Soccer Shorts

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

Warnock in talks

Milan Mandaric last night headed north for talks with Neil Warnock after receiving permission from Sheffield United to speak to his number one target. The Portsmouth chairman wants Warnock to succeed the sacked Alain Perrin and hopes to convince him to take the post in their first face-to-face discussions.

Portsmouth received the green light from Sheffield United to speak to their manager four days after making a formal request. They have put together a lucrative package for Warnock, including funds for the January transfer window, designed to persuade him to leave Bramall Lane after six years.

FA need new sponsor

The English FA is looking for a replacement sponsor after Nationwide announced the end to their six-year association with the England team. Nationwide are one of the soccer association's five sponsorship partners and have confirmed they will end their commercial relationship with the FA after next summer's World Cup finals.

Xavier to appeal

Middlesbrough defender Abel Xavier is to appeal against his 18-month ban for failing a drugs test. The Portugal international, who turned 33 today, tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid dianabol after a Uefa Cup tie against Greek club Xanthi last September.

Shearer in the clear

Newcastle captain Alan Shearer will face no action over his clash with Everton's David Weir. The English FA have confirmed that they can't take action against the 35-year-old because match referee Howard Webb saw the incident and dealt with it by awarding a free-kick.

Fifa seek clarification

World soccer's ruling body and the organisation in charge of the global fight against doping (Wada) have requested advice from the Court of Arbitration for Sport about Fifa's controversial anti-doping regulations.

Fifa has yet to fully sign up to the Wada code, the main sticking point being its unwillingness to agree that a first offence by a player should automatically attract a two-year ban.

Allardyce furious

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce claims he should have refused to send his team out against Fulham because referee Graham Poll was using a listening device. "In hindsight I should have refused to play. He would have had to take it (the device) off. I am really sick I didn't do anything about it. Clearly in a high-profile game you cannot introduce something without prior knowledge."