Gascoigne arrested following altercation
Associated Press LIVERPOOL, England (AP) - Former England soccer player Paul Gascoigne faced police questioning Tuesday after he was arrested following an altercation with a photographer outside a Liverpool hotel.
The incident came hours after Gascoigne was dismissed as manager of the semiprofessional club Kettering after just 5 1/2 weeks in the job.
The Sun newspaper reported that freelance photographer Steve Farrell made the assault complaint.
Farrell was quoted as saying he had asked if he could take Gascoigne's picture.
"He walked over and made like he was going to shake my hand and said, 'No, but you don't mind this, do you?' Then he whacked me with a left hand.
There was a cut above my eye and there was blood down the side of my face. It was a proper punch," Farrell was quoted as saying.
Kettering's chairman and new owner, Imraan Ladak, announced Gascoigne's dismissal on Monday. "Paul unfortunately has relapsed into alcohol abuse," Ladak said.
Gascoigne, in turn, criticized Ladak's management.
"The chairman wants to sack me, but I said I will never walk away from Kettering Town and I will fight all the way," Gascoigne said. "I am now looking to buy the football club."