Leicester City are in talks with RB Leipzig over Ademola Lookman and the Premier League side hope to sign the winger on a season long loan with an option to buy.
The 23-year-old spent last season on loan at Fulham and made 34 appearances, scoring 4 goals for the London side, who suffered relegation back to the Championship.
The former Charlton winger spent two-and-a-half years at Everton before moving to Leipzig permanently in July 2019, where he has made only 13 appearances.
With the summer transfer window shuts in England tonight at 11pm, the two clubs are yet to agree a fee, but the Nigerian descent is keen on the move if a deal can be
Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps have pledged their full support for security services at the maiden edition of the Aisha Buhari Cup, an Invitational Tournament holding in the City of Lagos from 13th — 21st September 2021.
At different meetings held in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Wednesday, both agencies were emphatic in their readiness to provide top grade services to assist the LOC in the organisation of a hitch-free tournament.
At the offices of the Civil Defence Corps, Assistant Commandant-General Haruna Mohammed Lawal said the NFF is one of the few agencies that have emerged stronger in spite of present challenges, and that the corps will treat the tournament as a national assignment.
At the offices of the FRSC, top officials including Deputy Marshall Shehu Alkali Zaki met with the Chairman of the LOC Sub-Committee on Safety and Security, Alh. Ibrahim Gusau, AIG Umar Baba, Barr. Okey Obi (CAF Security Officer), Miss Joan Efugh (FIFA Security Officer), Secretary, Barnabas Joro and others, and assured them of the commission’s readiness to deploy men and materials to control traffic during the event.
Head Coach of the Ghana Women’s National Team, Mercy Tagoe has named a provisional 30-woman squad ahead of the upcoming Aisha Buhari Cup. The Invitational Women’s Football Tournament is scheduled for 13th – 21st September 2021 in Lagos, Nigeria.
The invited players and technical crew are to report to camp at the GFA Technical Centre (GSCE), Prampram on Sunday, August 29, 2021.
The Black Queens will face Cameroon and South Africa in the group phase of the tournament.
ABC 2021 Group B draw.
The 30 invited players comprises of twenty-two home based players and eight foreign based players:
Tension arises among the management of the 2021 AITEO Cup Champions, Bayelsa Queens over an alleged secret export of players.
According to a source in the club, the Chairman alongside the Technical Adviser, Monday Aduku and another member of the technical crew, unilaterally sold the players to clubs in Sweden and Israel without any form of paper works and documentation.
According to a source in the club, the Chairman alongside the Technical Adviser, Monday Aduku and another member of the technical crew, unilaterally sold the players to clubs in Sweden and Israel without any form of paper works and documentation.
The source hinted that the Chairman single handedly organized the sales of forward and Super Falcons player, Joy Bokiri who few days ago joined Swedish side, Allmanna Idrottsklubben (AIK) FC.
The amount of money involved in the entire transaction has been kept out of the knowledge of the State government and the board.
Also, another influential striker, Charity Reuben recently joined the Israeli side, Hapoel Beer Sheva FC with the former Ibom Angels and KIIG Kazygurt player signing a two-year contract with Hapoel Beer Sheva FC without any known amount on the transaction.
Insider told freekick.com.ng that Charity Reuben was sold for a reasonable amount.
“I can tell you that the transfer of these two star players of Bayelsa Queens run into thousands of dollars. Calculate it, that’s a lot of millions of Naira when converted. Inspite of this, the Chairman keeps the State government in ignorance and rather opts to carry files for approvals of funds to chase after government officials every now and then. What he uses the proceeds of the transfer of our players to foreign clubs to do remains a mystery.
“Even before the AITEO Cup final when the wife of the Governor and the Deputy Governor visited the players and gave them money, a huge part of these donations never got to the players”, the anonymous source hinted.
Due to the situation, some of the board members have vowed to expose the Chairman and his antics by drawing the attention of the State Governor and the Deputy Governor to the ugly trend as they stated that he was shortchanging the State purse.
The Nigerian Women Football League (NWFL) has officially thrown its weight behind the third edition of the biggest Women Football Pre-season Championship in Africa, the Flying Officers Cup, which will hold from the 10th to the 24th of October 2021.
In an official endorsement letter signed by the Chief Operating Officer (C.O.O) of the Organisation, Mrs Dupe Shabi, the Apex Women League body stated that the NWFL has given its backing for this year’s edition of the tournament and would give its general support to make the competition a success.
Ratels Sports Development Foundation (RSDF) have shown great commitment to the activities and development of Women’s Football in Nigeria and have been sole sponsor of the Flying Officers Cup since 2019.
