Arsene Wenger remarked recently that Arsenal tend to come away from hearings at the English Football Association with "a heavy bag". But yesterday Dennis Bergkamp got off more lightly than his manager must have feared, escaping suspension for an alleged stamp.

Bergkamp had been charged with violent conduct, which could have carried a three-game ban, but was found guilty of the lesser offence of improper conduct and fined £5,000 for his behaviour in an incident involving Blackburn's Nils-Eric Johansson at Highbury in October.

The FA disciplinary commission decided there was no violent intent when Bergkamp's boot made contact with Johansson. It appears they concluded the Dutchman held back and that his action was a yellow rather than a red-card offence. The striker, who had maintained his innocence throughout, was warned about his future conduct.

Although Wenger could celebrate the Bergkamp verdict, he will be less pleased that his captain, Patrick Vieira, is unlikely to recover from a thigh injury in time to play at home to Middlesbrough tomorrow.

It is by no means the end of trial by television for Arsenal players, though. Former England defender Martin Keown is still waiting to hear whether he will be charged for striking Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy in an off-the-ball incident, again missed by the referee, at Old Trafford nearly two weeks ago.

Keown has apologised to Wenger for a "bad reaction" to what he claimed was van Nistelrooy standing on his foot, but insists he only pushed the United player in the face to move him away and, like Bergkamp, says he will be very disappointed if the FA take the matter further.

More promising news for Arsenal, though, is that Footballer of the Year Robert Pires has confirmed that he has opened negotiations with the club over extending his contract.

Arsenal are also optimistic of persuading other French stars Vieira and Thierry Henry to sign new deals, but it looks as though Pires, who has recovered from a serious knee injury sustained last April which put him out of the title run-in, the FA Cup final and the World Cup, will be first of the trio to put pen to paper on a fresh two-year agreement.

Meanwhile, the agency which handled thousands of match tickets for Wednesday night's League Cup quarter-final between Aston Villa and Liverpool have apologised to supporters after the game was delayed for 80 minutes.

And Ticketmaster UK Ltd have promised a review of procedures to try to avoid a repeat of the ticket fiasco which left thousands of fans having to queue to collect tickets at Villa Park in bitterly cold conditions. The normal policy of mailing out tickets was not proceeded with because of fears that the Christmas post may have caused problems with them arriving on time.

As a result some 4,000 tickets had to be collected at the ground and the game eventually got underway at 9.05 p.m.