A leading member of the British House of Commons has called for a police investigation into Roy Keane's horror tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland.
According to The Observer, Colchester MP Mr Bob Russell, the Liberal Democrats' spokesman on sport, has written to Greater Manchester Police to report the April 2001 incident as a crime.
The paper quotes Mr Russell as saying Keane's "violent tackle was premeditated and was, therefore, a deliberate assault".
The letter goes on to state: "Acts of assault, whether in the workplace or at entrances to nightclubs, should not be viewed differently simply because one occurred during a football match while another was at a drinking venue.
"When is football going to realise that it cannot be above the law of the land that relates to everyone else?
"I am inviting the chief constable to regard the written admission of assault by Roy Keane as seriously as any other assault at any other location and to view my letter as a formal report of a crime."
Keane could also be the subject of an FA charge once his book is published this week.
PA