Kevin Keegan has started an £8m legal action against Newcastle United over his departure from the club in September. The club's former manager is claiming he suffered constructive dismissal and the issue is due to be heard by a three-man Premier League panel.

Keegan believes he was effectively forced out of his job at St James' Park after players were allegedly bought and put up for sale without his say-so. "It's my opinion that a manager must have the right to manage and that clubs should not impose upon any manager any player that he does not want," he said after leaving.

Newcastle argue that Keegan resigned and will fight his claim for millions of pounds which he says he is owed for the remainder of his contract. The league's tribunal can rule on the matter, although disagreements can be taken to the high court. A settlement between the parties remains a possibility. Keegan has been out of management since leaving Newcastle.

Formula one is bracing itself this morning for confirmation that Honda will close down its formula one team before the start of next season unless a buyer can be found for the operation which employs over 700 people at their factory at Brackley, Northamptonshire.

The news, which will have seismic implications for the sport's future, is expected to be made public this morning in a formal announcement from the Honda corporate headquarters in Tokyo and will leave Jenson Button out of a drive for next season and destroy any prospect of Bruno Senna, nephew of the late Ayrton Senna, of graduating to the sport's senior category as the British driver's team-mate.

Button, who won the team's only victory of the contemporary era in Hungary two years ago, will find it difficult to find an opening elsewhere as all the top teams have finalised their drivers for 2009.

Honda's decision will have far-reaching implications for a sport which has all too often considered itself immune from the commercial turbulence of the economic market place, triggering fears that Toyota, who have been competing in formula one at huge expense and with little success since 2002, could follow Honda and quit. The other teams were told of Honda's decision at a meeting of the Formula One Teams' Association in London on Wednesday and the workforce were told last night that they would be on three months' notice as from the start of January.

"They [Honda] have a month to find a buyer, otherwise they are closing the team," one highly placed source quoted the Honda team bosses, Ross Brawn and Nick Fry, as telling a meeting of the Fota. He added that it was no real surprise given the team "were running up costs to a level that were self-evidently unsustainable".

If Honda withdraws, some will conclude that it has vindicated the stance of the FIA president, Max Mosley, who warned earlier this year that the sport was becoming unsustainable in the current economic environment because of the high costs required to compete. The withdrawal will mean only 18 cars on the starting grids in 2009 and could prompt other teams to re-think whether formula one is currently worth the investment.

Honda has consistently under-delivered in terms of hard results in recent years. In 2008 the team finished ninth in the constructors' championship despite having recruited Brawn, the former Ferrari technical director who masterminded five of Michael Schumacher's seven world championships, as team principal.

Brawn had been pinning hopes on gaining a performance advantage in 2009 when new technical regulations, introducing slick tyres and radical aerodynamic changes, would play to Honda's technical strengths. Now it seems that Brawn will be deploying all his skill and negotiating nous to find a potential buyer for the team who can commit to bankrolling the £200m annual cost of running the Honda operation, perhaps using the supply of Ferrari "customer" engines made available by the Force India team's recent decision to switch to Mercedes power next year.

Prior to Button's victory in Budapest Honda had scored two grand prix victories as a constructor, in Mexico with Richie Ginther in 1965 and at Monza with John Surtees two years later. Honda withdrew its team from formula one at the end of 1968, returning in the 1980s to win multiple world championships as an engine supplier to Williams and McLaren, before getting involved again as a constructor when it bought the BAR team in 2006.

Gone but not forgotten

Lotus

Had world championship winning Jim Clark, Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti but gradually dwindled away and closed at the end of 1994

Vanwall

Became the first winners of the official manufacturers' world championship 50 years ago. Closed down at the end of that year.

Cooper

Winners of the 1959 and 1960 world championships with Jack Brabham. By the end of the decade, however, they had faded away

BRM

Stormed to victory in 1962 title battle, making Graham Hill the challenger to Jim Clark. But lost pace with technology and withdrew in 1977

Brabham

Founded in 1962 by Jack Brabham, then sold to Bernie Ecclestone in 1972. Won two championships with Nelson Piquet and closed in 1992

Fifa has drawn up a new set of controls limiting the transfer of teenagers. From January 1 all international transfers involving players under the age of 18 would first require the approval of a committee that will investigate the circumstances of the move.

Existing rules state that players may only move in the event of their families relocating for non-football reasons but clubs are getting round the regulations with job offers for parents, something the committee will seek to stamp out. With several unauthorised academies springing up in African and Asian territories, which have in effect set up a market in the traffic of youngsters, Fifa has also taken steps to bring them under its jurisdiction by requiring them to register as clubs within football-association structures. "An awareness campaign director at minors' countries of origin will [also] be launched, to draw the attention of public authorities, parents and minors to the social dangers posed by the issue of minors in football today," said the Fifa directive.

Further discussion will also be held with the international players' union, Fifpro, over the introduction of an obligation for 16-year-olds to sign contracts lasting five years, 17-year-olds four years and 18-year-olds three years. That would ensure developing clubs retain transfer rights over their players for longer.

