#Sports - FIFA bans head of World Cup committee for seven years

Football’s world body on Monday banned the former head of the FIFA
evaluation committee for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups for seven years
for breaches of “confidentiality”.

FIFA’s ethics committee adjudicatory chamber banned Harold Mayne-
Nicholls, a former Chilean FA president, “from taking part in any kind
of football-related activity at national and international level for a
period of seven years”, a statement said.

The world body did not give details of the charges against Mayne-
Nicholls, but said it was for a breach of a confidentiality rule in FIFA’s
code of ethics.

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#Sports - Nigeria will qualify for 2016 Olympics, says Samson Siasia

National Under-23 team coach, Samson Siasia, says he has a team of
good players to pick ahead of the July 19 qualifier for the Rio 2016
Olympic Games football event against Congo in Port Harcourt.

The U23 team coach said after his boys’ 3-1 defeat of 36 Lions FC in
a friendly match at the weekend that the presence of Flying Eagles’
players in the team has given him the opportunity to work on the side’s attack.

Siasia also disclosed that he has shut the door on some invited former
Flying Eagles’ players, including goalkeeper Dele Alampasu, for
failing to report to camp on schedule.

“Although we did not have the luxury of playing international friendly matches, we will ensure that these boys will come together and blend for the task ahead.

“We still have about two weeks to train together before we make our final
selection for Congo, so we still have enough players to select for the
game. Our target for now is to win this game in order to take us
close to the Olympics football ticket and I have seen commitment in
the players. They are there with their whole heart and I know they
will make Nigerians proud when we play Congo in Port Harcourt.

“We have just acquired the videos of Congo and we are watching
them to guide us.

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#Sports - Disconnect emotionally from Chelsea, Lehmann tells Cech

Arsenal’s goalkeeping great, Jens Lehmann, thinks Petr Cech can
help lift the Gunners to the next level – but only if he sets aside any
lingering love for Chelsea.

The Czech goalkeeper brought a long transfer saga to an end by signing for the Gunners last week in a deal worth £11million. He spent 11 seasons at Stamford Bridge, winning four Premier League titles and building a warm relationship with club staff and fans.

And Lehmann feels Cech can make a big difference at the Emirates, but thinks he has to put his Chelsea connections out of his mind as soon as possible in order to acclimatise to his new surroundings.

“Before you can have it in your heart to win titles again, you have to get rid of the love you had before,” Lehmann told the Sun on Sunday.

“As a professional, he must get over [his relationship with Chelsea] and needs to know Arsenal want him to win things again for them.

“That is not an easy thing to get over psychologically… it can take a few weeks, even a few months.”

Lehmann also had words of encouragement for Wojciech Szczesny,
who is expected to play second fiddle to Cech in north London next
term.

“It’s disappointing when you lose your place,” added the German.
“Wojciech has to work really hard and know that nothing else counts
apart from performing hard on the training pitch and in games.”

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#Sports - It’s Japan versus USA again in final

Four years ago, Japan caused a major upset in Women’s football
history, when they defeated one of the super powers in the game, USA, in the final to lift the World Cup.

That defeat at the Commerzbank-Arena, in Frankfurt, Germany,saw the Americans cry like babies, after seeing their dream of becoming the first country to win the crown a record third time shattered by the Japanese.

In particular, the US team striker and captain, Abby Wambach, told The Guardian then that the defeat was a major “injury” to her soccer career.“This is going to hurt me for long,” she said in a brief chat on her way out of the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt. The Americans went down in that encounter 2-3 on penalties.

Four years on, the two teams have again been pitched in a final. This time, USA and Japan will do battle in the final of the Canada 2015 Women’s World on Sunday in the city of Vancouver.

True to their pre-match boast, the fast moving Japanese shot down the Three lionesses (England) 2-1 in their semi-finals here in Edmonton on Wednesday, after USA had sent Germans packing 2-0 on Tuesday.

The English had themselves to blame in Wednesday’s game, as their defender, Laura Bassett, scored an own goal in the second minute of stoppage time to hand Japan the final ticket after a 1-1 goal. The game was already heading to extra time, when Bassett struck. While Japan heads to Vancouver to meet USA in the final, the English will stay back here in Edmonton to face Germany in the third place match.

