Bowyer on Uefa video pause

Lee Bowyer must wait until later this week to discover whether or not he will be charged by Uefa following his apparent stamp on an opponent's head during last week's Uefa Cup tie between Leeds and Malaga.

Bowyer appeared to stand on Gerardo's face during a first-half tussle during the ill-tempered Elland Road match, which Leeds lost 2-1 to be forced out of the competition.

European football's governing body is still awaiting delivery of the match video. "We are due to receive the tape of the game sometime between now and Wednesday," a spokeswoman said yesterday.

She added that, if Uefa used video evidence, disciplinary action "won't be likely until January. There is no huge rush to look at this because Leeds are no longer in the Uefa Cup."

Uefa recently used video evidence against the Newcastle striker Alan Shearer, who was banned for two games for elbowing the Internazionale defender, Fabio Cannavaro, after the referee had not booked the England captain at the time of the incident.

For video evidence to be used, the incident must be one the referee did not see at the time. If there is a case to answer, Uefa will inform the player and the club, and ask them to submit a statement. The incident is then referred to the control and disciplinary committee.

The Bolton manager, Sam Allardyce, looks ready to sign the Argentinian centre-half Julian Maidana. The 30-year-old defender, a free agent from Racing Club, has impressed Allardyce during a week on trial and a contract is now being discussed with his advisers. Maidana has previously had trials at Manchester City and Blackburn, but seems to have found a home at Bolton.

Allardyce, who is likely to take Maidana on until the end of the season, is also looking at the possibility of signing his Racing Club team-mate, the striker Nicolas Pavlovich, on a similar basis.Pavlovich has also done well in a trial game and could be offered a deal, although he would face competition with the arrival of Russian World Cup attacker Vladimir Bestchastnykh.The Spartak Moscow forward has flown in for fitness tests and could be signed by the Lancashire club pending a successful application for a work permit.

The administrator in charge of Leicester City is "cautiously optimistic" over the future of the club. A club official announced at the weekend that the administrator had recommended the major creditors to accept the proposals put forward by a consortium headed by Gary Lineker.

In a statement, Nick Dargan of Deloitte & Touche, said: "There is still a lot of hard work still to be done and a successful conclusion is by no means certain. The first and most obvious requirement is for the consortium to finally secure their funding and they require the full support of the Leicester public to achieve this."

Dargan believes that a deal could be concluded early in the new year.

Greg Clarke, speaking on behalf of the Lineker consortium, said: "Gary and the consortium welcome this announcement. We aim to conclude a deal that will result in a broad-based ownership of the club by the people of Leicestershire as soon as possible."

The consortium is believed to be only £400,000 away from its target.