LIVERPOOL, England (AP) Liverpool have signed Lens goalkeeper Charles Itandje and sent Scott Carson on loan to Aston Villa.

Itandje will become the new backup to Liverpool starter Pepe Reina with Carson an England under-21 international spending the next year at Villa, the clubs said yesterday.

"I am happy with the situation and for Scott to play regularly somewhere else," Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez said. "We do not want to sell him, we are very happy with Scott ... but he needs to play to keep up his England place."

Carson has played just nine games for Liverpool since his $1.5 million transfer from Leeds in 2005. He spent last season on loan at Charlton.

Carson is ineligible to play for Villa on Saturday when they face Liverpool, as Premier League rules forbid loan players from facing their parent clubs.

The 24-year-old Itandje temporarily gave up soccer after a team-mate's father criticised him in a youth game, venturing into kickboxing before returning to goalkeeping at Parisian club Red Star. He moved to Lens when he was 17, despite interest from Fulham and Liverpool.

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LONDON (AP) West Ham chairman Eggert Magnusson wants third-party ownership banned in football, after the drawn-out controversy surrounding Carlos Tevez' transfer to Manchester United.

"I'm against third-party ownership, and that has been strengthened by what has happened," Magnusson said yesterday. "I hope FIFA changes the rules and banish it from football." West Ham ended a dispute with Kia Joorabchian's MSI company over Tevez' ownership last week, when MSI paid $4 million for the Argentina striker's registration.

The Premier League is expected to tighten its rules when it meets next week to prevent a recurrence of the affair.

However, Magnusson's call for a world ban is unlikely to be answered. While third-party ownership is uncommon in Britain, such arrangements are common in South America and other parts of the world.

South American soccer clubs often run at a financial loss, and survive by selling the rights of their players while retaining their services through a season. The companies which buy the rights then make a profit by selling the players to European clubs.

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DERBY, England (AP) Derby manager Billy Davies will sit in the stands for his side's Premier League opener against Tottenham on Saturday.

Davies was given a one-match touchline ban yesterday and fined $2,000 for using insulting and abusive words toward a match official during the Rams' Championship win at Southend on January 20.

Assistant manager David Kelly will lead Derby, communicating with Davies via a microphone link-up and mobile phone.

Davies was fined a further $1,520 and warned about his future conduct for verbally abusing a Southend steward.

Derby were promoted back to the Premier League last season after a five-year absence.