With this victory, Japan will be aiming to equal the record already set by USA and Germany in the Women’s World Cup, who had won it twice.On their part, the Americans will be aiming to extend their lead.

Apart from winning in 2011, Japan became only the second Asian national team to reach the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final, following China’s final appearance against the United States in 1999. This was also only the second final not involving a European team.

After beating Germany in Tuesday’s semifinal, U.S. coach, Jill Ellis, said they were ready for any team in the final.

She said: “We watched a lot of films, broke it down, but the players executed, that’s the key,” Ellis said.
USA last won the title in 1999, that was, when they hosted the championship on home soil for the first time.

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#Sporst REPORT: Real Madrid Deny Any Interest In Juventus Striker

According to AS, Real Madrid have denied suggestions that coach Rafa Benitez has requested the signing of Fernando Llorente We reported yesterday that A Spanish News Daily, Sport claimed that the Real Madrid boss had identified Juventus’ Llorente as the man to bolster his attacking options.

However, according to AS , Real Madrid sources have described the claim as “completely untrue”.

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#Sports - Falcon loss, great blow to female soccer – Analysts

Football stakeholders have described the Super Falcons 0-2 defeat to
Australia as a great blow to the team’s chances of getting to the next
stage of the ongoing FIFA Women World Cup.
The competition had been ongoing in Canada.
Some of the stakeholders who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria on
Saturday said the team performed below expectation.
Joy Etim, a former Falcons’ coach said she had expected the team to
defeat Australia in the encounter but the reverse was the case.
“It will take a miracle for the team to defeat the US in their next
match.
“Something is wrong, whatever that is, I hope they can figure it out
against the US, the team lost focus and they must have learnt their
lessons.
“Going by past records, the US, is one of the best teams in female
football, but not the best, we can only hope for a miracle,” she
stressed.
Tayo Balogun, a sports analyst said the technical crew had not done
enough to fortify the defence, given the number of goals the Falcons
had conceded.
Balogun also added that the team underestimated its Australian
counterparts and paid dearly for it.
“We have conceded five goals in two matches that shows that
something is wrong with our defence and they underestimated the
Australian team.
“It will take a miracle to fix things against the US, the team is
stronger than us in all ramifications, we don’t need to sugar-cot the
truth,” he said.
Royals Olajide, the secretary of the Women Amateur Football
Association, said that the result was disappointing for the country.
Olajide advised the technical crew to instil pitch discipline on the
players in their next match, saying that the team’s next match would
not be an easy encounter.
“There was no disciplinary play in the game and this is vital for a team
to play as instructed by the coach. I can’t imagine a situation where
Falcons played as a frustrated bunch. We receive balls and we can’t
make good passes.”
Festus Allen, a former coach of 3SC of Ibadan, urged the players to
put the defeat behind them and re-strategise against their next
opponent.
“This defeat will dampen the morale of players but they should not allow
it to discourage them from moving to the next round.
“Anything is possible in football and they can pull a surprise if they put
their house in order and play as a team and not individuals,” he said.
The ongoing competition which began on June 6 will end on July 5 in
Canada.

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#Sports - Cristiano Ronaldo Scores Another Hat Trick As Portugal Survive Armenia

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 3rd hat-trick in just as many
games as Portugal fought off Armenia 3-2 in their European
Championship Qualifiers match.
Armenia took a surprise lead after Marcos Pizelli scored a
superb freekick, but a Ronaldo penalty in the 28th minute, and a
4-minute double salvo from the Real Madrid ace saw Portugal go
up 3-1.
Portugal’s lead was threatened when Tiago Cardoso got sent
off in the 62nd minute, and Hrayr Mkoyan rattled the
Portuguese supporters as he made it 3-2

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Zenith Basketball: Dolphins, Delta Force win

