France
Osinachi Ohale bids farewell to CD Tacon ahead of rumoured Serie A move
Osinachi Ohale has appreciated Spanish side Club Deportivo (CD) Tacon ahead of a rumoured move to Serie A this summer. The Nigeria international spent the 2019-20 season at the Spanish Primera Iberdrola outfit and made 15 appearances, scoring twice in the process for David Aznar’s side since joining last September. Of her two goals, the first came in Tacon’s 5-1 thrashing of Toni Payne’s Sevilla on January 4 and the second in a 4-3 win over rivals Madrid CFF in a local derby in the capital four weeks later. And following the league cancellation in May, which saw her side finish 10th this season – with 23 points from 21 matches – the 28-year-old has thanked the entire club setup. “Hi everyone. It is time to announce that I will be leaving CD Tacon when my contract expires at the end of the ...
Olivier Giroud explains decision to extend Chelsea stay
Getty Images Olivier Giroud has opened up on his decision to extend his stay at Chelsea, outlining his plans to “keep winning trophies” and show Frank Lampard “he can count on me”. Giroud completed a surprise move to Chelsea from Arsenal back in January 2018, and has since scored 21 goals in 76 outings for the club across all competitions. The World Cup winner played a key role in the Blues’ run to glory in the Europa League last season, but fell down the squad pecking order after Lampard was drafted in to replace Maurizio Sarri in the Stamford Bridge hot seat. Tammy Abraham has served as Chelsea’s first-choice centre-forward throughout the 2019-20 campaign, with Giroud restricted to just nine Premier League appearances in total. The 33-year-old was tipped to leave the club in January amid...
NFF to interview coaches for vacant Super Falcons job
File Photo The President of Nigeria Football Federation Amaju Pinnick has disclosed that the Federation is working tirelessly to recruit qualified coaches for the country’s senior women national, the Super Falcons. The record African Women championship winners are still without a coach since former boss, Thomas Dennerby, walked out of the team a few weeks after leading the team to knock out phase of the 2019 women’s world cup in France. Christopher Danjuma was later appointed as caretaker boss after the departure of swede, but the failure of the team to qualify for the next summer’s Olympics in Tokyo automatically ruled him out of the job. Pinnick said the search for the right coach for the team has begun and the announcement will be made at the right time. “We are working to see how we ca...
Moses Simon, Victor Osimhen shortlisted for 2020 Marc-Vivien Foe prize
Nantes winger Moses Simon and Lille striker Victor Osimhen have been nominated for the 2020 Marc-Vivien Foe prize alongside nine other African stars. The 11 nominees for the annual award, organised by Radio France International and France 24, were announced on Friday with the winner set to be revealed on June 29. The other nominees are Reims centre-back Yunis Abdelhamid, Saint-Etienne forward Denis Bouanga, Montpellier forward Andy Delort, Metz star Habib Diallo, PSG midfielder Idrissa Gueye, Monaco striker Islam Slimani and Rennes trio Mbaye Niang, Hamari Traore and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. The shortlist is dominated by four Senegalese, with two Algerians, two Nigerians, one Gabonese, one Moroccan and also included one Malian. Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe won the 2019 edition before his switch...
Wilfred Ndidi: Why Leicester City move was very scary for me
Wilfred Ndidi claimed he saw his move to Premier League side Leicester City as an opportunity rather than getting carried away with pressure. After three seasons at Belgian top-flight side Genk, the Nigeria international joined the Foxes in a transfer deal worth £17 million. At that time, the King Power Stadium giants were reigning English champions, plus they needed a replacement for N’Golo Kante who had joined Chelsea on a five-year deal. The Frenchman played a starring role in Leicester’s English top-flight-winning campaign where he made 40 appearances while helping France reach the final of Euro 2016. Despite adapting to life quickly at the Luminus Arena after his move from Nigeria’s Nath Boys Academy, Ndidi said he saw an opportunity to ‘develop’, thus, embraced the burden of expectat...
Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel agree €500 billion coronavirus recovery plan for Europe
France and Germany proposed Monday a 500-billion-euro ($542-billion) fund to finance the recovery of the European Union’s economy from the devastation wrought by the coronavirus crisis. Putting aside past differences and seeking to prove that the Franco-German core of Europe remains intact, President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the unprecedented package after talks by video conference. European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde told major European newspapers that “the Franco-German proposals are ambitious, targeted and welcome.” With the European economy facing its biggest challenge since World War II, Macron also acknowledged that the EU had fallen short in its initial response to the virus and needed to coordinate more closely on health. Financed by “borrowin...
Nigerian government commends NNPC, partners for coronavirus interventions
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19, Boss Mustapha, yesterday, commended the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for her unwavering support and several medical interventions, geared towards providing a lasting solution to the novel coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria. According to a statement by the NNPC, Mustapha stated that the gesture showed the corporation as the hallmark of a national oil company. The NNPC noted that Mustapha gave this commendation while receiving 20 ventilators donated by Ocea S.A, a France based company through the NNPC, to bolster the fight against COVID-19 in Abuja. It added that Mystrose Defence Systems Limited presented the donation to the NNPC on behalf of Ocea S.A. to bolster the fight...
UEFA clarify comments on teams from abandoned leagues pre-qualifying for Champions League
UEFA has made clear a statement which implied that teams from abandoned leagues would need to pre-qualify for next season’s Champions League. European football’s governing body had issued confusing comments which implied that teams such as Paris Saint-Germain would need to enter the competition in the first qualifying round. PSG, who remain in this season’s Champions League, were awarded the Ligue 1 title as the season was cancelled last month. But UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin appeared to warn that clubs from abandoned leagues – such as in France, Holland and Belgium – would need to enter European competition at the preliminary stages. UEFA have now clarified their comments, confirming that only teams in the positions normally needing to pre-qualify will need to be ready to compete in...
WHO warns virus may be here to stay as toll nears 300,000
The coronavirus may never go away and populations will have to learn to live with it just as they have HIV, the World Health Organization has warned, as the global death toll from the disease nears 300,000. There were also gloomy forecasts from the US Federal Reserve, which said prolonged shutdowns to stem the spread of the virus could cause lasting economic damage in America. Washington ratcheted up tensions over the pandemic by accusing China of trying to steal research into a vaccine, while US President Donald Trump upped the rhetoric with a colourful phrase that could anger Beijing. “We just made a great Trade Deal, the ink was barely dry, and the World was hit by the Plague from China. 100 Trade Deals wouldn’t make up the difference — and all those innocent lives lost!” Trump tweeted....
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City interested in Kingsley Coman
Getty Images Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City are interested in signing Bayern Munich attacker Kingsley Coman, according to Sky Germany. The Bundesliga club want to keep hold of the France international however, should Leroy Sané join Bayern, Coman will rethink his situation at the club should Sané take his place in the starting XI. Bayern Munich remain hopeful of signing Sané in the summer, with a preference to sign the Germany international over compatriot Timo Werner (RB Leipzig). Get more stories like this on Twitter
Lyon women awarded French title for 14th consecutive season
French women’s football giants Lyon will be declared league champions for the 2019-20 campaign, collecting the title for the 14th consecutive year after the season was ended by the coronavirus pandemic. The decision was confirmed to AFP by a source close to talks held Monday by the French football federation as well as a source at Lyon, backing up an earlier report from RMC Sport. Lyon, winners of the past four Women’s Champions League finals, have claimed the French title every year since 2007. The women’s top flight in France was halted in mid-March when Lyon held a three-point lead over Paris Saint-Germain. Last month, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that professional sport could not return until September. The men’s Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 divisions were ended, with PSG na...
Another Premier League player tests positive for novel coronavirus
A third first-team player from Brighton & Hove Albion tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, the Premier League club’s chief executive Paul Barber has confirmed. Two Brighton players had contracted the novel coronavirus in March and April and the latest positive result could cast doubts on the Premier League’s plans to resume the season that has been suspended due to the pandemic. Clubs are due to meet on Monday to further discuss “Project Restart” which envisages a return to play in June once given the green light from government, with the remaining 92 matches held behind closed doors at neutral venues. “It is a concern. Unfortunately we’ve had a third player test positive yesterday,” Barber told Sky Sports on Sunday. “So despite all of the measures that we’ve been taking over the ...
