GLOBAL ASSOCIATION NEWS
Play-offs in the CAF Confederation Cup the African equivalent of the Europa League will be ditched from the 2023-2024 season.
The decision to scrap the third and final round of qualifying for the group phase was made at a CAF executive committee meeting in Rabat.
Play-offs pitted winners of Confederation Cup last-32 ties against losers of CAF Champions League last-32 ties, and have been part of the competition since its 2004 debut.
Winners of Confederation Cup last-32 ties will now go directly into the group phase.
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NIGERIA
Enyimba goalkeeper, John Noble, saved a penalty as the People’s Elephants settled for a goalless draw against newly promoted Nigeria Professional Football League side, Sporting Lagos, in their second game of the Naija Super 8 tournament at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos.
The Super Eagles keeper made an easy catch of Rabiu Zulkifilu’s seventy-five minute spot kick to deny them a chance of stealing a famous victory towards the end of the game after Chigozie Chilekwu impeded a Sporing player in the box.
Noble’s heroics won him the Hero of The Match award, but the outcome of the game was not enough for Enyimba, who needed to reignite their challenge after losing their first game against Remo Stars on Friday.
George Finidi’s side are bottom of Group A with one point from two matches, while Sporting have one point from one match.
Meanwhile, soccer action continues today, as Yobe Desert Stars take on Lobi Stars while Akwa United will face Rivers United.
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Kwara United manager Kabiru Dogo, has warned that all players must resume pre-season training on Monday.
The management of the club threatened to sack any player that failed to return for pre-season duties.
The team will train at the Kwara Football Academy pitch.
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Rivers United have parted ways with ten players ahead of the 2023/24 Nigeria Premier League season.
For the Pride of Rivers club, last campaign was tagged an unimpressive one after they failed to defend the NPL title and lost out on a champions league place.
Despite recruiting and spending big, Rivers United finished third.
Headlining the departure is Bolaji Sakin who arrived from Guinean club, Horoya FC.
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Kennedy Boboye is set to return to Plateau United as head coach of the club.
The Jos club are looking for a new manager after the erstwhile handler of the side, Fidelis Ilechukwu, left the position following the expiration of his contract.
Boboye won the Nigeria Premier League title with Plateau in 2017.
He repeated the same feat with Akwa United in the 2020/21 season.
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Jide Fatokun has confirmed his exit from Kwara United after four years with the club.
Fatokun penned a two-year contract with Remo Stars ahead of the 2023–24 Nigeria Premier League season.
He expressed gratitude to everyone identified with Kwara United in a farewell message.
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Nigeria Premier League club Bendel Insurance have released the nominees for their Player of the Season award.
The Benin Arsenals unveiled the names of the five players on their official Twitter handle on Sunday.
The team’s leading scorers, Imade Osarenkhoe, Amas Obasogie, and Divine Nwachukwu, will battle it out for the individual accolade.
The two other nominees are Ismail Sarki and Tanimu Benjamin.
Fans will vote for the winner on the club’s official website.
Voting will end on Thursday.
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Nigeria’s D’Tigers have won their first game of the 2023 FIBA AfroCan against Mali with a 62-56 scoreline at the Pavilhão Multiusos de Luanda in Angola.
D’Tigers missed automatic qualification for the championship after losing their last game to hosts Ivory Coast 74-65, in the combined FIBA Africa Zone 2 and 3 qualifiers in Abidjan last week.
With Sunday’s win, Nigeria surpassed their record at the 2019 FIBA AfroCan, where they played three games and lost all three.
D’Tigers will next face hosts, Angola, at the Pavilhao Multiusos de Luanda in their second game on Monday
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ENGLAND
Brentford striker, Ivan Toney has spoken out about his eight-month ban from football, and his relationship with Brentford manager Thomas Frank.
Toney was given a lengthy suspension from the game by The FA in May after admitting a number of gambling offences across several years.
He was in attendance at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday, where he conducted one of his first interviews since the ban was handed down earlier in the year.
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Leicester City have appointed former Manchester City and Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero as assistant manager.
The Foxes are continuing to reshuffle their backroom team following their relegation from the Premier League just six years after winning the top division title.
They opted against giving Dean Smith the job full time, instead appointing former City coach Enzo Maresca as their new manager.
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Chelsea manager, Mauricio Pochettino is keen to help former Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli following his spectacular fall from grace over the last few years.
The manager coached the midfielder during their time together at Spurs and helped him become one of the most prolific midfielders in world football.
Alli’s career has fallen off a cliff since Pochettino left the club, however, with spells at Everton and Besiktas not working out as fans start to remember him for the wrong reasons.
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Manchester United are preparing a formal offer for Inter Milan goalkeeper Andre Onana this week after David de Gea officially left the club after twelve years.
United have so far made verbal proposals and want Inter to compromise on their fifty-one million pounds asking price.
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Manchester United midfielder, Fred has picked new agents as he seeks a move away from Old Trafford this summer.
The Brazilian star has joined Energy Sports, the same group that represents his fellow countryman Gabriel Jesus.
Fred has been linked with a move to Fulham, and is also attracting interest from multiple Saudi Pro League sides as well.
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Tottenham will dismiss Bayern Munich’s second offer of seventy million pounds plus add-ons for captain Harry Kane.
The German champions made their bid after being given indications that Kane wants to join them and, with one year left on contract, hope that Tottenham will consider selling the striker abroad now rather than lose him for free next summer.
However, Bayern’s proposal still falls short of Tottenham’s valuation, as Kane is due to return to pre-season training on Wednesday.
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Aston Villa have become the latest club to express interest in Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby.
