Soccer News round-up: Manchester United have opted against reporting Chelsea to the Premier League despite Alex Ferguson's growing suspicions about Peter Kenyon, the London club's chief executive, allegedly using underhand tactics to entice Rio Ferdinand to Stamford Bridge.
Ferguson's fears were exacerbated yesterday when it transpired Kenyon and Ferdinand, together with the player's agent Pini Zahavi, had not only dined at Carpaccio in London two Saturdays ago but had gone on to a second restaurant, Elysee, where they apparently spent another three hours together.
The revelations have seriously undermined the version of events put forward by Ferdinand, who had described it as a "brief hello", and it prompted Chelsea to issue another statement claiming they had "no interest" in signing the England international defender.
Ferguson remains wholly unconvinced, having said United had been treated "with contempt", but his anger is not shared by all the club's directors, who have decided there is nothing to gain by going through with his threat to file an official complaint. The club is convinced Ferdinand will sign a three-year extension to his contract this summer.
A Chelsea statement said: "As far as Chelsea are concerned our position is completely unchanged. We have made it absolutely clear to Manchester United, on more than one occasion now, that we have no interest in signing Rio Ferdinand and, regardless of where this encounter took place, there is absolutely no significance in Peter Kenyon seeing Rio. As already stated, their meeting was purely by chance in a very public place."
Meanwhile, Arsenal striker Thierry Henry is set to miss his side's crucial Premiership clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge tomorrow. The 27-year-old France international has a groin injury and missed the FA Cup semi-final victory against Blackburn at the weekend. "In my opinion Thierry will miss the game," said his manager Arsene Wenger. "We will miss him as he's an exceptional player. But we can do more collectively and try to compensate."
Freddie Ljungberg is doubtful after he was forced off with a hip injury just after half-time in the 3-0 win at the Millennium Stadium. The 28-year-old picked up the knock against Norwich City earlier this month and aggravated it during training the following week.
Sol Campbell (ankle) is fit but may not be risked against the Premiership leaders. "Sol is fit to play and I will make a decision over whether to start him," said Wenger.
The FA opened itself to allegations of adding petrol to a raging inferno when it appointed Rob Styles, one of England's most card-happy referees, to take charge of the potentially acrimonious FA Cup final. Styles's record of having brandished one red card for every three of his Premiership games will inevitably increase concerns the showpiece event in Cardiff will be remembered for the wrong reasons.
Despite refereeing in the top tier of English football for five years, Styles has never before been entrusted with a Manchester United-Arsenal match. His appointment could hardly have been announced at a more difficult time: the 37-year-old referee was widely condemned for his performance in Saturday's 3-3 draw between Crystal Palace and Norwich City.
Styles will not tolerate any of the clashes between rival players that have scarred United's meetings with Arsenal over recent seasons. Having issued seven red cards in 21 appearances this season, he is statistically the strictest referee in the Premiership.
The FA's refereeing assessors have scored Styles "consistently highly" this season and, in coming to their decision, they took into account that he is also a Fifa-registered official.
