The Leeds United footballers Jonathan Woodgate (21) and Lee Bowyer (24) will face a retrial in October on charges of attacking an Asian student following the collapse of their trial this week.
The Premiership players and two of Mr Woodgate's friends, Mr Paul Clifford (21) and Mr Neale Caveney (21), will appear again on October 8th at Hull Crown Court.
The first trial was halted on Monday following the publication of an article in the Sunday Mirror which the judge concluded might have prejudiced the jury against the defendants.
Lawyers for the four, who deny charges of affray and grievous bodily harm with intent against Mr Sarfraz Najeib (20) in Leeds city centre last year, did not oppose the prosecution's application for a retrial. But the defendants' legal teams indicated they would seek to have the case thrown out.
Mr Nigel Sangster QC, for Mr Clifford, said his client could not get a fair trial. "A fair trial before a jury with no preconceived views of this case is impossible," he said.
The 10-week trial, which cost about £8 million, ended when Mr Justice Poole discharged the jury of seven men and four women.
Granting the application for the retrial, the judge said he believed that a new and fair trial was possible. He imposed an order under the Contempt of Court Act banning reference to the detail of the Sunday Mirror article.
The Sunday Mirror will be referred to the Attorney General over the article, and a spokesman for the newspaper, Mr Nick Fulligar, told The Irish Times that steps were being taken to establish "the precise editorial and legal process" prior to publication.
"We would like to take this opportunity to express our deep regret about the subsequent chain of events," he added.
The judge also returned to the definition of a racist incident contained in the Macpherson report on the murder of Stephen Lawrence, which he first raised after he discharged the jury.
Mr Justice Poole said it was not for his court to debate the Macpherson definition, that a crime is racist if it is perceived so by the victim or another person, but its adoption by the police in the absence of other objective evidence might pose a problem.
"It has posed a problem in this case. It has the potential to do so again in other trials," he said.