Republic of Ireland under-21 manager Don Givens said yesterday he was disappointed with the cancellation of the friendly game against Denmark which had been scheduled to take place at Dalymount Park today. "It's a pity, particularly with the long gap between games. But at least we got the lads together for a few days so the whole thing wasn't a completely wasted exercise."

Football's governing bodies have agreed two crucial changes to the transfer system with the European Commission following a lengthy meeting in Brussels last night. FIFA and UEFA have established with the EC that players under 28 should respect contracts for the first three years. They have also extracted an agreement that players, agents or clubs who break those contracts during the protected period should be liable to "sporting sanctions".

Liverpool's passage into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup was confirmed yesterday when a plea by Roma for a replay was rejected. The Italians lodged an official protest with UEFA claiming Spanish referee Jose Garcia-Aranda denied them a penalty in their 1-0 second-leg win, which they lost 2-1 on aggregate. Liverpool have been fined £2,200 by UEFA for improper conduct by their supporters during the first leg in Italy. Roma were hit with a £15,000 punishment for the same offence during the February 15th clash.

Chelsea defender Celestine Babayaro was yesterday charged with violent conduct by the English Football Association for stamping on Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg during the stormy FA Cup fifth round encounter at Highbury on February 18th.

Crystal Palace and Norwich have been charged by the Football Association following a mass brawl during their first division clash at Selhurst Park on February 17th.