of when its tickets will be made available to supporters. McNamara officially launched his testimonial at Ballyliffen Golf Club, Co Donegal, yesterday afternoon.

Fixing plot thickens

UEFA is to send an inspector to Athens to look into match-fixing allegations relating to last December's UEFA Cup tie between Panionios and Dinamo Tbilisi and possible links to the German refereeing scandal.

"This started as an independent investigation (focusing only on this match)," a UEFA official said yesterday. "It might now have some link to the German refereeing investigation."

Panionios beat the Georgian team 5-2 in Athens after trailing 1-0 at half-time and 2-1 early in the second half.

British betting companies noted unusually heavy betting on exactly such a scenario prompting the investigation.

The Greek FA has already asked the Germans for details regarding referee Robert Hoyzer's confession relating to alleged illegal betting and match-fixing.

Mourhino doubted

Barcelona midfielder Deco has questioned Jose Mourinho's caution in withdrawing Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard from Tuesday's tsunami appeal match - just a week before Chelsea's Champions League visit to the Nou Camp.

Deco, who won last season's Champions League trophy at Porto under Mourinho, seemed to infer his former boss had been protecting his players' fitness ahead of their tie at Barcelona.

The Portugal international, who took part in Tuesday's friendly, declared: "All the players really wanted to play. I am certain that Mourinho had something to do with them not coming."

Chelsea responded by saying Drogba had been out injured for the past couple of weeks and Lampard picked up an injury playing against Everton last Saturday.

Stand by referee

A leading Spanish referee has hit out at the failure of the country's football authorities to deal with racist abuse and pledged his support to black players who walked off the pitch in protest.

"Those people who should be facing up to this problem are not doing so and it is a big problem," Primera Liga referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez said.

"Of course I notice it when I am on the pitch. You hear everything there. And I'll tell you one thing, the day a black player decides to walk off the pitch I'll go with him."

In Brief . . .

Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after damaging knee ligaments during United's 2-0 derby win over City last Sunday . . . After four months out with a broken ankle, Aston Villa's Darius Vassell has reacted well after completed his first 90-minute reserve game on Tuesday night . . . Everton are facing the prospect of Duncan Ferguson missing Saturday's FA Cup tie with Manchester United as he is struggling with a back injury . . . Rangers utility man Zurab Khizanishvili has signed a two-year contract extension to keep him at Ibrox until 2008. . . Switzerland's top league will be missing a club when the season resumes this weekend following confirmation that Servette Geneva are no longer in business after bankruptcy.