Soccer Shorts

A roundup of today's other soccer news in brief

FA to investigate after object thrown

THE English FA are to investigate the throwing of an object – believed to be a camera – on to the pitch during Sunday’s Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.

There was a brief stoppage in play midway through the first half when referee Andre Marriner removed the item, which came from a section of the home crowd, and appeared to be thrown towards Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard.

The referee has mentioned the incident in his match report back to FA officials, who will now contact Arsenal for further information.

Arsenal will co-operate fully with the Football Association, who could study any available CCTV footage or images from the live broadcast.

If any individual responsible can be identified, they could face a ban from Arsenal matches. However, because the object did not strike any player or official, the likelihood of severe sanctions against the club are minimal.

Cork City and Doolin part company

PAUL Doolin last night parted company with Cork City with the club suggesting in a statement the move was by mutual agreement.

“Following discussions between Paul Doolin and club management, it has been agreed that Mr Doolin will be leaving his position as manager of the first team,” it read.

The club’s general manager, Liam Meaney, was quoted as expressing gratitude to the former UCD and Drogheda United boss for his contribution during the season and it was stated the search for a replacement has already started.

Doolin only joined the club in January following the controversial dismissal of Alan Mathews. Despite an succession of financial problems and the loss of a number of high profile squad members he guided the team to third place in the league with 60 points from 36 games, good enough to qualify them for Europa League football next season.

Premier League clubs pay over €76m in agents’ fees

MORE than €76 million was paid to agents by top-flight clubs from October 2008 to September 2009, the Premier League have revealed.

The sum relates to a total of 803 transactions with, unsurprisingly, Manchester City and Burnley the highest and lowest spenders respectively.

Burnley spent “just” €513,068, while City’s big-name signings meant they spent €14,105,644, comfortably ahead of Chelsea (€10,474,791) and Liverpool (€7,293,470). Under new regulations, clubs, players, authorised agents and exempt solicitors agree to the publication of the figures after November 30th each year.

An FA spokesperson said: “We are pleased that, through these new requirements, clubs are bringing greater transparency to the domestic transfer market.

“For the first time, there will be a game-wide picture of the level of spending on agents.

“The leagues and other key stakeholders have been fully supportive, following the example set by the Football League with its publication of agents fees over the last few years.”

The full list is: Arsenal (€5,214,470); Aston Villa (€1,871,532); Birmingham City (€1,068,098); Blackburn Rovers (€1,764,824); Bolton Wanderers (€3,468,595); Burnley (€513,068); Chelsea (€10,474,791); Everton (€2,200,325); Fulham (€1,609,671); Hull City (€1,752,018); Liverpool (€7,293,470); Manchester City (€14,105,644); Manchester Utd (€1,662,240); Portsmouth (€3,488,732) Stoke (€784,325); Sunderland (€2,198,386); Tottenham (€6,644,692); Wigan Athletic (€6,054,136); West Ham Utd (€3,917,733); Wolves (€1,353,416).

Babel rumour denied by Bayern

BAYERN Munich director of sport Christian Nerlinger has rubbished rumours linking his club with a bid for Liverpool forward Ryan Babel.

The Dutchman is reportedly one of Bayern coach Louis van Gaal’s targets this winter, should he still be in charge of the Bavarian club, but Nerlinger denies there is any interest.

“I don’t know anything about it and so you can take it for granted that there is no truth in it,” he said.

Racist chanting may stop match 

SATURDAY’S Serie A game between Juventus and Inter Milan must be stopped if racist chanting is heard, the Italian players’ union chief said yesterday.

Juve were forced to play a game behind closed doors last season after fans racially abused Inter’s Mario Balotelli but their supporters have again chanted against the black striker in recent matches ahead of the clash in Turin.

Italian soccer federation chief Giancarlo Abete has said the referee, in conjunction with the police, will be able to stop the match for 10 minutes if there is racist chanting but it is unclear what role the captains can play.

Inter skipper Javier Zanetti has said he would not hesitate to approach the referee following racist abuse but his coach Jose Mourinho is wary of unilaterally pulling off his players in case his side is penalised.

Balotelli, born in Palermo, might not even be in Turin after being left out of Inter’s squad for Sundays 1-0 win over Fiorentina.

Pavlyuchenko eyes Roma move

ROMAN Pavlyuchenko’s agent expects the Tottenham striker’s future to become clearer by today after he revealed he is se for talks with Serie A club Roma.

Pavlyuchenko has made no secret of his discontent at White Hart Lane in recent weeks and has been linked with a number of clubs across Europe. Roma are favourites to win the race for Pavlyuchenko’s signature and the out-of-favour striker could head to the Italian capital in January if upcoming talks prove fruitful. “We’re meeting Roma today or tomorrow for Roman,” Oliver Wendt said. “Roman wants to leave London and he wants to go to Roma. “I had contact with the Roma directors last week too and they showed they were interested.” Liverpool and Spartak Moscow are reportedly among the clubs interested in the Russia international, who has slipped behind Robbie Keane, Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe in the pecking order at White Hart Lane.