Today's other stories in brief
Police speak to Rooney
WAYNE ROONEY was questioned by police after allegedly spitting at a paparazzi photographer, Scotland Yard said yesterday.
The Manchester United and England forward was interviewed under caution after the incident near London's Oxford Street on Tuesday evening.
The 22-year-old was reportedly leaving a restaurant with his new wife, Coleen.
He was spoken to by police at a neutral venue after a third party made the complaint shortly afterwards. In British law, deliberately spitting at someone is an offence of common assault.
Blatter denies Ronaldo slave remark
FIFA PRESIDENT Sepp Blatter insists he did not compare Cristiano Ronaldo's situation at Manchester United to that of a slave.
With Ronaldo's future the subject of intense speculation all summer as Real Madrid continue to court the Portugal international, Blatter expressed his "sympathy" for the player.
However, the controversial figurehead this week said on a visit to Vietnam: "I have never said that Ronaldo is a slave.
"But I said slavery with young people. European clubs are trying to get 13, 14 and 15-year-old boys and bring them to the big clubs.
"I have never mentioned that for Ronaldo. But the press, they have distorted it."
At the time, Blatter said: "I think in football there is too much modern slavery, transferring players or buying players here and there, and putting them somewhere. And we are trying now to intervene in such cases."
Tottenham to end their interest in Arshavin
TOTTENHAM ARE set to end their interest in bringing Russia forward Andrei Arshavin to White Hart Lane but Roman Pavlyuchenko is among the list of players they are still looking at.
Zenit St Petersburg have invited Spurs to make a bid upwards of €25 million for Arshavin, who caught the eye at Euro 2008, but it is understood that the Premier League club will focus their attention elsewhere.
Zenit have accepted that Arshavin will leave - his preference was a move to Spanish giants Barcelona - but Spurs did not lodge a bid for him.
Spartak Moscow striker Pavlyuchenko is one of the players they are monitoring but a move for him has not gathered pace yet.
Valencia deny transfer speculation
VALENCIA HAVE vehemently denied they are in negotiations to sell star players David Villa and David Silva.
Sporting vice-president Fernando Gomez yesterday issued an official statement on the club's website, valenciacf.es, following accusations from Valencia's former financial consultant Juan Villalonga that Villa is set for a move to Real Madrid and negotiations with Roma for Silva are "advanced".
"Valencia CF has made no agreement nor are they involved in any negotiations to transfer David Villa and David Jimenez Silva to any club in Spain or abroad," the statement read.
Keane set to partner Torres
LIVERPOOL MANAGER Rafael Benitez is set to field his €50million strike force of Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane for the first time in today's friendly against Rangers at Ibrox and expects his side's goal drought to come to an end.
Torres and Keane are expected to start in Glasgow as Liverpool start a run of three games in a week before their Champions League third qualifying round tie first leg away to Standard Liege.
So far this summer Liverpool are unbeaten in five pre-season friendlies, but they have only scored four goals and managed goalless draws in the last two games.
But Benitez reckons all that will change once Torres and Keane start to hit it off. He said: "In the last two games we have created several chances but either the opposition keeper has played really well to stop us from scoring or we have just missed the target."
Thuram hangs up his boots
FORMER FRANCE defender Lilian Thuram has announced his retirement from football. The 36-year-old, who won a record 142 caps for France, is quitting following the discovery of a cardiac malformation during a medical taken in June.
Having been given the results of a second round of tests a month on, Thuram has chosen to hang up his boots.
