SOCCER SHORTS:FULHAM owner and Harrods boss Mohamed al Fayed has been questioned by police over allegations he sexually assaulted a teenage girl at his London store in May.

Fayed voluntarily attended a police station, where he was questioned after claims that he had assaulted a 15-year-old girl. Fayed was neither arrested nor charged. His spokeswoman Katharine Witty said: "Mr al Fayed vehemently denies this allegation and is confident that his name will be cleared."

Hicks insists he is not selling

LIVERPOOL co-owner Tom Hicks remains insistent he has no intention of selling the club despite their plans to build a new stadium being thwarted.

Hicks and co-owner George Gillett want a 75,000-seater stadium at Stanley Park to generate the cash to repay their €309 million personal debts as well as the €132 million tied to Liverpool.

The debts stem from the Americans' takeover in 2007.

The global financial crisis has brought a halt to the plans, however, as no bank is in a position to issue further loans to finance a new stadium, and the Americans have been reduced to using Liverpool's profits to pay off the interest on the loans but have not been able to reduce the overall debt.

Despite the situation, Hicks is adamant he does not want to sell up. A source close to Hicks denied a report saying the investment bank Merrill Lynch have been instructed to find a buyer, maintaining they were merely providing expertise in refinancing the existing debts.

Hicks and Gillett refinanced their debts earlier this year.

Revenue set to oppose McCarthy

THE Revenue Commissioners will this morning oppose the confirmation of Kieran McCarthy's appointment as examiner to Hinge Trading Limited, effectively Drogheda United, claiming that the company has little chance of survival, reports Emmet Malone.

McCarthy is due to report at the hearing on his work since being appointed on an interim basis last week and it is expected that he will reveal that there hav been two significant expressions of interest in the club.

Waterford United's hopes of winning promotion to the League of Ireland's top flight may be boosted by the fact Athlone Town played an unregistered player against them in a recent league game.

Youth team player Robbie Benson was apparently not eligible to play for Athlone's senior team on October 3rd when the drawn game with Waterford took place.

St Patrick's Athletic boss John McDonnell says Mark Quigley remains a doubt for tomorrow night's FAI Cup semi-final against Bohemians.

Beckham in talks with AC Milan over short-term deal

LOS Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham is in talks with AC Milan over a short-term loan deal which will enable him to stay in contention for the England team during the US close season.

"Will he arrive? I believe so, yes. He will stay here at Milan on loan for some months, we are talking about it with his agent," Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani said.

The 33-year-old, who made his name at Manchester United where he won the 1999 Champions League, is one of the most marketable players and Milan will look to cash in on his fame. "We will keep him for some months and then he will leave. Beckham has chosen Milan," said Galliani. "Our squad is ultra-competitive and it will stay like that but Beckham is something different and intriguing."

A spokesman for Beckham said talks over a short-term deal were ongoing. Galaxy play their final match of the season against Dallas on Sunday and if a deal is agreed, Beckham would join Milan in January before returning to Los Angeles for the start of their new campaign in late March.

Petrov out for 'three or four months'

MANCHESTER City winger Martin Petrov is expected to be out for "three or four months" with a knee injury, manager Mark Hughes has revealed. Hughes received a boost on Tuesday with the news Micah Richards' ankle injury is not as bad as first feared - the right-back strained ligaments rather than suffering a break - but Bulgarian Petrov, who sustained the injury on international duty, will be out until February at the earliest. The Republic of Ireland will play Bulgaria at Croke Park on March 28th.

Tottenham defender Michael Dawson has denied a charge of improper conduct and requested a personal hearing, the English FA have announced. The centre-half was charged on Tuesday and could face an increased ban as Tottenham bid to recover from their worst start to a league season.