Sport

Newslines: No FA action against Barthez

Fabien Barthez will not face any disciplinary action from the English FA for his weekend clash with Leeds defender Ian Harte.

Wed Mar 07 2001 - 00:00

Fabien Barthez will not face any disciplinary action from the English FA for his weekend clash with Leeds defender Ian Harte.

Referee Graham Barber has made it clear to the FA that he saw the incident in the 1-1 draw at Elland Road, awarding a penalty and booking the Manchester United goalkeeper for kicking out at Harte.

That means the matter is now closed, as the FA's video advisory panel do not become involved if a referee has witnessed an incident.

Leeds captain Lucas Radebe accused referees of leniency towards Manchester United, but the club's manager, Alex Ferguson, said: "Leeds have been given more penalties than anybody else this season and Ian Harte is renowned throughout Europe as being a diver." Leeds manager Dave O'Leary retorted in kind. "Maybe the great man's memory is going," he said.

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"Maybe he's had a bad week. He said on Saturday that Fabien Barthez should have been sent off. It smells of some sort of smokescreen to me but who am I to question it."

Sunderland manager Peter Reid hopes to bring in the £3m sterling Slovakian striker Szilard Nemeth as Niall Quinn's eventual successor. Reid has signed French full back Patrice Carteron.

Middlesbrough manager Bryan Robson hopes to clinch the £1m signing of the Bradford forward Dean Windass today. Barcelona striker Dani turned down a move to Middlesbrough after failing to agree personal terms.

Ipswich midfielder Jim Magilton will have a personal hearing in London today after being charged with misconduct by the FA for comments he made to Premiership referee Andy d'Urso at the end of Ipswich's defeat at Chelsea on January 20th.

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill insists the abuse Dunfermline midfielder Ian Ferguson was subjected to by Celtic supporters in their league game on Sunday is simply part of the game.

He said former Rangers player Ferguson was "big enough to take any sort of abuse flying around".

Celtic face Dunfermline tonight in a Scottish Cup fourth-round replay. Chris Sutton will miss out with a shoulder injury, while Bobby Petta is sidelined with a groin strain.