Portuguese legend Figo, 36, calls time on a brilliant career

The 36-year-old has won four league titles since joining Inter from Real Madrid in 2005, although he has not been a regular starter in the last two seasons, in part because of injuries. There had been reports that Figo might accept one last lucrative deal to play in the Far East, but he has instead opted to wind things up this weekend at the San Siro.

He started his career with Sporting, winning the Portuguese Cup in 1995, before his remarkable attacking talents prompted Barcelona to snap him up later that year. He won two league titles and the European Cup Winners' Cup with the Catalan club before his controversial move to bitter rivals Real Madrid in 2000 made him the first of the big-money 'Galacticos' signings.

He helped the Madrid giants win two league titles and the 2002 Champions League. The player thanked Inter and his "friends" from Sporting, Barcelona, Real and the Portugal team, for which he made 127 appearances and scored 32 goals between 1991 and 2006.

Figo's individual honours include the 2000 Ballon d'Or as European Footballer of the Year and 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year.

Ribery is worth E100m, says Bayern boss

BAYERN Munich general manager Uli Hoeness has put a price tag on Franck Ribery of "at least E100 million" as several clubs continue to be linked with the Frenchman.

Chelsea were reported to be considering making an offer in the region of E50 million, but Hoeness insists he would only listen to an offer of double that much, claiming yesterday that you could "get one of his legs at best" for such a sum.

"If I hear that there was an offer for E125 million for Kaka, then Ribery has a market value of at least E100 million," Hoeness told the Bild newspaper. "But I don't want to talk about a fee we would consider because we want to keep hold of Franck."

Manchester United have also been linked with Ribery.

Hearts hope to hang on to striker Tullberg

HEARTS manager Csaba Laszlo plans to hold talks with Mike Tullberg over the possibility of him staying at Tynecastle next season.

Danish striker Tullberg's loan deal from Reggina has now expired but the Italian club were recently relegated to Serie B. Two thigh muscle ruptures limited the player, 23, to just seven appearances for Hearts. But Laszlo believes a second chance could be in the offing if Hearts and Reggina can reach agreement.

He said: "Mike has not had good possibilities this season because of injuries. His Italian club is relegated and we must talk with them and with Mike for next season.

"He is a player who has a good attitude and I think, normally, he can play in the Scottish Premier League. We must talk about his future. It depends on his wish, the wishes of Reggina and also his agent. We will sit with Mike and talk about his future."

Viduka to skip World Cup qualifiers

MARK Viduka's international career could be over after the Newcastle striker told Australia coach Pim Verbeek he will not travel to join the squad for the final three World Cup qualifiers. Viduka was last week left out of the Socceroos' 30-man squad for the three matches against Qatar in Doha on 7 June, Bahrain in Sydney on 10 June and Japan in Melbourne on 17 June after Verbeek gave the former national captain extra time to decide whether he wanted to play for his country or not.

Livingston payments withheld by league

FEARS for the future of Livingston have grown after the Scottish Football League withheld their seasonal payment. The troubled First Division outfit again failed to pay players on time on Thursday and were desperate for the league money – understood to be around 50,000 – to ease their growing cash woes.

The SFL convened at Hampden on Thursday for their annual general meeting, where all clubs are handed end-of-season payments. However, Livi's money was arrested after league chiefs received a Sheriff order blocking them from giving out the money.

SFL chief executive David Longmuir met Livi chairman Angelo Massone earlier this month to seek assurances after a season blighted by late wage payments at Almondvale. But promises have quickly been unfilled, with the Italian now scrambling around for funds after the club again failed to pay players on time for May. Some non-playing staff have not now been paid for over two months.

A string of creditors, among them West Lothian Council for unpaid rent, continue to seek money.

Queen of the South have signed goalkeeper Ludovic Roy and midfielder Rocco Quinn who have been released by Dundee and Hamilton Accies, respectively.