Sports

Sports

Premier League clubs agree to resume training this week.

Premier League Shareholders today voted unanimously to return to small group training from Tuesday afternoon – the first step towards restarting the Premier League, when safe to do so. This decision was made after an emergency conference call with all 20 clubs on Monday.

Also Read: 5 substitutions, games behind closed doors and other temporary changes to expect when football resumes.

Recall that  football was suspended indefinitely on April 3 and the last EPL fixture was played on March 9.

“Step One of the Return to Training Protocol enables squads to train while maintaining social distancing. Contact training is not yet permitted. This first stage has been agreed in consultation with players, managers, Premier League club doctors, independent experts and the Government. Strict medical protocols of the highest standard will ensure everyone returns to training in the safest environment possible. The health and wellbeing of all participants is the Premier League’s priority, and the safe return to training is a step-by-step process. Full consultation will now continue with players, managers, clubs, the PFA and LMA as protocols for full-contact training are developed.” A statement from Premier League read.

Meanwhile, Premier League clubs have been told they could face heavy sanctions for serious breaches of new COVID-19 rules amid concerns that the system for testing players could be manipulated.

 

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 Africa, Sports

Samuel Eto’o labels himself the greatest African player.

Senegalese legend, Samuel Eto’o has crowned himself  the greatest player in the African continent. This remark was made in response to his fellow African footballe, El Hadji Diouf’s claims that he was the best Cameroonian legend .

Not only has the former Barcelona player boasted to be the best forward to come out of Africa, he has also said neither Diouf nor Ivory Coast’s Drogba are at his level.

Also Read: Why Emmanuel Adebayor won’t donate to Togo’s coronavirus fight.

He was quoted on GOAL thus, “Even if my brother Diouf the last time, with an extra glass, got a little lost, there is no debate, None of them (Diouf and Drogba) can come and say that they were at my level or better. And it’s not the fact that I say it, it’s a fact, it’s something that is there. I wanted to be number one and I have been throughout my career.” The 4-time African footballer of the year award recipient maintained.

Eto’o netted 56 goals for the Cameroonian national football team in 118 appearances, won two African nations cup titles, the 2000 Olympic gold medal,  three Spanish La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles, one Coppa Italia, two Copa del Rey titles, one Fifa Club World Cup during his spells at Chelsea, Everton, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Mallorca.

Do you agree with Eto’o?

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 Sports

Turkish footballer kills coronavirus-infected son.

Call him a heartless father and you wouldn’t be far from the truth.

A Turkish footballer, Cevher Toktas has been arrested after  confessing to smothering his five-year-old son, Kasim Toktas to death in hospital because he “didn’t love him”, it is alleged.

The 32 year-old reported himself at the station days after Kasim died from what doctors believed was natural causes. He took the child to the hospital on April 23, after showing signs of high fever and breathing difficulties, and the boy and father were placed in quarantine together as doctors feared a coronavirus infection.

He called for help and the son was rushed to intensive care but he died less than two hours later at Dortcelik Children’s Hospital in Bursa, northwestern Turkey.  His family believed he died from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Also Read: Ex Schalke player presumed dead in 2016, found alive and well.

Narrating how he carried out the evil act, the Central Defender said,  “I pressed a pillow on my son who was lying on his back. For 15 minutes, I pressed down on the pillow without lifting it up. My son was struggling during that time. After he stopped moving, I lifted the pillow. Then I yelled for doctors to help to draw any suspicions away from me.”

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He reportedly told investigators he doesn’t have mental issues, he killed Kasim because he “didn’t love him” and had never loved his youngest son “since he was born”.

Toktas who played for Hacettepe Spor in the Super Lig between 2007 and 2009, making a total of seven appearances in the Turkish top flight and recently in Bursa Yildirim Spor will be tried for murder and faces life in jail.

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 Basketball, Sports

Wilson to Become Official Game Ball of the NBA, WNBA, Basketball Africa League, others.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) (https://www.NBA.com/) and Wilson Sporting Goods Co. announced a multiyear global partnership today that will make Wilson the official game ball of the NBA, Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League (BAL).

