GLOBAL ASSOCIATION NEWS
The world players’ union says many players in Women’s World Cup qualifying had to endure poor pitches and did not receive proper medical checks.
A survey of three hundred and sixty-two players also found twenty-nine percent were not paid for qualification games.
Fifpro said FIFA must improve conditions for all players in qualification for the next World Cup.
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NIGERIA
Enyimba head coach, Finidi George has been touted as a replacement for Super Eagles manager, Jose Peseiro.
Finidi’s former Super Eagles teammate Emmanuel Amuneke is also a front runner for the job.
Current handler Peseiro’s contract will run out at the end of this month, as the Nigeria Football Federation NFF, will offer Finidi or Amuneke the job if Peseiro’s contract is not renewed.
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Rangers midfielder, Chidera Ezeh is hoping to replicate the 2018 Federation Cup victory against Bendel Insurance.
Rangers will lock horns with Bendel Insurance in the final of the 2023 Federation Cup at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba on Wednesday
Ezeh is optimistic that the memories of the last encounter will come to play.
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Rivers United are close to sealing a deal for Lobi Stars forward, Joseph Atule.
The deal would see Atule earn around four hundred and fifty thousand naira per month.
Rivers United are on the verge of agreeing personal terms with the powerful striker.
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A new interim management board has been appointed for Kano Pillars Football Club.
According to the Kano State government, the new board will be headed by Babangida Little while Sani Ibrahim will serve as the secretary.
The board has ten other members.
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The Management of Kogi United Football Club has recalled nineteen sacked Players back to the club for next season.
The management had last Saturday announced the sack of the entire players following three successive relegations from the Nigeria National League.
Chairman of the Club Abdulmalik Isah announced the recall of the nineteen players after an exhaustive interaction with the Technical Crew of the Club and other Critical Stakeholders at his office, in Lokoja on Tuesday.
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There are clear indications that a mass exodus of players will hit Shooting Stars following the team’s not too impressive showing in the Nigeria Premier League last season.
The management of the Oluyole Warriors has concluded plans not to extend the contract of underperformed players.
According to a source close to the team, eight players will be allowed to leave the club, adding that talks are ongoing with other clubs over potential new signings.
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Egyptian team, Zamalek SC are planning a move for Enyimba forward, Emeka Obioma.
Obioma was a top scorer in the Nigeria Premier League last season with sixteen goals.
Enyimba is, however, not willing to lose their star forward.
The Aba giants want to double the player’s salary to make him turn down overtures from the Egyptian Premier League outfit.
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ENGLAND
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The Football Association FA has moved the kick-off time for this year’s Community Shield to 4 P.M sixth, August, to avoid a boycott by Manchester City and Arsenal fans.
The game was initially billed to start at 5:30 pm, leaving supporters furious.
The Football Supporters Association warned the FA there would “undoubtedly” be empty seats if the game was not brought forward.
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England’s hat-trick hero, Bukayo Saka has shown his kind and caring nature by funding vital shelters for twenty-six families hit by the earthquake in Turkey.
There were more than fifty thousand people killed and more than two million left homeless by the devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria in February.
Saka, who followed the news coverage from the region, has linked up with the charity organisation BigShoe to finance new accommodation in the regions of Hatay, Adiyaman, Kahramanmaras and Malatya, in eastern Turkey.
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The 2023 Golden Boy Index was announced on Tuesday, with a high contingency of English-born players and Premier League youngsters included.
Jude Bellingham, Harvey Elliott and Rico Lewis have all been named in the top twenty for the 2023 Index – which sees Italian newspaper Tuttosport collaborate with The Times and L’Equipe to find the best youngster.
It is a prestigious award that has been picked up by some of the biggest names in football to date, including the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Anthony Martial.
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Former Manchester United defender, Gary Neville wants the Premier League to launch an immediate investigation into the huge sums of money Saudi Arabia is pumping into English football during the transfer window.
The Saudi Pro League is on an aggressive recruitment drive with a number of Chelsea’s stars, and Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves, closing on moves to the Kingdom.
