Football Extras: Liverpool vows to ban supporter who threw flare into Chelsea end

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Liverpool are working with Merseyside Police to find and ban the supporter who threw a flare into the away fans section during Sunday’s clash against Chelsea, the Premier League club said on Tuesday.

Police confirmed on Monday that a flare was thrown from the upper section of the Anfield Road Stand and landed on the away supporters below after Sadio Mane put Liverpool 1-0 up six minutes into the second half.

Nobody was injured in the incident, but a young Chelsea fan suffered a panic attack.

Liverpool thanked the Chelsea staff, officials and supporters for their 'compassionate marking' of the 30th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 Liverpool supporters were killed.

“As ever, the overwhelming majority of those present at Anfield ensured the occasion was a fitting tribute,” a Liverpool spokesperson said.

“Regrettably however, a smoke device was thrown into the away section during the second half and we are actively working with Merseyside Police to investigate the matter.

“Any person found to have committed this offence will be banned from our ground.”

The Merseyside club also responded to the use of an offensive chant during the game, which Liverpool won 2-0 to return to the top of the league standings.

Pele released from hospital

Former soccer star Pele was released on Monday from hospital Albert Einstein in Sao Paulo, after seven days in the hospital and a procedure on Saturday to remove a kidney stone.

The 78-year-old former Santos and New York Cosmos player has suffered from kidney and prostate problems and also had hip replacement surgery in recent years. The Brazilian soccer legend had spent a week earlier this month in a hospital in Paris treating an urinary infection.

New York Red Bulls criticise Kaku for kicking ball into crowd

The New York Red Bulls criticised midfielder Kaku after a ball he kicked into the crowd during Sunday's match against Sporting Kansas City hit a fan but the club declined to say on Monday if they plan to punish the Paraguayan.

In the dying seconds of the 2-2 draw, Kaku angrily blasted the ball into the crowd. It hit a fan and sparked a shoving match between players of the two teams before Kaku was shown a red card.

"The New York Red Bulls organisation does not condone the type of behaviour displayed near the end of Sunday night's match in Kansas City," the club said in a statement without naming anyone. "We hold everyone in our organisation to a high standard of conduct."

"The matter will continue to be discussed internally and we will have no further comment at this time."

Several players approached the fan to apologise after the match and the 24-year-old Paraguayan tweeted his remorse after the game.

"I want to take the time and apologise for my actions during tonight’s match," Kaku said.

"As a competitor, I was frustrated with myself and took out my frustrations in a way that is not acceptable. I love this game and would never want to disrespect it."

Delaney offers to quit Irish FA completely amid loan controversy

Former Football Association of Ireland (FAI) boss John Delaney offered on Monday to leave the governing body completely, the FAI said, amid criticism from fans, players and politicians over the association's corporate governance practices.

Delaney, who was moved to a newly-created role of executive vice-president just 24 days ago after it was first reported he provided the FAI with a 100,000 euro ($113,010) loan in 2017, faced criticism, including from Ireland's prime minister, for refusing to answer questions about the funds in front of a parliamentary committee.

The short-term loan, which the FAI said it needed to relieve cash-flow issues in 2017 and avoid breaking its 1.5 million euro overdraft limit, has been a major news story in Ireland and led to investigations into the association's finances and corporate governance, as well as calls for sweeping board changes.

The FAI's state funding was suspended last week as the failure to disclose the deterioration in its finance at the time contravened grant approval rules.

"John Delaney has offered to voluntarily step aside from carrying out his role as Executive Vice-President with immediate effect pending the completion of an independent investigation by the association into issues of concern to the board," the FAI said in a statement.

Two other long-standing members of the 11-person board -- Honorary Secretary Michael Cody and Honorary Treasurer Eddie Murray - also voluntarily resigned on Monday.

Delaney did not answer questions from reporters as he left a meeting with the board on Monday.