Hameds may launch rescue for Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday, who announced this week that they are £10.7m in the red, could be saved from financial ruin by boxing's Hamed brothers. Riath, Nabeel and Naseem, who recently relinquished his World Boxing Organisation featherweight title, have expressed interest in coming to the aid of the club, who are bottom of the First Division.

Sheffield Wednesday, who announced this week that they are £10.7m in the red, could be saved from financial ruin by boxing's Hamed brothers. Riath, Nabeel and Naseem, who recently relinquished his World Boxing Organisation featherweight title, have expressed interest in coming to the aid of the club, who are bottom of the First Division.

The Sheffield-based Hameds, led by Riath, who is Naseem's business manager and who is also the front-man of Prince Promotions, are considering forming a consortium to buy into Wednesday. Riath said: "We are interested in looking at the club in terms of doing something constructive with it, but there are a lot of things of interest to us in Sheffield and this is just one of them. Sheffield Wednesday are an institution in the city and it would be a shame to let the club go to waste.

"But this is not about showing our colours and putting one club before the other. We are Sheffield fans and we support both the clubs."

Riath denied any link with the Leeds-based telecommunications tycoon, Jeffrey Samuel, whose name was initially mentioned, but who is now understood to have shied away from the Hillsborough club.

However, Riath is confident that, along with his brothers and any other business partners who go in with them, they can help Wednesday return to their former glories.

"We have been talking with a lot of people for a long time. This is not something we have only just thought about," Riath added. "Our reasons for doing it are because we are from Sheffield and there is a parochial link. It is also still a big club, but there is no quick fix.

"Obviously nobody is looking at this as a quick profit-making scheme. We would have a long-term strategy plan to turn the club round and put it on the road to recovery."

Manchester City are making a £3m offer for Everton's transfer-listed Richard Dunne. But Charlton are also in the hunt for the chunky centre-half who has fallen out with his manager at Goodison Park, Walter Smith.

The Scotland international Gary Naysmith is on his way to Everton in a £1.8m deal after Smith outbid Gordon Strachan's Coventry City. Naysmith was due to have talks with Strachan's club after returning from international duty in Croatia. However, as Coventry haggled over the method of paying the fee, Hearts completed the transfer with Everton.

The small band of 200 Leeds supporters due to watch the club face Besiktas in next week's Champions' League match are to be taken off the streets of Istanbul to avoid any trouble, and will travel to the game by boat instead. The 200 fans are to fly in and out of Istanbul on the day of the return game next Wednesday, but will make their way to the Inonu stadium via a trip down the Bosphorus river.

The Wolves defender Steve Sedgley will be sidelined for three months after surgery to his left knee. A piece of flaked bone was removed from the former Tottenham and Ipswich Town player's knee.

Both the Reading manager, Alan Pardew, and his assistant, Martin Allen, have signed new contracts until 2003 with the Second Division club.

Rangers are to relaunch a bid for the Español striker Raul Tamudo, who was one of the most prominent members of Spain's Olympic side. The Scottish champions tried unsuccessfully to sign the 23-year-old two months ago.

Motherwell have taken the midfielder Jamie McClen on loan from Newcastle United.

The former Dundee United manager Tommy McLean has been asked to help out at the club on a more permanent basis. McLean, whose brother Jim is the Tannadice chairman, has been looking after training while the current United manager, Alex Smith, has been away with the Scotland Under-21 side.

Kilmarnock have appointed the first women's and girls' football development officer attached to a professional club. Donna Cheyne has been given the new post.