World soccer’s governing body, FIFA has announced Saudi Arabia as host of the 2034 World Cup. Meanwhile, the 2030 edition will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with one-off matches in three South American countries; , namely; Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

The decision was announced by FIFA President, Gianni Infantino at a virtual extraordinary Congress.

Commenting on the 2030 World Cup, Infantino said, “We are bringing football to more countries and the number of teams has not diluted the quality. It actually enhanced the opportunity . What better way to celebrate the 100^th  anniversary in 2030 than to have the World Cup in six countries, in three continents, with 48 teams and 104 epic matches. The world will stand still and will celebrate the 100 years of the World Cup. Congratulations to all the bidders for putting up a great dossier, but I would like to put on record my big, big thank you to the six confederation presidents and to their teams.”

Abia State governor, Alex Otti has reportedly appointed Super Eagles legend, Nwankwo Kanu as as the new Chairman of Enyimba FC of Aba. This development is coming days after the former board of the Peoples’ Elephant was dissolved by the Abia State Government.

He takes over Felix Anyansi-Agwu who leaves his role after 24 years, a period that has seen the team win 2 CAFCL titles, 2 CAF super cup titles, 9 NPFL titles and 4 Fed cup titles.

Kanu had a stellar football career that spanned about 20 years and saw him playing for sides like Ajax, Inter Milan, and Arsenal. Some of his awards are two African Footballer of the Year awards (1996 & 1999) and two BBC African Footballer of the Year awards (1997 & 1999).

Is Jose Mourinho the most controversial manager yet?

UEFA have banned Roma head coach, José Mourinho for four UEFA club competition matches for abusing referee Anthony Taylor at the Europa League final. The Portuguese allegedly confronted Taylor in a car park after his side’s penalty shoot-out loss after a 1-1 draw.

Roma were also fined 50,000 euros and banned from taking away fans to their next European match “for the lighting of fireworks, throwing of objects, acts of damage and crowd disturbances” and also fined 5,000 euros over the “improper conduct of their team”. They have been ordered to “contact the Hungarian Football Federation within 30 days” to agree a settlement regarding damages caused by their supporters in the stadium.

“We are appalled at the unjustified and abhorrent abuse directed at Anthony and his family as he tries to make his way home from refereeing the UEFA Europa League final.” Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) said.

Swedish player, Zlatan Ibrahimović has announced his retirement from professional football.

It was an emotional moment for the The AC Milan star who made the announcement on Sunday after his club’s final match of the Serie A season. He bid farewell to AC Milan and the iconic San Siro stadium and he was honoured Zlatan with a tifo which spelt out “GODBYE”.

“When I woke up this morning it was raining. I told myself that even God was sad. Tonight, I was too moved. I look at my teammates, they are crying. So I look to my wife for strength, she cries. I look at the screen, the tifosi are crying.” He said.

HIS CAREER

511 club goals

988 career games

Sweden’s all-time top scorer (62)

5x Serie A champion

4x Ligue 1 champion

2x Eredivisie champion

1x La Liga champion

1x Europa League champion