A whole new ball game

The Premier League has advertised its invitation to tender for the next domestic broadcast-rights deal, from season 2010-11 to 2012-13. The league hopes interest from the US broadcast giant ESPN will help retain competition for domestic rights, which achieved £2.1bn from Sky and Setanta for the current deal. Its late withdrawal from the bidding process for Bundesliga rights might suggest a pooling of resources for a fresh Premier League bid. The tender will allow broadcasters to show football on new broadband products. Sky launched yesterday access to its Sky Player internet service to subscribers who do not have satellite dishes and ESPN has invested in its internet presence.

Gold at a price

Gordon Brown's commitment to the so-called "golden decade" of sport will meet its sternest test as the International Rugby Board seeks £80m in financial guarantees to underwrite England's bid for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The IRB's chief executive, Mike Miller, told the sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, and the Rugby Football Union's chief executive, Francis Baron, at a meeting on Wednesday that it has such government guarantees - an insurance policy for ticket sales - from South Africa, Italy and Russia. Some 2.25m tickets were sold in 2007 in France and England's hosting would be similarly popular. However, one conundrum facing the government would be that, with live bids for the 2018 World Cup of football and the 2019 Cricket World Cup, other sports' governing bodies might seek similar or more expensive guarantees if it meets the IRB's demand.

Blowing the whistle

Brian Mawhinney has evicted the British National Party's publications offshoot from its rented offices. Lord Mawhinney, the Football League chairman, discovered that the BNP had been trading for two months under the name Excalibur in premises belonging to Evans Easyspace, one of the companies he serves as a director, and immediately turned them out. "When it was discovered that it was just a cover for the BNP the lease was terminated," said Mawhinney.

Reaching the knockout stages of the Uefa Cup should represent a success for a club that has been without European football for seven years but there were no celebrations at Villa Park last night as Martin O'Neill's side stumbled into the last 32. The Aston Villa manager named a weakened line-up and, while he could be forgiven for prioritising Sunday's trip to Goodison Park, it was difficult to escape the conclusion that Zilina had been underestimated.

Villa never recovered from a chastening opening period that saw Zilina, who had arrived with one point from three matches and bottom of Group F, race into a two-goal lead inside 19 minutes. Nathan Delfouneso, one of the few bright spots for Villa on an otherwise underwhelming night, marked his full debut with a fine goal before the half-hour but it was not until the final 15 minutes that the Slovakian side's defence came under siege.

Gareth Barry, a second-half substitute, both headed and volleyed wide during that period and Craig Gardner saw a close-range volley clawed clear before he nodded against the upright in the closing seconds but it was not enough to prevent a first Uefa Cup defeat of the season. The outcome might have been more costly but Hamburg's victory over Slavia Prague means that Villa are guaranteed progress to the next stage irrespective of the result in Germany in 12 days' time.

That match does, however, carry significance, with Villa facing the prospect of meeting a Champions League side in the next round if they suffer defeat by Martin Jol's team. O'Neill could not have imagined he would face such a scenario beforehand although this setback, much like the Carling Cup defeat by Queens Park Rangers earlier in the season, suggests that Villa's second-string is not as strong as the Northern Irishman might like to believe.

Mindful of the six points that had been collected from the opening two Uefa Cup fixtures, O'Neill made eight changes here. Villa duly struggled to find any fluency against a spirited Zilina side, although O'Neill was entitled to expect more from several of his fringe players, particularly Zat Knight, who did little to alter the impression that he is an accident waiting to happen whenever he is recalled.

The central defender, who had a towering header from Ashley Young's corner tipped over early on, was involved in both Zilina goals, bizarrely ducking under Vladimir Leitner's cross in the 15th minute to leave Brad Guzan horribly exposed and failing to get tight enough to Peter Styvar four minutes later when the visitors doubled their lead. In fairness, Styvar's goal merited praise with Adauto driving forward from midfield before playing an incisive pass inside Luke Young that Peter Pekarik cut back for the Zilina striker to slide beyond Guzan from the edge of the six-yard box.

Cue delirium on the Zilina bench and stunned silence on the Holte End. At least there was something for the Villa supporters to cheer nine minutes later when Delfouneso, who had made only two substitute appearances previously, executed a superb left-footed volley after Marlon Harewood adroitly chested down Nigel Reo-Coker's long-ball. It was a goal that suggested O'Neill was not exaggerating when he compared the 17-year-old to Gabriel Agbonlahor on the eve of this match. "I thought [Nathan] played brilliantly," said the Villa manager. "What a debut that was. It's hard to say he's an immediate Premiership contender but he's knocking on the door."

Few others caught the eye and it was not until the cavalry arrived midway through the second half - Barry, James Milner and Agbonlahor were all introduced as O'Neill sought a late reprieve - that Zilina began to look uncomfortable. Leitner picked up a second caution when he tugged at Agbonlahor's shirt but Villa were ultimately unable to punish the 10 men.

"We started off rather disjointed and I'm obviously disappointed with the goals that we conceded but I thought we exerted a lot of pressure, especially in the second half," added O'Neill. "I'm disappointed to have lost but I'm delighted to go through to the next round."