Cantona says NY Cosmos soccer club owes him salary, equity interest

(Adds Cosmos declined to comment in fourth paragraph) May 20 (Reuters) - Former Manchester United forward Eric Cantona has sued the New York Cosmos, alleging the team fired him without paying him nearly $1 million in salary and a 4 percent equity interest. Cantona, 48, a Frenchman who won four Premier League titles in five years with Manchester United in the 1990s, was hired by the Cosmos in 2011 to be the team's director of soccer. He was fired by the Cosmos after getting into a scuffle with a photographer in London last year and Cantona alleges the club never paid him the $961,290 in salary he is owed. The Cosmos declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying they had not yet reviewed the complaint. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. (Reporting by Steve Ginsburg in Washington; Editing by Bill Trott and Susan Heavey)