The partnership will tip off at different times by league. The NBA Wilson game ball will first be used during the league’s 75th anniversary season in 2021-22. The other debuts will be during the 2022 WNBA season, 2021-22 NBA G League season, 2021 NBA 2K League season and the inaugural BAL season.

“This partnership with Wilson returns us to our roots as we plan for the future,” said Salvatore LaRocca, NBA President, Global Partnerships. “We were partners for 37 seasons dating back to when Wilson manufactured the first official NBA basketballs in 1946, and we look forward to growing the game of basketball together.”

“Our commitment to growing the game of basketball on the global stage is at the heart of Wilson and our new partnership with the NBA,” said Kevin Murphy, General Manager, Wilson Basketball. “Our passion for this game and the league runs incredibly deep, as does our history with it. And as we start this new chapter in the game, our focus and energy will be on supporting the league and the players, coaches and fans with the most advanced, high-performance game basketballs possible.”

Wilson will manufacture the NBA, WNBA and NBA G League game balls using the same materials, eight-panel configuration and performance specifications as current game balls and will also source the same leather currently used in the NBA. The NBA and its players will work jointly with Wilson to develop and approve the new game ball.

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 English Premier League, Sports

Jack Wilshere raises safety concerns over Premier League return.

Former Arsenal player, Jack Wilshere has raised safety concerns over the return of the Premier League, otherwise called the Project Restart plans.

English Football returns in June after 2 months break due to the coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged the world. Nine fixtures are scheduled to take place from Saturday to Monday behind closed doors, and players will be staying in quarantine hotels and subjected to lots of medical tests before and after the games, but despite all these measures, Wilshere still doesn’t believe it is possible to observe social distancing on the football pitch.

‘No player will go back if it’s not safe to do so, I can’t see how you can play football and social distance at the same time. These are the questions that people need to ask and need to be answered. It’s as simple as that.’ He told Sky Sports.

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 English Premier League, Sports

UK government okays the restart of Premier League season from 1 June.

The UK government has given the Premier League the green light to restart the season from 1 June. All the remaining fixtures set to be played behind closed doors until public safety can be guaranteed. This was contained in a new document titled, ‘Our Plan to Rebuild: The UK Government’s Covid-19 Recovery Strategy’. The document also warns that the lifting of restrictions is conditional upon the continued adherence to protocols which have been put in place to contain the spread of coronavirus.

“Some venues which are, by design, crowded and where it may prove difficult to enact distancing may still not be able to reopen safely at this point, or may be able to open safely only in part. Nevertheless, the Government will wish to open as many businesses and public places as the data and information at the time allows.

“In order to facilitate the fastest possible reopening of these types of higher-risk businesses and public places, the Government will carefully phase and pilot reopenings to test their ability to adopt the new Covid-19 secure guidelines.

“The Government will also monitor carefully the effects of reopening other similar establishments elsewhere in the world, as this happens. The Government will establish a series of task forces to work closely with stakeholders in these sectors to develop ways in which they can make these businesses and public places Covid-19 secure.”

Premier League clubs have been told they could have to repay an estimated £340m to domestic and international broadcasters – even if the season resumes behind closed doors. Also Premier League clubs voted to allow contract extensions for players whose current deals expire on June 30. Players at the end of loan spells can also extend their moves if all three parties involved are in agreement.

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 La Liga, Sports

Five La Liga players test positive to covid-19.

Days after the Spanish league returned to group training  with a view to resuming games in June, five players have reportedly tested positive to coronavirus. These players who are across the Spanish league’s top two divisions  are asymptomatic but will now go into quarantine and will be unable to join group training until at least two of their tests come out negative.

Also Read: NFF places mums of Sam Okwaraji and Rashidi Yekini on monthly stipends.

 “After completing the medical tests on the minimum essential personnel referred by the clubs to start training, some cases of Covid-19 have been detected. Specifically, between the clubs of La Liga Santander (Primera Division) and La Liga SmartBank (Segunda Division), five positive cases have been detected in players, all of them asymptomatic and in the final phase of the disease.” A La Liga statement read.

Also Read: 5 substitutions, games behind closed doors and other temporary changes to expect when football resumes.

