Diego Costa suspended for eight matches for insulting referee

Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa will miss the rest of the season after being handed an eight-match suspension by the Spanish Football Federation on Thursday.
Costa was sent off in the first half of Atletico’s 2-0 defeat to Barcelona on Saturday for directing a crude insult towards referee Gil Manzano. Manzano also reported that Costa had “grabbed” him by the arms during the incident.
The lengthy ban means Costa will not play again this season as Atletico have seven games left in La Liga, having been knocked out of the Champions League and Copa del Rey.
According to the match report submitted by Manzano, Costa insulted his mother in a foul-mouthed outburst before “grabbing me by the arms to prevent me showing cards to numbers 24 and 2 respectively”.

CAF postpones African Cup club match due to Sudan crisis

The fall of Sudan’s longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and the turbulent political aftermath has delayed an African Confederation Cup tie for the country’s top-flight club Al Hilal.
“Due to the current security situation in Sudan, the second leg between Al Hilal and Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia) has been postponed indefinitely,” the Confederation of African Football said in a statement.
The match was due to take place on Sunday at the Al Hilal Stadium in Omdurman, near the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

Man Utd ‘nullified’ Barca despite defeat, claims Smalling

Manchester United defender Chris Smalling believes Barcelona were nullified at Old Trafford despite emerging 1-0 victors from their Champions League quarter-final, first leg on Wednesday.
Luke Shaw’s 12th-minute own goal means United have another Champions League mountain to climb on the road, after overturning a 2-0 first-leg deficit to eliminate Paris Saint-Germain on away goals in the last 16.
“We pressed them high and made it difficult. It’s a shame we couldn’t get the goal,” Smalling told BT Sport.

Rising star Nelson hopes to emulate Henry after Hoffenheim success

English teenager Reiss Nelson remembers driving up the leafy road towards the training ground of Bundesliga club Hoffenheim for the first time and thinking: “Where am I going?”

The 19-year-old English winger has made quite an impact since arriving at the club on a year-long loan from Arsenal, becoming the latest English youngster after Jadon Sancho to shine in Germany.

Now he feels ready to return to North London and walk in the footsteps of his boyhood idol Thierry Henry.
Yet for a young man who grew up on the gritty estates of South London, it was something of a culture shock to land in the idyllic, green surroundings of Hoffenheim after his loan deal was signed last August.

Wenger allays Arsenal fans’ fears, to replace Sanchez, Ozil with world-class players

 Arsene Wenger moved to allay the fears of Arsenal fans on Tuesday saying he would replace both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil with world-class players should they end up leaving. Wenger Both Sanchez, who came close to moving to Manchester City on the final day of the last transfer window in August, and Ozil’s contracts are up at the end of the present season. Sanchez’s attitude and commitment to the club have been questioned by fans and some of his team-mates did not congratulate the 29-year-old Chilean after he scored a double in the 3-2 Premier League win over Crystal Palace last Thursday. Wenger, whose transfer dealings have been a sore point with sections of the Arsenal support, said he would also be on the look-out for players in the present transfer window. “We are open to any position for the exceptional player that can give us a plus. It depends a little bit on the injuries as well,” said the Arsenal manager on the eve of their match with reigning Premier

Dell predicts man, machine partnership in 2018

The Senior Vice President at Dell EMC, META, Mr. Mohammed Amin, on Tuesday, said that year 2018 would witness more partnership between man and machine. Amin, in a statement in Lagos, said that the partnership would be more interwoven into peoples’ day-to-day lives. Dell According to him, it would transform everything from the way businesses are run and the importance placed on security to how entertainment was provided. “There is need to share the impact that Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) advances in Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing, will have on organisations and lives digitally in 2018. “Emerging technologies, such as AI, AR, IoT and cloud computing, made possible through exponential developments in software,

Boos can make Gareth Bale better – Zidane

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane believes the harsh treatment meted out to Gareth Bale by his own fans at the Santiago Bernabeu can push the Welshman to greater heights, AFP reports.

Bale bounced back from jeers as Real opened their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 win over APOEL Nicosia last week by scoring just his second goal of the season in spectacular fashion in a 3-1 victory at Real Sociedad on Sunday.

“It is part of a player’s career, but at times it is good to note that you are not doing things well,” said Zidane on Tuesday ahead of the Spanish champions’ La Liga clash with Real Betis on Wednesday.

Okoh targets FIBA Africa 3×3 glory

The new  national U-18 boys and girls teams coach Christopher Okoh has admitted that his players are under pressure to perform in the 2017 FIBA Africa 3×3 Championship in  Bamako, Mali.

Okoh said this in Lagos on Monday after their training ahead of the  competition holding from September 23 to 25.

“I believe every team going  there (Mali) wants to win  gold and  we have the  same target. So, we will focus on winning the championship.”

Messi hits four as Barca maintain perfect start

Lionel Messi added four more goals to his soaring early season tally as a much-changed Barcelona maintained their 100 percent start to La Liga by routing Eibar 6-1 on Tuesday.

Paulinho and Denis Suarez also netted for the second consecutive game as Barca stretched their lead at the top of La Liga to seven points over Real Madrid, who host Real Betis on Wednesday.

“That Messi scored four goals now isn’t news,” said Barca boss Ernesto Valverde after the Argentine’s 43rd career hat-trick.

