GLOBAL ASSOCIATION NEWS
Zimbabwe has welcomed the lifting of FIFA’s ban on the country’s football association which has rekindled their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
FIFA barred Zimbabwe from participating in international football in February 2022 over government interference in the running of the sport.
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NIGERIA
Super Eagles of Nigeria will on Thursday know their opponents in the qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw billed for Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
Deploying the seeding technique, the 54 African entries will be divided into nine groups of six teams with all eventual group leaders securing places at the World Cup.
The best four runners-up will then go into play-offs and the winners join five other teams in an inter-confederation tournament with two World Cup places up for grabs
Jose Peseiro’s side are among the top nine seeds at the draw based on the latest FIFA Rankings.
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Sporting Lagos FC came from a goal down to defeat Remo Stars 2-1 in the ongoing Naija Super 8 Group A encounter played at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos.
Togolese striker Frank Mawuena opened the scoring for Remo Stars in the 16th minute through a beautiful header, Saturday Okon got the equalizer for the “Tech Boys” in the 27th minute as the first half ended in a 1-1 draw.
Emeka Nwokeji scored in the 89th minute to give Sporting Lagos the lead and ensured the newly promoted NPFL team secured all maximum points and their first win of the tournament.
Sporting Lagos now occupies the top position in Group A with four points from two games while Remo Stars also have the same number of points but with an inferior goal difference.
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Rangers have released eight players ahead of the 2023–24 Nigeria Premier League season.
The eight players were released based on the recommendations of the Fidelis Ilechukwu-led technical team.
The affected players are Chidera Ezeh, Jacob John, Innocent Gabriel, and Emmanuel Charles.
Others are Reuben Bala, Adam Musa, Rabiu Musa, and Onyekachi Okoro.
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Ebuka Anaekwe has joined Nigeria Premier League side, Shooting Stars ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Anaekwe who linked up with the Oluyole Warriors from Kwara United, was formerly in the books of Shooting Stars during the 2020-21 NPL season.
The versatile defender signed a two-year deal with the Ibadan-based club.
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ENGLAND
Mason Mount is set to make his Manchester United debut in Oslo on Wednesday when Erik ten Hag’s side play their first pre-season friendly against Leeds at the Ullevaal Stadion.
Lisandro Martinez also missed the last 12 games of last season due to a fractured metatarsal sustained in April, but the Argentina defender was included in the 26-man squad that flew to Norway on Tuesday.
Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Fred have all travelled, although Anthony Martial and Donny van de Beek stayed behind at Carrington to continue individual training programmes as they recover from injury.
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Mason Greenwood is keeping fit by training with his Manchester United teammate Anthony Elanga.
Greenwood has been suspended by United for the last seventeen months since his arrest in January 2022 on suspicion of rape and assault, and has been unable to play for the club or train with the rest of the squad at Carrington.
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Tottenham have signed Manor Solomon from Shakhtar Donetsk on a on a five-year deal.
The Israel winger spent last season on loan at Fulham, where he scored five goals in 24 appearances.
Solomon becomes Tottenham’s fourth signing of the summer after winger Dejan Kulusevski, goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and England midfielder James Maddison.
The deal is reported to be a free transfer.
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Harry Kane will leave the ball in Tottenham’s court when he meets new manager Ange Postecoglou for the first time on Wednesday.
In news that may encourage chairman Daniel Levy as he looks to navigate the tricky issue of his talisman’s future, the Spurs striker is keeping a fully open mind ahead of his return to pre-season training.
Kane reports for duty amid a backdrop of uncertainty, with Bayern Munich eager to make him their marque signing this summer.
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Brighton midfielder, Moises Caicedo has admitted that he is desperate to join Chelsea, saying that he ‘could not say no’ to the Blues while calling them a ‘beautiful team’.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side are currently negotiating a one hundred million pounds move for the midfielder, with the Seagulls holding firm on that price tag.
Caicedo had previously tried to force through a transfer to the Gunners back in January, and admitted missing out on that move was ‘tough’.
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Chelsea have pushed back the return date of their unwanted stars as club and players seek to part ways.
The Blues were considering delaying the comebacks of some of the players they are trying to offload until after the squad of stars who are in Mauricio Pochettino’s plans have departed for the club’s US tour.
And Romelu Lukaku, Hakim Ziyech and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have now been given revised return date of Monday having originally been due back at Cobham this week.
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Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes admits he hates playing against Manchester City because they are so good.
The Magpies are among the clubs hoping to dethrone Pep Guardiola’s side next season after their third-place finish.
But Guimaraes admits there is a gulf between City and the rest of the teams in the league.
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Gambling ads featuring Premier League managers, including Eddie Howe and Frank Lampard, have been banned by watchdogs.
According to the Advertising Standards Authority, The ads, which appeared as part of a marketing campaign for betting giants Ladbrokes, risked attracting children to gambling.
The first of two promoted tweets for the bookmaker in January and February featured two images of Eddie Howe, who took Saudi owned Newcastle to the Champions League.
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Edwin van der Sar remains in intensive care but is not in “life-threatening danger” following a bleed on his brain,
According to his wife Annemarie van Kesteren, the former Manchester United and Ajax goalkeeper was taken to an intensive care unit in Croatia on Friday, where he was on holiday.
Van der Sar made 266 appearances for the Red Devils and helped them to win four Premier League titles and the 2008 Champions League.
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Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out received a sixty-five percent rise in reported incidents of discriminatory behaviour during the 2022-23 season.
