Short Soccer, November 21, 2012
Referee Mark Clattenburg will miss a fourth successive weekend of Premier League action as the Football Association continues an investigation into racism allegations against the official. Chelsea complained to the FA that the referee used a term understood to have been interpreted as racist towards Nigeria international John Obi Mikel during the 3-2 Premier League defeat by Manchester United on October 28. Last week British police dropped their own separate inquiry into the incident, sparked by a complaint from the Society of Black Lawyers. It is understood Clattenburg, who denies the accusations against him, does not want to take charge of any matches until the FA has resolved the matter. AFP
Shinji Kagawa, Manchester United's Japan midfielder, faces at least another four weeks out of action according to manager Alex Ferguson. Kagawa has been sidelined since suffering a knee injury against Braga in the Champions League at Old Trafford last month. Initially, Ferguson said he thought Kagawa would be back playing within four or five weeks. But Ferguson told United's website: "Shinji's progress has been quite slow actually. He's not started any outside work and we're looking at another four weeks, which is disappointing." AFP
Former France boss Raymond Domenech, who presided over a mutinous squad at the 2010 World Cup, insists that his new book (All Alone) is not an attempt to "settle accounts" - despite slamming midfielder Franck Ribery as a "diva". Domenech cut a powerless figure as his squad went on strike after striker Nicolas Anelka was sent home for verbally abusing him in a dressing room at half-time in a match against Mexico. Domenech said he just wanted to show "how you deal with the weight of pressure in having a team which is falling apart". AFP
English Premier League strugglers Queens Park Rangers insisted that Mark Hughes remained their manager after Twitter rumours suggesting that the Welshman had been sacked. "Rumours suggesting Mark Hughes has been sacked as QPR manager are not true," the club said. AFP
