Legal move over Keane inevitable, says union

Roy Keane was bound to face legal action from Alf-Inge Haaland as soon as his "ill- advised" book was released. That is the view of the Professional Footballers' Association chief executive, Gordon Taylor, after Haaland and Manchester City confirmed that they intended to sue Keane over his horror tackle in April last year. Manchester United have also been dragged into the dispute by being named in the potential lawsuit, which could drag on for 12 months.

Although the 29-year-old Haaland completed the game following Keane's instant dismissal by the referee, David Elleray, he has not finished a match since and is now facing the prospect of an early end to his career after failing to recover from a knee injury in the other leg.

In the serialisation of his autobiography, due out at the end of the month, Keane admitted he had set out to injure Haaland, as revenge for the Norwegian accusing him of feigning injury during a previous confrontation between the players in 1997. On that occasion, Keane suffered cruciate ligament damage after catching Haaland with a bad tackle when he was still at his former club Leeds.

Taylor immediately questioned the wisdom of the former Irish captain going into print with such a statement and his worst fears were realised less than 24 hours before the start of a new Premiership season.

"It is obviously not good news but it [the lawsuit] is exactly what I thought would happen," said Taylor. "I cannot believe he was advised to make such comments and, by doing so, he immediately left himself extremely vulnerable to an FA charge and this potential litigation.

"It is a very unfortunate situation because it has pitched player against player and club against club. With Manchester City being promoted as well, it is not particularly going to help a healthy rivalry in the city."

Although Keane caught Haaland's right leg, the Norwegian is believed to be arguing the impact also exacerbated problems in his left leg, from which he has never recovered. He is expected to claim for loss of future earnings, while Manchester City point to Haaland's absence from the rest of their 2000-01 campaign, which eventually resulted in their relegation.

The former Chelsea defender Paul Elliott and Bradford striker Gordon Watson have both launched similar actions in recent years, although with differing results. Elliott was unsuccessful in his bid to sue Dean Saunders for damage sustained in a tackle from which he never recovered, while Watson pocketed a £500,000 pay-out after being felled by Kevin Gray during a West Yorkshire derby with Huddersfield.