Ancona's coach says he will sue

Ancona's coach, Massimo Cacciatori, said from his hospital bed that he will sue Birmingham City players who, he alleges, badly beat him last week during a brawl following the clubs' Anglo-Italian Cup match, which Birmingham won 2-1.

The Ancona deputy prosecutor, Maria Inzitari, has begun an investigation into the case. Cacciatori suffered serious facial injuries that he claims were caused by being punched and kicked in the dressing-room.

In Rome's sports daily Corriere dello Sport yesterday, Cacciatori alleged that Liam Daish punched him in the face and that at least five other players joined Daish in kicking him as he fell. The coach, who has a broken cheek and a gash under the left eye, was quoted as saying: "It was a wild beating. I was punched and kicked for about 30 seconds." Daish has denied involvement.

A magistrate yesterday banned from all football grounds for five years the spectator who confronted goalkeeper Kevin Pressman on the pitch during Sheffield Wednesday's Coca-Cola Cup match at Millwall last month. Kenneth Humphries admitted shouting at Pressman but denied making a death threat.