Dolphins continued to underline their title credentials in the Zenith
Bank Women’s League by beating their Group B opponents, Coal City
Queens, 75-12. National team invitee Juliet Currency scored 4/8 from
behind the arc to finish with 26 points and fellow guard Amaka
Nwakamma added 19 points in the one sided affair at the Ilorin
Township Stadium on Wednesday.
Dolphins are now unbeaten in nine games so far and topping their
group with maximum 20 points from the Phase One event which was held
in Abuja last month.
In other games played on Wednesday, Delta Force ladies were on fire
against newcomers Zamfara Babes, as they blew them 81-18, while
Benue Princesses came from behind to beat Immigrations 41-29.
On Tuesday, which served as Day 1 of Phase 2, the top scorer in the
first phase in Abuja, IG Queens’ Christina Issac, continued from
where she left off as she dropped 25 points in the IGP Queens 56-22
victory over Nassarawa Amazons. Isaac averaged 26.7 points per game
during the Abuja competition. The match between the Police ladies and
Nassarawa was first for this second stage.
Defending champions First Bank also had a light walk of Oluyole Babes
of Ibadan, winning by 67-23. Nkechi Akashili hit 21 points and Lynette
Atieno scored 10 points while grabbing four rebounds. And it was same
of the same for last season’s runners-up Dolphins, who beat GT200 of
Kaduna 65-26.
In other results, erstwhile champions First Deepwater needed late
15-0 run in the third quarter to come from behind to defeat Plateau
Peaks 39-29. Sunshine Angels and AHIP Queens dominated from start
to finish in their 56-42 and 42-17 wins over Taraba Hurricanes and
Immigrations respectively. The Nigerian Customs also proved to be a
team to lookout for as they whitewashed Coal City Queens 70-7, while
Delta Force welcomed back Ogoh Bolum, who nailed nine points from
behind the arc to finish with 11 points on their way to an emphatic
72-23 win over FCT Angels.

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FIFA to decide election date on July 20

Lausanne - FIFA will meet on July 20 to decide the date on which Sepp
Blatter's successor as president will be selected, the embattled body
said Thursday.

"The extraordinary FIFA Executive Committee meeting to set the
date for the extraordinary elective Congress will take place on 20 July
2015 in Zrich," said a statement.
"During the meeting, the agenda for the elective Congress will be
finalized and approved. The extraordinary elective Congress will take
place in Zurich between December 2015 and February 2016 as
announced by the FIFA President on 2 June 2015."
Blatter, who has been in charge of FIFA since 1998, has already
announced he will quit after the organisation was engulfed by a
series of widespread corruption allegations.

- AFP

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Mourinho Confirms Chelsea Are Looking For New Striker, But Insists The Squad Will Be Hard To Improve

Jose Mourinho has revealed that Chelsea are in the market for a striker this summer, with Falcao a blip on their radar.

Drogba left after the season ended, which is more reason for Chelsea to shop for a striker. Rumour has it that the Portuguese manager is driving the signing for Falcao.He told The Sunday Times: “We have to buy a striker because we want to have three strikers of a good level.

“We do not want to have just one [transfer target]. Then you lose a good position on the negotiation table.”
Mourinho maintains that improving his premier league winning squad will be a hard task.He added: “It will be difficult to find players to go straight into the team.

“Because it’s not easy to find a better striker than Diego [Costa], a better keeper than [Thibaut] Courtois, a better midfield player than [Nemanja] Matic or [Cesc] Fabregas.

“This season is about improving the squad, bringing players to
make us more consistent, so we don’t go through difficult periods like last season when we had crucial injuries. We have to try and protect that situation by adding two or three players.”

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FIFA To Strip Qatar & Russia Of World Cups If Found Guilty Of Bribery

The 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups will have different hosts if Russia & Qatar are found guilty of bribery.

The entirety of the world football governing body is being investigated for corruption, including its procedure of awarding World Cup hosting rights.
The independent chairman of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee, Domenico Scala, has revealed that if indeed Russia and Qatar bribed to get their World Cup hosting rights, it would be withdrawn from them.
 
“If evidence should emerge that the awards to Qatar and Russia only came about thanks to bought votes, then the awards could be invalidated,” Scala said in an interview published on Sunday. “This evidence has not yet been brought forth.”

Scala also talked about the idea of introducing a maximum number of terms for the FIFA presidency.
“If a FIFA president does two or three cycles that is enough,” Scala said.

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Barcelona Confirm Signing Of Alex Vidal

Barcelona have continued their raid of Europa league winners, Sevilla. Last season, the Catalan club bought Ivan Rakitic from the Seville club and this season, they have announced the signing of Alex Vidal.

