Ashley Cole has accepted an out of court damages settlement and received a public apology from both the News of the World and The Sun newspapers after they printed pictures and stories about a gay sex romp which readers assumed involved Cole and his friend DJ Masterstepz, Choice FM DJ Ian Thompson.

Ashley Cole always denied being involved in the alleged rendezvous with another prominent Premiership footballer and the music industry figure mentioned in the story and despite being engaged to Girls Aloud popstar Cheryl tweedy was widely believed to the player involved.

Both newspapers issued apologies to both men after they had filed claims for damages over the libel, harassment and breach of privacy caused by the story:

“We are happy to make clear that Mr Cole and Masterstepz were not involved in any such activities.

“We apologise to them for any distress caused and we will be paying them each a sum by way of damages.”

What a game. After Saturday’s FA Cup Final I thought it would be a long time before I saw another that matched it but the 2006 European Cup final certainly got close.

Thierry Henry missing a sitter after two minutes, Lehmann self destructing and reaping the effects of the bad karma he’s built up in the Premiership over the past two seasons and Sol “Judas” Campbell scoring his first goal of 2006 to put the Arsenal a goal up despite being down to 10 men after Eboue took a dive to win the free kick. What a first half. If you were an Arsenal fan that is. For the Barcelona inclined “Neutral” it was more than a little hard going.

Samuel Eto’o hitting the post, Henry missing another sitter and constant Barcelona pressure with no serious openings were really doing my heart no good at all and as the rain came down in torrents in Paris there were growing doubts in my mind whether the best footballing side in Europe could get the vital goal to make their numerical advantage count.

Offside concerns aside it finally came from Eto’o with a fabulous move and through ball which he banged inside the near post to send the Barcelona fans into raptures and one interested observer in Northern Ireland absolutely ballistic watching on TV. When Belletti and Larsson combined five minutes later to net the eventual winner I almost needed resuscitation. The goals had been coming with immense pressure being put on the rapidly tiring Arsenal defence but it’s one thing having the pressure and quite another actually hitting the back of the net.

Ronaldinho poked and prodded but rarely got his proper rewards for his invention and skill while Ludovic Giuly, Deco and Eto’o take most of the plaudits for their own invention and movement all night. Giuly in particular was integral to Barca’s attacking play down the right hand side and should use this performance to help him get over the disappointment of missing out on France’s World Cup squad. If they can afford to leave Giuly out then they must have some squad.

Arsenal’s players worked hard but were always fighting an uphill battle after Lehmann’s deserved sending off on 20 minutes. Thierry Henry worked hard but his usually immaculate finishing left him once again in a big game and one does have to ask now if his true world class quality is real or just perceived and blown up by the English media. Maybe a move to Barcelona to replace the departing Henrik Larsson would show us the real level of quality Henry has.

One thing neither Henry nor his manager have is any class when it comes to losing. To come on TV afterwards and blame the referee for giving Barcelona some decisions and then not mentioning the blatant dive from Eboue which won Arsenal the free kick from which they scored is childish and immature and for such a supposedly cultured player as Henry, a tad embarassing.

In the end justice was done and as Carlos Puyol lifted the European Cup there could hardly be any football fan in Europe who didn’t feel that Barcelona deserved to be champions of Europe after the football they have played this season.

Long may their reign continue.

How much would people have to pay you to play football just like Ronaldinho? If I could I would do it for free but if you want the man himself you’ll have to pay around ?19.5m a year to match his current salary and outside earnings, making him the world’s current highest paid footballer.

Former top earner David Beckham has seen his earnings drop by almost a third to just over ?12m from last year’s table topping ?17.3m while another Real Madrid galactico, Ronaldo, comes in third.

Showing that English players still get as much attention at home as they do in Spain, Wayne Rooney comes in fourth with an estimated annual income of around ?11.2m from his Manchester United salary and endorsement deals. Not bad going for a player barely in his twenties and a nice sideline after lifting the PFA Young Player of the Year Award this week.

