David Ginola could soon find himself behind bars

Despite openly proclaiming that he was a cheat who dived to win penalties, David Ginola was a much-loved cult figure of the Premier League during the 1990s. The skillful Frenchman, however, may soon face time in the slammer, as he has failed to use any of his L’Oréal commercial money to service child maintenance payments for a love child he had with a mistress. The Times report:

The case was brought by Joelle Pinquier, who says she had an affair with the footballer-turned-actor in the early 1990s and gave birth to Joy, his daughter, now aged 17.

Ginola, 42, who denies the allegations, faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros if found guilty. He is accused of failing to pay the full child maintenance of 450 euros a month set by a French court in 2006.

The trial has been postponed until December so that Madame Pinquier can submit evidence proving his paternity. Ginola’s lawyer dismissed the proceedings as “hot air”, probably while nonchalantly shrugging.

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Though Martin Taylor has been threatened with legal action over the tackle which broke Eduardo’s leg, the gormless defender should count himself lucky. Over in the States David Beckham is being pursued for charges including conspiring with Pakistani agents, using a satellite-guided ball, and receiving funds from Iraq.

The legal papers have been filed by Jonathan Lee Riches, a man currently serving eight years for fraud in a South Carolina jail. US inmates are clearly not as keen on ping-pong as their British counterparts because Riches has issued 300 legal actions from his cell against such luminaries as George Bush, Keira Knightley and Mike Tyson.

Needless to say most of them are unlikely to cost the judge too much deliberation time - Riches is also seeking the cancellation of the