Solskjaer and Johnsen face Norway ban

Manchester United's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ronny Johnsen have placed their international careers in jeopardy by failing to …

Manchester United's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ronny Johnsen have placed their international careers in jeopardy by failing to agree a sponsorship deal with Norwegian football's governing body.

Solskjaer and Johnsen, along with Spurs striker Steffen Iversen, have refused to sign the £25 million deal because they would then be precluded from signing other, possibly more lucrative, individual sponsorship contracts.

But the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) have reacted to the players' decision by banishing them from future international games.

Some support for the three players' action may come from four more Britishbased Norwegians - Tore Andre Flo, Eirik Bakke, Vegard Heggem and Thomas Myhre - who are yet to declare their intentions.

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Coca Cola, Umbro and Compaq are among the companies involved in the sponsorship package - but only on the understanding that all players sign up to it. Otherwise, the four-year deal would be pulled.

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Paolo Di Canio's agent insisted yesterday the West Ham striker has no intention of leaving Upton Park. Lazio assistant boss Roberto Mancini confirmed last week Di Canio was the Serie A club's second-choice target behind Barcelona's Marc Overmars when the Italian transfer window opened yesterday.