Top earning coaches, unsurprisingly, all look up to Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho on ?7.56m a year and current England coach Sven Goran Eriksson on ?4.78m.

Hands up who doesn’t begrudge them a penny of it.

Yeah, I thought so.

The owners of The Sun and News of the World newspapers have agreed to pay Wayne Rooney damages of ?100,000 over false allegations they printed of him having slapped his girlfriend Coleen McLaughlin in a Chesire nightclub last year.

It took a trip to the High Court for the newspapers to admit that their “story” was false despite a year of protestations from Wayne Rooney and his legal advisors and with the World Cup less than two months away all parties concerned will be glad to get another potentially embarassing situation cleared up.

A statement from the two newspapers said: “With only 58 days to the start of The World Cup, The Sun and The News of The World are pleased to have reached a settlement with Wayne Rooney.

“We can now put this case behind us and focus on a great tournament.

“We wish him and the England team every success in Germany and look forward to welcoming them back with the World Cup trophy.”

A bit rich seeing as they made the whole thing up between them but it wouldn’t be like either of those two newspapers to let the truth get in the way of a good soundbite or headline, even when it’s their liking for unconventional “reporting” that has led them into the situation where they need one.

The owners of Burberry needn’t start expecting a windfall from the ?100,000 damages the Manchester United striker has received though, he’s very thoughtfully decided to donate it all to charity.

In a surprising announcement, Guus Hiddink has said that he is extremely close to signing a deal to take over as coach of the Russian national team after he leads Australia into the World Cup in the summer.

Hiddink will also leave his day job as manager of PSV Eindhoven following the World Cup after leading them to their 19th Eredivisie title last week, their sixth under his control over two spells as manager. Having also led Holland to the World Cup semi-finals in France in 1998 and South Korea to a similar position in 2002, Hiddink was widely tipped to be a forerunner to replace Sven Goran Eriksson as England head coach but has surprised the footballing world by turning his sights east to the burgeoning football power of Russia.

Hiddink told Holland Sport that the deal he was negotiating would allow him to continue to live in Amsterdam and only travel to Russia for a few days or weeks at a time when necessary, a situation very popular in international management these days and also employed by California based Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

With Hiddink now off the “potentials” list, English football fans can sense a growing feeling of unease over who will actually finish up wearing the blazer with the three lions on it once Sven is gone.

Greg Louganis and cohorts can rest easy although players such as Didier Drogba and Joe Cole may face a slight problem if FIFA go ahead with the FA’s proposal to allow retrospective punishments for players found guilty of diving to earn free kicks and penalties.

With the problem currently under the media spotlight again following Didier Drogba’s admittance that he did dive during games (shock horror!) the FA are trying to talk players and managers into a regime of self policing instead of using legislation to end the scourge of the modern game but it has to be said that self policing hasn’t worked in the past and has only allowed the situation to get worse.

Current managers Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes both believe the problem has gotten worse since they played at the highest level and these days it can’t only be blamed on foreign players with such England regulars as Michael Owen and Joe Cole being renowned for going down easily under challenges. If the clubs and managers aren’t willing to stop the practice (who’s to say they don’t actively encourage it?) then it is the responsibility of the FA and FIFA to step in and implement laws worldwide to end the ridiculous spectacle of grown men playacting. I thought football was a man’s game?

World Cup 2010 chief executive Danny Jordaan believes that the only man who can save South Africa’s blushes and lead them out of the footballing wilderness as they prepare for hosting the 2010 World Cup is Sven Goran Eriksson.

A nation of Englishmen shake their heads in disbelief but Jordaan defends his idea by pointing to the role that Sven has played in bringing through a clutch of young players into the England setup and reducing their overreliance on established stars such as David Beckham and Paul Scholes.

In a statement worthy of Sven’s own PR guru he goes on to say that despite the Swede’s massive ?4m a year salary, the South Africans should fork out for him because they have to pay to get the best available coach.

