Beckham given LA Galaxy captaincy

David Beckham is to captain the Los Angeles Galaxy for the first time in three years.



Bruce Arena, coach of the Major League Soccer club, decided that the former England captain will wear the captain's arm band on Saturday when the Galaxy visit MLS rivals Real Salt Lake.



"Bruce has asked me to wear it, and I'll be proud to wear it," said Beckham, who is in the final season his contract with the club.



"It doesn't change the way I play. It's something you're very proud to wear, but you need more than that one leader on the field."



Beckham last captained the Galaxy on October 26, 2008. The armband was given to US midfielder Landon Donovan the following year.



Donovan will miss Saturday's game to be with the United States team hosting Argentina in a friendly at East Rutherford, New Jersey.




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Wenger and Nasri given bans

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and midfielder Samir Nasri have both been handed one-match suspensions by UEFA for improper conduct.



The punishments stem from remarks made to the referee by the duo following the Gunners' last-16 Champions League knock out to Barcelona at Camp Nou last month.



Wenger, who will serve a touchline ban, has also been fined €10,000 by the Uefa Control and Disciplinary Body.



The suspensions will apply to the next UEFA club game for which either man is eligible, while Arsenal have been given three days to appeal the decision.



Uefa said in a statement: "Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and midfield player Samir Nasri have both been suspended for one UEFA club competition match following charges of improper conduct.



"The Arsenal manager has also been fined 10,000 euros.



"An appeal may be lodged against the ruling within three days of the dispatch of the reasoned decision."



Wenger, speaking this afternoon before UEFA's announcement, insisted he had done nothing wrong.



The Arsenal manager said: "If I am punished it will be one of the very few times that I feel I don't deserve it, because I don't feel I did anything wrong.



"I have no chance to speak my mind and I will have to accept it, but frankly I don't feel wrong and you don't feel at ease if you know you have done something wrong.



"This time I am quite relaxed, I don't even listen to what they have to say because I know what I've done and what I have said. I don't feel in this story I will have to be the one to be punished."



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Ferguson given five-match ban

Scunthorpe have sacked manager Ian Baraclough so are they now certainties for the drop? See the best Championship relegation odds here…



A Football Association tribunal has given Sir Alex Ferguson a five-match touchline ban for his comments about referee Martin Atkinson.



The Manchester United manager was found guilty of improper conduct for criticising Atkinson's display in the loss at Chelsea earlier this month.



"You want a fair referee, or a strong referee anyway - and we didn't get that," Ferguson told MUTV. "I must say, when I saw who the referee was I feared it. I feared the worst."



The ban starts on 22 March and includes the FA Cup tie against Manchester City.



The Independent Regulatory Commission's sanction is made up of a three-game ban for the Atkinson remarks and the activation of a two-game suspended ban.



The three-man panel also fined the 69-year-old manager £30,000.



Ferguson chose to appeal the charge and, speaking prior to United's FA Cup win over Arsenal at the weekend, said he was looking forward to having his case heard.



"I felt aggrieved and I now face an FA charge for what, to my mind, was simply telling the truth," he wrote in his programme notes.



"I will be defending myself strongly when my FA appeal hearing comes up.



"In fact, I am looking forward to the challenge because, to my mind, I have not said anything out of place, however much the media urge the FA to take action."



The length of the ban is in part due to the two-game suspended ban he had hanging over his head for questioning the fitness of referee Alan Wiley last season.



Scunthorpe have sacked manager Ian Baraclough so are they now certainties for the drop? See the best Championship relegation odds here…



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