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Premier sides set for €8.4m extra

PREMIER League sides will each benefit by an extra €8.4 million per season from the overseas television deals, club chairmen have been told.

It has been known for some time that the Premier League’s overall overseas deals for the 2010-13 period will comfortably top €1.1 billion but the benefit to each individual club can now be revealed.

The clubs have been told to expect between €7.8 million and €9 million per annum extra to add to the €13.5 million they currently receive annually from overseas TV, sponsorship and licensing money.

That will push the minimum each club can earn in TV cash and prize money alone from a season in the top flight to €45 million – and whoever are champions next season can expect to rake in more than £67.3 million.

As overseas TV cash is split equally between the clubs, the Premier League hope the increase will fend off those chairmen who still believe there should be a more even distribution of domestic TV money.

Portsmouth duo to miss semi-final

PORTSMOUTH’S injured duo Hermann Hreidarsson and Danny Webber will miss next month’s FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur after both players were ruled out for six months.

Defender Hreidarsson suffered a ruptured Achilles and striker Webber sustained knee ligament damage in Saturday’s 2-0 Premier League defeat at Spurs – a dress rehearsal for the April 11th FA Cup clash at Wembley.

PABLO Zabaleta will serve a two-match ban after picking up his 10th booking of the season in Manchester City’s victory over Wigan at Eastlands on Monday night.

The Argentina star was cautioned for a second-half foul on Hugo Rodallega and will now be suspended for Saturday’s trip to Burnley and the home encounter with Birmingham City on April 11th.

Drogba handed two-game ban

UEFA have handed Chelsea striker Didier Drogba a two-match European ban after being sent off in the Champions League defeat by Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge earlier this month.

Drogba was shown a red card after stamping on Inter midfielder Thiago Motta in the last-16 second-leg game at Stamford Bridge on March 16th.

Inter won 1-0 to go through 3-1 on aggregate.

Villa sources dismiss reports O'Neill has quit

ASTON Villa sources have dismissed reports which claimed manager Martin O’Neill had quit the midlands club. Radio and internet reports suggested O’Neill had decided to end his four-year reign at Villa Park following disagreements with club owner Randy Lerner over his transfer budget for next season.

Villa were unwilling to comment officially on reports. However, sources close to the club say claims O’Neill has opted to leave are “pure nonsense”.

O’Neill has admitted Villa do not have the strength in depth of the established leading clubs in the top flight.

And his squad is now being stretched to the limit because of injuries to Richard Dunne, John Carew, Emile Heskey and Gabriel Agbonlahor, James Milner and Stiliyan Petrov with several of them playing when not 100 per cent fit.

There has also been no public response from Lerner as to how much money – if any – O’Neill will have to bolster his playing strength this summer.

Rangers' march to title is checked

RANGERS suffered a shock setback in their attempts to wrap up the Scottish Premier League title at the earliest opportunity as St Johnstone bolstered their hopes of a top-six finish with a stunning 4-1 win over the champions-elect.

Goals from Celtic’s on-loan Cavan-born striker Cillian Sheridan, Chris Millar, Liam Craig and Murray Davidson sealed an impressive victory for Derek McInnes’s men as Rangers squandered the chance to move 13 points clear of Celtic at the summit of the table.

Sasa Papac secured the points the last time Rangers visited McDiarmid Park but his goal tonight was scant consolation for a side which had not conceded four goals outside an Old Firm derby since defeat at Hearts back in September 2007.

The original match fell victim to a frozen pitch in February and last night’s game was the subject of another pitch inspection before going ahead.

Maradona bitten on lip by his pet dog

ARGENTINAS World Cup coach and soccer great Diego Maradona was bitten on his face by one of his pet dogs and plastic surgeons have repaired his upper lip, doctors and team officials said yesterday.

Maradona was checked into Los Arcos clinic during the early hours and was scheduled to be released later yesterday after treatment.

“He was evaluated by plastic surgeons and taken to an operating room where they did reconstructive surgery on his upper lip,” the clinic said in a statement.

Maradona was hospitalised in the same clinic in 2007 with toxic hepatitis from drinking.

Witnesses said Maradona was bleeding close to his mouth when he arrived at the clinic with his girlfriend. “He’s doing well. He’s in good spirits. They’ll let him out today,” said a hospital source.