10 Feb 2012

Australian rugby boss narrowly misses out on Manchester City job

12:59 pm on 10 February 2012

The chief executive of the Australian Rugby Union has narrowly missed out on one of the biggest jobs in world sport - chief executive of Manchester City, according to the Melbourne Age newspaper.

The paper says John O'Neill was was told at the start of the month he had been pipped by Spaniard and former Barcelona general manager Ferran Soriano.

Manchester City, who lead the English Premier League, has been on a global search for a chief executive since Gary Cook was forced to resign in disgrace last September after sending an insensitive email to the cancer-stricken mother of one of the club's players.