Vidal has been the stand out star for Sevilla as they successfully defended the Europa league and Vidal attracted a lot of interest from top European clubs but the winger has picked Barcelona as the club were he would continue his playing career. Vidal would be joining Barcelona on a 5 year contract as the details of the transfer fee still remain undisclosed.

While Vidal would be glad to be joining a big club, he would now have to compete for starting positions with the likes of Neymar, Messi and Iniesta (who can also play out wide).

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Valencia Make Valdes Bid, Manchester United Reject

Victor Valdes has had to get used to playing behind David De Gea at Manchester United and with the younger Spaniard possibly leaving, Valdes actually has a chance to become the first choice at Manchester United. But Valencia are also interested in the 33 year old.

Valencia reportedly enquired about his availability by from Manchester United who are currently unwilling to let any goalkeeper go but might have to in the summer. Manchester United rejected Valencia request claiming that the former Barcelona shot stopper was not available for sale and is still very much part of Louis Van Gaal’s plans.

Valdes might still be playing as the second choice goalkeeper next season as Manchester United are reportedly searching for a replacement for De Gea, proving they do not really have confidence in the 33 year old Spanish international currently deputizing for De Gea.

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Belgium Beat France 4-3 In Friendly

In what was a very interesting match, Belgium showed superiority and took a commanding lead in the match through Fellaini and Hazard, France took advantage of some lack of concentration on the part of the Belgians but were unable to salvage a draw as the 1998 world cup winners went down to by 4 goals to 3.

Belgium started with more organization and precision and were rewarded in the 17^th minute when Nainggolan’s shot was deflected onto the path of Fellaini. The big Manchester United man made no mistake from point blank range to give Belgium the lead. Three minutes from half time, Fellaini made it two for himself and Belgium as he rose well at the back post to power in Alderwied’s cross. Belgium started the second half still on the front foot but France started to put their act together but 5 minutes after the restart, Naiggolan fired Belgium into a 3-0 lead with a low shot from just outside the penalty area. Valbuena pulled one back for France in the 53^rd minute from the penalty spot after Lombarts brought Giroud down in the box. One minute later, it was 4-1 as it was Hazard’s turn to score a penalty after Koscielny brought Witsel down in the box. Belgium slowed the pace of the game down and in the 89^th minute Fekir fired in a wonderful volley to make it 4-2, in injury time, Payet curled a wonderful shot into the net to make it 4-3 but it was too little too late for France.

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Tennis legend Serena Williams Wins French Open And 20th Grand Slam Title

The legendary tennis player Serena Williams today won her third French Open title and 20th major singles trophy at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris today Saturday June 6th after beating Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2 respectively.

For opponent Safarova, who reached the final without dropping a set, the consolation will be her debut in the world top 10, at number seven. And she has the women’s doubles final to follow on Sunday, playing with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

 

Serena Williams of the U.S., right, and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic pose before their final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Saturday, June 6, 2015 in Paris. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

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Super Eagles donate money, food items to orphanage

Captain and goalkeeper of the Super Eagles, Vincent Enyeama, has said
the team would continue to support the less privileged in the society, especially those in orphanages. Enyeama made the promise in Abuja when the team donated some food items, toiletries and cash for the upkeep of orphans of the Divine Wounds of Jesus Christ orphanage, Kubwa.

The Eagles captain said the team was prompted to donate the items to ensure that the orphans were well taken care of. He noted that the education of the kids was important to the team as
that was the foundation of their success as footballers.

“We are here to support this kids and your cause. We just got to know about it and we said we want to be part of it.
“Personally, on behalf of this team, my share of the bonus for the match against Chad will be paid into the orphanage account for education of the kids, to encourage them to push on.

“From time to time, we will continue to assist them in whatever way we can; this is our little token and appreciation from God for the work you are doing,” Enyeama said.
Kingsley Ojo, a Junior Secondary School one student of the orphanage, who spoke on behalf of others, commended the players for their kind gesture.“I want to thank you for the privilege to come and visit you; I want to thank you for welcoming us.