The organisation says it received a record-high one thousand seven reports from grassroots level, the professional game and across social media.
Kick It Out chief executive, Tony Burnett said supporting the victims of abuse remains the “utmost priority”.
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OTHER SPORTS
In Tennis; Novak Djokovic came through a bruising battle with seventh seed Andrey Rublev to maintain his bid for a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon men’s title.
The Serb, also aiming to match Margaret Court’s record of 24 major singles titles, fought back to win 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
Djokovic, 36, will play Italy’s Jannik Sinner in the last four on Friday.
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Britain’s Jamie Murray and New Zealander Michael Venus won on Tuesday to reach their first Grand Slam men’s doubles quarter-final as a team.
The 13th seeds secured a swift 6-4 6-3 win over Poland’s Jan Zielinski and Hugo Nys of Monaco.
Murray’s fellow Briton Neal Skupski and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof smartly saw off defending champions Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson 6-3, 7-6
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Jannik Sinner beat unseeded Russian Roman Safiullin at Wimbledon on Tuesday to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final.
The Italian eighth seed recovered from a mid-match wobble to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 and will face either Novak Djokovic or Andrey Rublev for a place in Sunday’s final.
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New mum Elina Svitolina shocked world number one Iga Swiatek to reach the last four at Wimbledon on Tuesday, striking an emotional blow for Ukraine, as Novak Djokovic targeted a record-equalling 46th major semi-final.
World number 76 Svitolina, who gave birth last October and only returned to the tour in April, came through 7-5, 6-7, 6-2 despite being a break down in both of the first two sets against the reigning US Open and French Open champion.
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In Golf; Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy could have been offered ownership of LIV Golf team franchises as part of the proposed peace deal between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
This was one of several revelations to emerge from documents accompanying a Senate sub-committee hearing in Washington investigating the framework agreement that ended the legal battle between the tours and the Saudi-funded breakaway LIV circuit.
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In Rugby; England’s players have been challenged to develop “physically, mentally, and tactically” in the oppressive heat of their Rugby World Cup training camp.
Temperatures have hit 40C this week at the England team base in Verona, northern Italy.
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Major League Cricket wants to sign up England’s best players for future editions but its founders have dismissed claims it is a threat to English cricket as “short-sighted”.
The inaugural T20 franchise tournament in the United States starts on Thursday (Friday 01:30 BST) with two England World Cup winners – Liam Plunkett and Jason Roy – involved.
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In Athletics; The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favour of double 800m Olympic champion Caster Semenya in a case related to testosterone levels in female athletes.
The 32-year-old South African was born with differences of sexual development (DSD) and is not allowed to compete in any track events without taking testosterone-reducing drugs.
A three-time 800m world champion and 800m and 1500m Commonwealth champion, Semenya has been in a long-running dispute with World Athletics.
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Boxing heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will face Francis Ngannou, one of the top heavyweight fighters in Mixed Martial Arts, MMA, in a bout that will be contested under professional boxing rules in Saudi Arabia 28 October.
The announcement of the crossover clash came after months of speculation that intensified following Ngannou’s departure from the Ultimate Fighting Championship the world’s leading MMA promotion.
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OTHER LEAGUES.
Argentine star Lionel Messi landed in Florida on Tuesday ahead of putting the final touches on his move to US Major League Soccer club Inter Miami.
Messi was seen walking off a private jet at a small, executive airport adjacent to Inter Miami’s stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
Fans had begun to gather at the stadium early in the morning ahead of his expected arrival.
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Inter Milan are keen to bring Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku back to the club this summer.
Lukaku, spent last season on loan with Inter from Chelsea.
The Belgian scored fourteenth goals in helping Inter to finish third in Serie A and reach the Champions League final.
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USA forward Christian Pulisic is close to completing a twenty million pounds move from Chelsea to AC Milan.
Pulisic, is surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge and is due to have a medical in Milan this week.
He joined Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund in a fifth -seven point six million pounds move in 2019 that made him the most expensive player from North America.
Pulisic scored twenty-six goals in 145 games and played in the 2021 Champions League final win over Manchester City.
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Paris Saint-Germain believe Kylian Mbappe could face a hostile reception from the club’s fans through next season unless he resolves his contract dispute.
The France forward said PSG were “a divisive team, a divisive club” in an interview with L’Equipe.
Mbappe, who has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, has told PSG he will not sign a new contract.
Meanwhile, former sporting director Leonardo has said it is now time for Mbappe, PSG’s all-time leading scorer, to leave.
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AC Milan new boy Ruben Loftus-Cheek says frustration at the way he was being used by Chelsea was the trigger for his fifteen million pounds summer move.
He has signed a four-year contract with Milan and is set to be joined by former Blues team-mate Christian Pulisic.
Loftus-Cheek, had been with Chelsea for almost two decades.
He scored seven goals in one hundred and fifty-five appearances and won the Premier League twice, as well as the Europa League, during his time at the club.
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Queens Park Rangers co-owner Tony Fernandes has left the Championship club after twelve years’ involvement.
Fernandes bought the west London club in 2011 alongside Ruben Gnanalingam and Kamarudin Meranun, and stepped down as co-chairman in 2018.
The club said the Malaysian businessman, who founded airline AirAsia, no longer holds any shares in Queens Park Rangers Holdings Limited.
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TODAY’S THOUGHT
“Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.”…Words from John Wooden.
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”…Words from Muhammad Ali.
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