Villa are understood to have made a check on the situation of the Frenchman who is expected to leave the Bundesliga side this summer.
Manager Unai Emery is keen to add a wide player to his squad this summer.
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Newly promoted Premier League side Burnley are closing in on a season-long loan deal for Borussia Dortmund defender, Soumaila Coulibaly, with an obligation to buy him for fifteen million pounds.
Coulibaly, came through the academy at Paris Saint-Germain before moving in 2021 to Dortmund, for whom he made two first-team appearances last season.
The centre-back is scheduled to have a medical with the Clarets on Monday.
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Manchester City’s Sergio Gomez has slammed his team-mate Cole Palmer for his passionate celebrations during England’s 1-0 win against Spain in Saturday’s U21 European Championship final.
The Young Lions wheeled away in delirium, after Palmer’s free-kick collided with Curtis Jones, who was stood in front of a wall of Spanish players and bizarrly deflected the ball into the back of the goal just before half-time.
But there were some unsavoury scenes after the opener and the penalty save, with tempers flaring between both sets of players, while several members of the backroom staff entered the pitch to confront their opposition.
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England Under-twenty-one manager, Lee Carsley is set for talks with the Football Association about his future after leading the team to European Championship success.
The Young Lions won the tournament in Georgia for the first time in thirty-nine years with a one-nil victory over Spain.
Carsley was appointed in July 2021 and is believed to be undecided about whether to carry on in the role.
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OTHER SPORTS
In Tennis; Belarusian Victoria Azarenka was booed off the court after her Wimbledon defeat by Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
Svitolina has not shaken hands with Russian or Belarusian players since Ukraine was invaded with support from Belarus and did the same with Azarenka.
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Top seed Iga Swiatek saved two match points to fend off Olympic champion Belinda Bencic in thrilling fashion to reach a first Wimbledon quarter-final.
The Polish world number one was on the brink of losing out to Bencic’s high-risk strategy before recovering to win 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-3.
Swiatek faces Elina Svitolina next after the Ukrainian beat Victoria Azarenka in another women’s classic that was going on at the same time.
Svitolina won that 2-6 6-4 7-6 (11-9).
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Former runner-up Matteo Berrettini will seek to continue his inspired run when he faces top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday.
The Italian, 27, has been struggling with a recurring abdominal problem and was unsure if he would be fit enough to play at the tournament.
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In Cricket; England kept their Ashes hopes alive by beating Australia by three wickets in the third Test in another nerve-shredding Headingley finale.
Harry Brook hit a superb 75 but it was left to bowlers Chris Woakes and Mark Wood to drag the hosts over the line in pursuit of 251.
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In Golf; Australian Cameron Smith won the LIV Golf London event at Centurion Golf Club, Hemel Hempstead.
The Open champion – playing his final event before defending his title this month – went into the final day of the 54-hole event with a three-stroke lead.
Smith shot a three-under 68 to finish on 15 under on Sunday.
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In Rugby; Ireland beat South Africa 31-12 to reach the World Rugby Under-20 Championship final, but England missed out after a 52-31 loss to France.
Tries from James Nicholson (2), Brian Gleeson and Sam Berman put the Irish, yet to win the competition, into the final for the first time since 2016.
Imad Khan and Coetzee le Roux scored South Africa’s two tries in Cape Town.
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In Basketball; The NBA will stage its first in-season tournament during 2023-24, with the finals to be played in Las Vegas.
Teams will play four group games in November to decide who goes through to the quarter-finals.
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OTHER LEAGUES.
France striker Kylian Mbappe has called his club side Paris Saint-Germain “divisive” as doubts intensify over his future at the French champions.
Mbappe, whose contract at PSG expires in 2024, made the comments to France Football magazine.
PSG’s all-time leading scorer has told the club he will not sign a new deal.
Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi said he would not allow Mbappe to leave on a free transfer when his contract expires next summer.
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Paris Saint-Germain have signed defender Lucas Hernandez from Bayern Munich for a reported thirty-four million pounds.
A 2018 World Cup winner with France, Hernandez won a treble with Bayern in 2019-20 – his first season at the club.
After winning the domestic league and cup double, Hernandez helped Hansi Flick’s team defeat PSG to win the Champions League.
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Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Sergio Rico “feels very fortunate” as he recovers from the serious head injury he suffered in a horse riding accident.
Rico was in a coma after the incident in his native Spain 28 May.
He was discharged from intensive care on Wednesday and admitted to a ward in a Seville hospital, where he is receiving further treatment.
Ukraine’s Dynamo Kyiv have called Fenerbahce a club with “no honour, no shame, no conscience” for taking part in a tournament in Russia.
The Turkish side play at Zenit St Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena on Sunday.
Fenerbahce were punished by Uefa last season after fans chanted Russian president Vladimir Putin’s name in a Champions League match against Dynamo.
Yaya Toure’s eyes light up as he reels off Barcelona’s iconic line-up from when they won the Treble in 2009.
Thierry Henry, Messi, Samuel Eto’o, who were the best in the world. After that, Iniesta and Xavi.
The team led by Pep Guardiola that won LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League that year is regarded by many as the most aesthetically-pleasing in modern football history with their sumptuous tiki-taka.
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Juventus are ‘interested in signing Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku’, but are furious with the Blues for ‘telling Inter Milan about their interest to drive up his price tag.’
Lukaku joined Stamford Bridge for £97.5 million in 2021, but spent last season on loan at Inter after falling out with the former -Blues boss Thomas Tuchel.
The Nerazzurri are interested in signing Lukaku permanently but had an initial twenty-three million pounds offer rejected by Chelsea, who want around forty million pounds.
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