Whether Sven Goran Eriksson is the man for the job as Mr. Jordaan thinks he is will be a matter for the South African FA but Sven’s record at the top table isn’t exactly top class and if the South Africans are really serious about getting a man who has been there and done it at the highest level then maybe they should be rivalling the FA and having a word with Luiz Felipe Scolari or Guus Hiddink instead. Pedigree is what matters and no amount of spin and PR smiles from Sven can hide the fact that he’s still some distance behind these two in terms of international football success.

Just when building contractors Multiplex think that things can’t get any worse in the new Wembley Stadium development, a steel beam in the new roof collapses while being welded resulting in 3500 workers being sent home for the day amid safety concerns.

The roof support beam, measuring 50 metres long by 2 metres wide, was being welded into the roof at the north end of the stadium when it fell and workers all over the development were alerted by an “enormous bang”. Despite some workers being in the area where the support fell there were thankfully no casualties and structural engineers are on site now trying to rectify the problem.

The new Wembley Stadium development has encountered nothing but problems since it began and it’s opening date was recently put back again meaning this season’s FA Cup Final will once again have to travel to it’s temporary home at Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium.

Costs for the planned showpiece stadium of English football have spiralled over the duration of it’s construction to over an estimated ?750 million and the professional reputation of the builders Multiplex has taken a severe dent in light of the continued problems.

The GMB union which includes construction workers in it’s members has already called for a full scale investigation into today’s latest accident.

In another challenge to FIFA and UEFA’s control of the game, the G14 clubs are backing Belgian club Charleroi as they prepare to face FIFA in court in a case that could have as wide ranging effects on the game as the infamous Bosman ruling in 1995.

Charleroi are claiming compensation from FIFA for the injury caused to their player Abdelmajid Oulmers while on international duty for Morocco against Burkina Faso in 2004. Oulmers missed eight months while out injured and Charleroi have claimed that his injury prevented them from winning the domestic Belgian League during this time.

G14 have made their stance on the issue very clear as they have also backed Olympique Lyon in a similar court action over the injury their French defender Eric Abidal suffered in a freidnly for the France national team.

A G14 spokesman outlined their position: “We believe Fifa has the financial muscle to put together an insurance pool to cover players injured while on international duty. This case is not about shifting the cost from the clubs to the national associations.”

FIFA disagree and maintain that the responsibility for players on international duty lies with the national associations and not the world governing body while claiming, in the Charleroi case, that Oulmers injury had no bearing on the club’s eventual failure to win the Belgian League.

Depending on the outcome of the case, the G14 could have the case referred to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the scene of another Belgian, the aforementioned Jean-Marc Bosman’s, famous victory for player power. Whether the ramifications of this case will have such far reaching effects as that case will be judged over the next few years.

Europe’s top clubs have had a draft report leaked which contains details of plans to try and ensure that the 18 clubs which comprise G14 are ensured entry into the Champion’s League every season, effectively creating an artifical European Superleague.

While G14 general manager Thomas Kurth denies that the group plans to ring fence the Champion’s League in any way it is impossible to view their controversial plans as anything other than an attempt by the richest clubs to secure their own interests at the expense of traditional democratic qualification methods and cup structures.

UEFA have reacted angrily to the leaked report claiming that it would make football as predictable as professional wrestling but in this day and age of the same teams qualifying virtually every season for the Champion’s League and then reinforcing their position with the money they earn by qualifying, it has become somewhat of a closed shop anyway.

UEFA are obviously worried that the G14 will attempt to usurp some of their power and control over the game but by conceding ground to them since the inception of the Champion’s League and pandering to the wishes and financial greed of the richest clubs they have made a rod for their own back while at the same time managing to devalue virtually every cup and league competition in Europe.

The race for more and more money at the expense of the ideals of sporting play and the love of football have tarnished what should have been a golden age for European football but has instead turned into a grubby, murky world of money chasing and lessened values amongst clubs, players and fans.

Maybe a permanent European Superleague between the 18 members of G14 would take this high end, materilaistic value out of the game and while the rich compete to get richer in their own private league, they could let the rest of football try to reclaim the values and level of competition it once held before the money became the prize and not the trophy.