There are question marks around ‘fair market’ and aiding clubs with Financial Fair Play rules, and Neville is convinced that a regulator is needed as soon as possible to sort the ‘mess’ that is engulfing English football.
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Chelsea have signed France striker, Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig for fifty-two million pounds.
Nkunku scored sixteen goals in twenty-five games in the Bundesliga last season.
The striker, who won ten caps for France, is manager Mauricio Pochettino’s first signing since he took charge in May.
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Also, Chelsea are considering a move for Porto’s Diogo Costa to bolster their goalkeeping ranks ahead of Edouard Mendy’s impending exit.
The team has been working on a number of transfers with Saudi Pro League teams as the Blues seek to balance their books ahead of thirtieth June.
Since last year’s May takeover, Chelsea’s new ownership has spent over six hundred million pounds on new players and desperately need to trim their bloated squad.
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Arsenal have made a bid, believed to be about thirty million pounds, for Ajax’s highly rated Netherlands defender Jurrien Timber.
Numerous Premier League clubs, including Manchester United, have been linked with Timber.
The player has two years left on his current deal.
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West Ham United have rejected a second bid from Arsenal for their captain Declan Rice.
It is understood the Gunners’ latest offer for the England midfielder could have been worth as much as ninety million pounds in total to the Hammers.
Meanwhile, Arsenal will return with a third offer for number one target Declan Rice after seeing their latest bid worth ninety million pounds rejected by West Ham.
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Manchester City midfielder, Kalvin Phillips says he intends to stay with the treble-winning club despite not featuring “as much as he wanted to do”.
The England man made ten starts after joining the club for forty-five million pounds last summer from Leeds United.
He has recently been linked with moves to Liverpool, Newcastle and West Ham.
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Meanwhile, Manchester City star, Jack Grealish has played down criticism over Manchester City’s wild Treble celebrations after describing it as ‘the best weekend of his life’.
Pep Guardiola’s history-makers recently enjoyed a four-day spell of drinking and partying – across Istanbul, Manchester and Ibiza – in the wake of their Treble success.
Grealish became the face of the festivities and was regularly pictured with a drink in hand throughout.
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Chelsea and France midfielder, N’Golo Kante has agreed to sign for Saudi Arabian champions Al-Ittihad.
Kante’s contract at Stamford Bridge expires at the end of June.
He has struggled with injuries and made nine appearances for Chelsea during the 2022-23 campaign.
The move brings to an end a highly successful period in English football for Kante.
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Former Liverpool defender, Jamie Carragher has insisted that central midfield is ‘the best position’ for Trent Alexander-Arnold in an England shirt ahead of Euros after his stellar displays against Malta and North Macedonia.
Carragher believes Gareth Southgate would not play the right-back in midfield due to the competition in that position.
Alexander-Arnold excelled during the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 qualifying wins against Malta and North Macedonia playing on the right of a midfield three.
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Manchester City striker Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway secured a routine home win in their Euro 2024 qualifier against Cyprus.
Haaland scored fifty-two goals in all competitions for City in 2022-23 as they won the Treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup.
Norway took an early lead against Cyprus through Ola Solbakken’s goal.
Haaland converted a penalty and scored again four minutes later, before Grigoris Kastanos pulled a goal back for Cyprus.
Haaland’s second and Norway’s third was set up for him by Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard.
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England’s Rachel Daly says she has “found her happy place” after a successful season at Aston Villa on her Women’s Super League return.
Daly, won the Golden Boot with twenty-two goals in twenty-two Women’s Super League games having joined Villa last summer after a decade playing mainly in the United States.
She played left-back for England at Euro 2022 but has been named as a striker for this summer’s World Cup.
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OTHER SPORTS
In Tennis; Andy Murray says there is no need to “overreact” after his return to Queen’s fell flat when a ten-match winning streak on the British grass courts was ended by Australia’s Alex de Minaur.
Former world number one Murray lost 6-3, 6-1 and his hopes of earning a seeding for Wimbledon are all but over.
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Defending champion Elena Rybakina and world number two Aryna Sabalenka began their Wimbledon preparations with wins as the grass-court season continues.