“May the good Lord continue to bless you and strengthen you; you will never lack.
“As you accept us in this place, may the good Lord accept you and your families in the mighty name of Jesus,” Ojo said.

Charles Ikezemuoka, Director of the home told the News Agency of Nigeria that the money donated by the players would be judiciously used in the education of the children.

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Enyeama: Eagles won't be under pressure against Chad

Lagos - Super Eagles captain Vincent Enyeama has posited that they
won't be playing under pressure when they face Chad's Le Sao next
Saturday in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

The Super Eagles started the qualifying series for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations with a home loss to Congo, but Enyeama says they won't be distracted by that when the qualifiers start.

"I'm not thinking of what happened last year because it is gone now," Enyeama told News24 Nigeria."Ivory Coast have won that Africa Cup of Nations so we can't be thinking of that now and if we're not thinking of that, there's no way we'll be playing under pressure.

"We don't have to play under pressure because there's no need for that and I can tell you that we won't be playing under any pressure," he said.

The 32-year old will skipper Nigeria when they file out at the Ahmadu
Bello Stadium on June 13, and says he and his teammates will be ready
for the Chadians.

"We will be ready for them. We have been training hard and the boys are very much in shape.
"It's going to be a very tough game but we will be ready," he posited.

- News24

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Barcelona win UEFA Champions League, beat Juventus 3-1

BERLIN, GERMANY - JUNE 06: Luis Suarez (R) of Barcelona celebrates scoring his team's second goal with Neymar (C) and Lionel Messi of Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League Final between Juventus and FC Barcelona at Olympiastadion on June 6, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Barcelona have won their fifth European Cup in 23 years, their fourth Champions League in nine years.
They have joined Liverpool and Bayern Munich in the quintuple stakes.
They deserved it but Juventus had them rocking and played very well, particularly in midfield.
Goals from Rakitic, Neymar, and Suarez sealed the victory for Barcelona. It ended Barcelona 3, Juventus 1.

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Super Eagles move two steps up in FIFA ranking

Lagos - Nigeria’s Super Eagles have moved up two places in the latest
FIFA ranking released on Thursday by the world football governing body. Nigeria moved from 45th place in May to 43rd in the world.

The 2013 African champions also moved one step up on the continent
to the 7th position. Algeria and Ivory Coast held on to the first and second spots respectively, with Tunisia displacing Ghana to the 3rd spot.

Cape Verde stayed put on the 6th spot, while Guinea, Congo and Cameroon completed the top ten team in Africa.

Globally, Germany maintained the peak position, but Argentina were
displaced by Belgium in the 2nd place. Colombia and Brazil completed the top five teams in the world. Netherlands, Portugal, Uruguay, France and Spain all made it to the top ten party.

For the latest on national news, politics, sport, entertainment and more follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page.

- News24

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Morinho praises Mikel, Slams Ruben

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has named Mikel Obi as one of the outstanding players in the Blues 1-0 victory over hosts Sydney FC in their post-season friendly in Australia on Tuesday.

Mikel, who did not enjoy enough first-team appearance with the London club in their last season’s campaign, played in the entire duration of the game, but teenage defender Temitayo Aina was on the bench throughout.

Loic Remy gave the visitors the only goal of the game via a left-footed strike at the ANZ Stadium, but Mourinho never underplayed the role of Mikel in the encounter.

“I’m happy with the performance of my senior players because it’s been a long season, in fact very long,” Mourinho said on Chelsea’s website.

“There were some performances from people like Ivanovic, Terry and Mikel where they tried to play football and the result could have been completely different.

“In the last part of the game the younger boys couldn’t cope with the
competitiveness of the Sydney players, they felt they had a chance and they pushed a little bit in the last period.” Ruben Loftus-Cheek, the teenage midfielder who recently joined the senior team, was tongue-lashed by the Portuguese.

“Ruben said he had a pain in his back, but I think he was more impressed by watching Matic and Mikel work, instead of him working,” Mourinho said.

“He has to learn that at 19 you have to run three times more than the
others, you have to play to your limits and not play like a superstar with the ball at your feet because this is not Under-18s.”

Mikel had earlier expressed his pleasure at seeing some 10,000 supporters turn out to watch their training in Sydney.

- Punch

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