“He has done it so many nights, in so many games. To keep repeating it is the most difficult thing.

“He is an extraordinary player. I have run out of words for him.”

Welbeck blow for Arsenal

Danny Welbeck will be out at least until after next month’s international break with a groin injury sustained in Arsenal’s match against Chelsea on Sunday, Skysports reports.

Welbeck will miss Wednesday’s Carabao Cup visit of Doncaster to the Emirates as well as the Premier League home games against West Brom and Brighton and the Europa League trip to face Bate Borisov of Belarus.

“Danny has a scan today (Tuesday),” said Arsene Wenger. “We don’t know how bad his groin injury is but he will certainly be out until the international break.”

Iheanacho’s arrival at Leicester heightens Musa’s loan speculations

The arrival of Kelechi Iheanacho at Leicester City has heightened speculations linking fellow Nigerian forward Ahmed Musa with a move away to Hull City on loan. Iheanacho Musa was sparingly used by coach Craig Shakespeare who took over from Claudio Ranieri last season, and the arrival of Iheanacho means the manager now has more options in the role where Musa plays. Linked with a move to West Brom and Premier League new boys Brighton, Hull City have emerged as the

2017 ITTF Nigeria Open: Akpan ready to halt foreigners’ dominance

When the ITTF Nigeria Open was test run in 2013 as Lagos Classics, Cecilia Akpan claimed the women’s singles title but ever since she can only boast of silver medal in the women’s doubles event in 2015. The 31-year-old mother of one is ready to lead the halting of foreigners’ dominance at the Africa elite tournament holding at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos. However, the member of the Nigeria national team said she is fully ready to battle against the foreigners in Lagos. “This is another chance for us to prove that we can still rub shoulders with the world’s best. The quality of the players this year is no doubt exceptional and in the history of the competition, this is the best assembly of players we have ever had. So it is time for us Nigerian

Personal interest affecting local coaches — Ikpeba

A former Super Eagles international, Victor Ikpeba, has called on indigenous coaches to set aside personal interest, if they desire to compete favourably with their foreign counterparts.

Ikpeba made the call on Thursday during a novelty match organised by the Nigeria Football Federation, the Edo State Football Association and the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin.

Keshi’s burial rites begin, Pinnick says ex-Eagles coach extraordinary

The funeral Mass for former coach of the Super Eagles, late Stephen Keshi, was on Thursday held at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Airport Road in Benin, Edo State.

Keshi died on June 8 in Benin at the age of 54, after a 44-month spell as coach of the Super Eagles.

He was one of  only two men to have won the African Cup of Nations both as player and as coach in 1994 and 2013.

Mikel denies donating $30,000 to Olympic Eagles

Captain of Team Nigeria to the Rio Olympics, Mikel Obi, has denied that he gave $30,000 to his teammates in the U23 Eagles squad who are camping in Atlanta, USA. Earlier reports on Thursday had stated that the Chelsea midfielder made the donation to the team as a way of helping to ease the financial struggles of the players.

Mikel’s denial was made public via the website of the Nigeria Football Federation. The player who spoke from the team’s camp at the Hyatt Place was quoted thus, “I was first told of this unfortunate story by a friend who called me from Nigeria. I thought he was joking until he sent me the link.

Iheanacho, Adarabioyo start as City beat Dortmund

Pep Guardiola got his first taste as Manchester City’s manager Thursday night after beating Borussia Dortmund on penalties in a friendly, but expressed concern about the looming English Premier League season. It was a game that gave Tosin Adarabioyo and Kelechi Iheanacho places in the starting line-up.

“Football today is tough,” said Guardiola, whose side beat their German opposition in the southern Chinese city of Shenzen.

BREAKING: Lopetegui appointed Spain’s new manager

Former Porto boss Julen Lopetegui was appointed manager of Spain on Thursday, replacing World Cup and European championship winning head coach Vicente del Bosque.

Argentina fans beg Messi

Argentines begged Lionel Messi on Monday not to abandon the national team before the 2018 World Cup after he tearfully announced his retirement in frustration at another last-gasp international defeat, AFP reports.

As Chileans danced in the streets and honked their horns to hail their team’s victory by penalties in the Copa American Centenario, the rainy streets of Buenos Aires were deserted.

Lionel Messi: Argentina forward retires from international football

Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international duty after missing in a penalty shootout as Argentina lost a fourth major final in nine years.
"It's not meant for me. For me the national team is over. I've done all I can, it hurts not to be a champion," the 29-year-old said after defeat by Chile at the Copa America.
With Barcelona, Messi has won eight La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues.

Real Sapphire academy poised to groom real talents

There could be a million football academies scattered across Nigeria but the management of Real Sapphire Football Club have said they are determined to create a distinct identity that should place them shoulder to shoulder with any other quality sports training centre in any part of the world.
The Chairman/Chief executive Officer of the academy, Frank Peters, said in Lagos on Thursday that the project was born out of passion to develop the Nigerian young player the way he should be and it is expected that the desire for excellence will push the managers to the level they desire.
He said, “Having seen so much of the quality academies in Europe and the Americas, our goal here is to replicate them and this is achievable. We want young Nigerians to truly develop and showcase their talents the way it is done in standard sporting environments.