Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008

LONDON (AP) Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton was suspended six matches by the Football Association on Friday for his assault last year on former Manchester City teammate Ousmane Dabo.

Banned: The Football Association suspended Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton, seen playing for Manchester City in 2007, for six games on Friday for his attack on former Man City teammate Ousmane Dabo last year. AP PHOTO

The 26-year-old Barton could be suspended another six matches if he is found guilty of a similar offense or is sent off for violent conduct before the end of next season.

Barton, who was fined $44,000, has 14 days to appeal the punishment imposed by a F.A. disciplinary panel.

Barton has already been sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for two years, over the 2007 assault on Dabo while they were at Manchester City. The sentence was imposed in July while Barton was serving a 74-day jail term for an alcohol-fueled attack on two men last December.

Barton was suspended by Man City and never played for the club again, joining Newcastle in June 2007.

Dabo, a French defender, returned to Lazio from Man City in January.

Barton won't be eligible for the Magpies again until the Oct. 25 Premier League match at rival Sunderland.

LONDON (AP) A former Manchester City youth goalkeeper was jailed for 20 months on Friday for blackmailing a Premier League player by threatening to sell a sex video.

Ashley Timms demanded £15,000 ($26,400) between March and April from the international player, who was not named for legal reasons at Manchester Crown Court.

"It has really made me feel I can't trust anyone and I feel quite insecure and if I meet anyone now, I constantly feel they're after my money," the player said in a statement to the court.

Timms used a mobile phone to video the player having sex with a 19-year-old woman at the player's home last September.

Timms, whose friendship with the player had waned as his own career faltered, pestered him for cash to use as a deposit on a house in return for selling him the video.

LAUSANNE , Switzerland (AP) The Court of Arbitration for Sport agreed Friday to hear Adrian Mutu's appeal against an order to pay his former club Chelsea $25.5 million) in compensation following his dismissal for taking cocaine.

FIFA told the Romania striker last month he must pay the record amount to Chelsea after he was banned from soccer for seven months in 2004 for using the drug.

"Adrian Mutu requests the CAS to annul the FIFA decision and to establish that no compensation is in fact due," the court said in a statement.

Chelsea paid £15 million to Italian club Parma to sign Mutu in August 2003.

After the suspension was completed, Chelsea released Mutu in October 2004 and received nothing when he joined Italian club Juventus. The 29-year-old Mutu now plays for Fiorentina.

No date has been set for the hearing. A ruling is expected later this year.

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