Football: Uefa backs claim for compensation

Lennart Johansson, the president of Uefa, football's European governing body, is backing Nottingham Forest's claim for compensation from Anderlecht.

Anderlecht have admitted their chairman made a pounds 20,000 "loan" to the referee after the controversial 1984 Uefa Cup semi-final, which Forest lost. Johansson said: "Certain ideas have been put forward to see what we can do for them as they are the victims in this affair."

Uefa's executive committee is to revamp the format of the Intertoto Cup. The new arrangements, to be adopted formally in December, would allow clubs from smaller countries to acquire European experience in a new knock- out competition.

Fifa, the game's world governing body, is to update guidelines for referees for next year's World Cup finals following the success of such directives as outlawing the tackle from behind.

The latest step is likely to see players penalised for failing to retreat the full 10 yards at free-kicks. Fifa's director of communications, Keith Cooper, said: "If players don't respect the rules then they can only expect to be booked. I know this causes some concern because it might be a player's second yellow card and lead to his sending-off for what is a technical offence, but players will just have to accept this is the price they will pay."

Sheffield Wednesday were yesterday told by a transfer tribunal to pay Southampton pounds 1.6m for Jim Magilton. Wednesday had offered pounds 600,000 for the Northern Ireland midfielder, while Saints valued him at pounds 3.5m.

Hartlepool United's chairman, Harold Hornsey, has sold his controlling interest in the club to an Aberdeen-based oil company, Integrated Oil Recovery, and has stood down as chairman. His replacement is Ken Hodcroft, the joint owner of IOR.

Rangers want to re-sign their former captain, Richard Gough, from Kansas City Wizards.