World number three Rybakina took just sixty-eight minutes to brush aside Polina Kudermetova 6-4, 6-2 at the German Open.
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In Cricket; Australia somehow prevailed in one of the all-time great Ashes Tests to beat England by two wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the series.
On an unbearably tense final day of another Edgbaston classic, ninth-wicket pair Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon added an unbroken fifty-five to defy the raucous crowd and get Australia to their target of 281.
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In Rugby; Exeter hooker Dan Frost has signed a new two-year contract.
Frost, who moved to Exeter in October following the collapse of former club Wasps, has gone on to score four tries in thirteen appearances.
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In Basketball; Great Britain were narrowly beaten 67-66 by the United States in the men’s final of the Wheelchair Basketball World Championships in Dubai.
GB were 43-32 up at half-time but let their advantage slip, with Paralympic champions the USA holding a one-point lead at the end of the third quarter.
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Great Britain have been knocked out of Women’s EuroBasket 2023, losing 66-60 to Serbia in their quarter-final qualification match.
GB, ranked 20th in the world, trailed at the end of each quarter despite scoring more points in the second.
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OTHER LEAGUES
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Portugal captain, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a last-minute winner on his historic night as he became the first men’s player to win two hundred international caps in their Euro 2024 qualifying win over Iceland.
Ronaldo turned home Goncalo Inacio’s header from close range.
The goal was initially ruled out for an Inacio offside but was awarded by the video assistant referee.
That was Ronaldo’s one hundred and twenty-three international goal, extending his world record.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo broke Kuwait forward, Bader Al-Mutawa’s one hundred and ninety-six cap record in March – and was given a certificate by Guinness World Records before kick-off to mark this latest landmark.
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Former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane scored twice as Senegal beat Brazil in a friendly in Lisbon, Portugal.
West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta put Brazil ahead in the eleventh minute, before Habib Diallo equalised for Senegal.
An own goal from Marquinhos early in the second half gave Senegal the lead with Mane extending their advantage after fifty-seven minutes.
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Moldova, ranked one hundred and seventy-one in the world, stunned Poland as they came from two-nil down to win only their second qualifying game since 2013.
Poland, who are twenty-three in Fifa’s rankings and beat Germany in a friendly on Friday, looked in control after thirty-four minutes in Chisinau.
Arkadiusz Milik gave Fernando Santos’ side the lead and then set up Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski for his 79th goal for his country – 67 more than Moldova’s new record goalscorer has netted.
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Inter Miami are targeting twenty-first July for Lionel Messi’s eagerly-anticipated debut.
According to the team’s owner, Jorge Mas, the imminently watershed moment could come in the Leagues Cup match against the Mexico City-based club twenty-first July at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
Messi already shown he still has magic in his boots, scoring the fastest goal of his career against Australia in last week’s friendly.
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Rafa Benitez is on the verge of becoming the new manager of LaLiga side Celta Vigo, after turning down job offers from Saudi Arabia.
Benitez’s career has seen the Spaniard take the helm at a number of teams in his native country, and Premier League sides Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Everton.
The Madrid-born boss has been out of the dugout since being fired by the Toffees in January 2022, but now it seems that he has found a new opportunity in Spain.
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Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel is eyeing a reunion with surprise Chelsea player.
Tuchel who was in charge of Chelsea between January 2021 and September 2022 and won the Champions League in 2021, interested in a move for Cesar Azpilicueta.
Tuchel is now looking to strengthen his squad ahead of the new season and he could turn to one of his former player.
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Georginio Wijnaldum could be asking for too much money to move to Saudi Arabia.
Wijnaldum spent last season on loan in Italy with Jose Mourinho’s Roma, but will return back to parent club PSG this off-season ahead of the new campaign.
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RESULTS OF THE MATCHES PLAYED IN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – QUALIFYING GROUPS
Scotland 2 – 0 Georgia
Liechtenstein 0 – 1 Slovakia
Faroe Islands 1 – 3 Albania
Austria 2 – 0 Sweden
Estonia 0 – 3 Belgium
Bulgaria 1 – 1 Serbia
Hungary 2 – 0 Lithuania
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