The statement continued, “As planned, the next steps with people who have taken a stand for Covid-19 are: To remain in quarantine in their homes, carrying out the same individual physical activity that they have been doing until now, following the instructions of the club, for those who are footballers. In the next few days, they will be tested again for the Covid-19 and, after obtaining two negative results, they will be able to join the training sessions at their club’s facilities. In addition, La Liga will offer people who live with those affected the possibility of also doing screening tests.” 

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 English Premier League, Sports

Odion Ighalo desires to finish the season with Manchester United.

According to Manchester Evening News,  Manchester United Nigeria’s Odion Ighalo has expressed his desire to finish the season with the Red Devils. Ighalo has scored four goals in eight games since arriving on loan from Shanghai Shenhua in January and even though his loan contract, expires on May 31, he woldn’t mind extending his deal at Manchester United.

This was what he said in a recent interview.

“I would like to finish the season if it’s possible. 

“I was in good form, good shape, scoring goals and now we’ve stopped for over a month. I’ve given it my best and hopefully we’ll come back to play. The team had a good momentum before the pandemic started. At the moment I’m on loan, and this will cut short my time at the club.

“The club, myself, every footballer is going through a lot because we can’t do what we love and what we know how to do best, so we’re just thinking about that for now and to finish the season before we start thinking about the contract.”

 

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 English Premier League, Sports

Tottenham’s Son Heung-min gets ‘best performer’ award as he completes three-week military training.

Tottenham Hotspur forward, Heung-Min Son has completed his three-week basic military training course in South Korea today and picked up the “Pilseung” award as the top performer among 157 trainees. He got a perfect score in mental evaluation and excellent grades in all subjects, including hitting 10/10 shots on target in shooting training.

Also Read: 5 substitutions, games behind closed doors and other temporary changes to expect when football resumes.

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Upon completion of the training course, the forward who has not played since fracturing his arm in a league match against Aston Villa on February 16 still has to undertake 544 hours of community service over the next 34 months. who led his country to gold in the 2018 Asian Games football tournament,

“He received the ‘Pilsung’ prize which is one of five types of awards for best performers, All the courses were judged in a fair and strict manner, and his military training officers have said he went through the training faithfully.” the Yonhap news agency quoted a Marine Corps officer at the unit on the southern island of Jeju as saying.

Also Read: Paulo Dybala recovers from COVID-19.

He was quarantined for two weeks after arriving in Seoul from London at the end of March, completed the training during the suspension of the EPL due to the Covid-19 pandemic and  is due to return to London next week.

 

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 Africa, Sports

NFF places mums of Sam Okwaraji and Rashidi Yekini on monthly stipends.

The Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF) has pledged to put the matriarchs of the late ex-internationals, Sam Okwaraji and Rashidi Yekini on monthly stipends of N30,000. The issue of neglect of the families of this heroes by the government has been on for years . The announcement was made on their official Twitter account, @thenff this morning.

“In furtherance to, and in appreciation of, the recent pronouncement of the HM Sports, to put the mothers of late ex-internationals Sam Okwaraji and Rashidi Yekini on a monthly stipend, the NFF has decided to support this noble initiative with a further monthly stipend of N30k to each of the two matriarchs. In addition, the NFF will henceforth review the situation of surviving mothers of our ex-internationals that died in active service for the country and resolve what to do for them on monthly basis.”

Also Read: Sam Okwaraji – 26 Years After

Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji, a professional lawyer and graduate of Pontifical Lateran University, Rome collapsed after a cardiac arrest on the pitch during during a 1990 World Cup qualifier v Angola in Lagos. The Lagos stadium ambulance refused to start and his death was announced later that night. He played for Nigeria at the 1988 Olympic Games and the 1988 AFCON in Morocco. He was a youth team player for AS Roma before joining Dinamo Zagreb.

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Also Read: Colleagues, football fans, pay tributes to Rashidi Yekini, 8 years after his demise.

Rashidi Yekini on the other hand, a gangling striker died on May 4, 2012 in Ibadan at the age of 48. Rashidi was dubbed the greatest striker in the history of Nigeria, he was the first Nigerian ever to be recognized as the best player on the African continent& was the most valuable player at the 1994 Cup of Nations. The 1993 African Footballer of the Year was Nigeria’s top scorer with 37 goals in 58 games.

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May their souls continue to rest in peace. Amen
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