In the final of the 2020 Edition between Nasarawa Amazons and Bayelsa Queens, NWFL Chairperson, Aisha Falode bagged a special award in recognition of her role in the development of Women’s football in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
Aisha Falode presenting the golden to the boot to the 2020 top scorer Joy Omewa
In the letter of endorsement, Shabi wrote: ” We are pleased to confirm our endorsement of the Flying Officers Cup 2021, scheduled to hold between the 10th-24th October 2021 in Abuja.
“The Nigeria Women Football League will give all necessary support to Ratels Sports Development Foundation to ensure an hitch free tournament”. She Concluded.
The NWFL played a pivotal role in the last edition of the Flying Officers Cup in Abuja and had the Chairperson of the League body, Aisha Falode, NFF Second Vice President, Shehu Dikko in attendance, as special guests of honour.
Leonardo Mancuso pounced on a loose ball to give Empoli a shock victory in Turin, as a dismal Juventus deservedly lost their first match of the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era and were booed off the pitch.Juventus have failed to win their opening two games of Serie A.
Juventus have failed to win their opening two games of Serie A.
Juventus lose their first home game of the season after having drawn their opening away game last week. Just 1 point out of a possible 6 which means Inter already take a 5 point lead.
The last time they went without a win in their opening two games, was in 2015/16 whilst also under Allegri. The team will face Napoli next.
Max Allegri reshuffled his pack for the first game since Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to Manchester United, missing injured Aaron Ramsey, Arthur and Kaio Jorge, with Manuel Locatelli not yet fit to start, so Danilo played in front of the defence.
Last time Empoli beat Juventus in the league was in 1999.
Two years ago, it was Ronaldo who helped his side comeback from an early Empoli goal. Caputo had put the home side ahead in the 28th minutes, before Cristiano Ronaldo equalized for Juventus from the spot kick in the 54th minute and earned the winner in the 70th minute to give Juventus all the points.
Federico Chiesa stood out yesterday to ensure his side didn’t miss the vacuum left by one of the greatest of all times. He had three shots on target out of four for Juventus against Empoli.
No player attempted most shots on target (3), successful dribbles (3) or provided many key passes (2) than him in the pitch.
“You simply cannot replace Cristiano Ronaldo. It is IMPOSSIBLE” – says the commentator during the Juventus vs Empoli game.
Some of Cristiano Ronaldo’s records with the club before his departure last week:
Most goals (37) for Juventus in a single season.
Fastest Juventus player to score 10+ goals in a debut season (16 apps).
First Juventus player to score 100 goals in first 3 seasons (131 apps).
Scored in each of the 18 stadiums he’s played in Italy.
Best goal ratio in Juventus history.
According to Mailsport, Cristiano Ronaldo agreed to take a pay cut when joining Manchester United and will earn £380,000-a-week, compared to £500,000-a-week at Juventus.
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Football Association Chairman, Mouktar Mohammed has said that the FCT Football body will give the organisers of the upcoming Flying Officers Cup the full supports needed to make it bigger than the last two editions.
The third edition of the Flying Officers Cup will hold in Abuja, from the 10th to the 24th of October 2021.
Adam Mouktar Mohammed made the pledge when he welcomed the President of Ratels Sports Development Foundation (RSDF), Barrister Paul Edeh, to his office on Friday, with the Ratels Boss presenting him with Naija Ratels FC Souvenirs.
Ratels Sport Foundation President presenting the Naija Ratels jersey to the FCT FA chairman Mouktar Mohammed
“Today is indeed a historic day and I am very delighted to receive the President of Ratels Sports Development Foundation, Barrister Paul Edeh.” Mouktar said.
“I have been a big fan of your Football Club, Naija Ratels Football Club, even before we met and it’s all because of the passion you have put in place to make it a success in less than two years. We would keep supporting all your projects and we want to use this medium to officially say that the FCT FA under my leadership has endorsed the upcoming Flying Officers Cup and we shall work together to ensure we have a very robust competition.” He Concluded.
Speaking also at the meeting between the two parties, President of Ratels Sports Development Foundation, Barrister Paul Edeh, hailed the FCT FA Boss for deeming it fit to give necessary supports to Naija Ratels FC and the Flying Officers Cup.
“The official presentation of the Naija Ratels FC jersey signifies the symbolic mark of our club with the FCT F.A. We would also like to seek your support to set up an Academy here at the FCT, which also goes in-line with your policies on grassroots football.” – he said
The seasoned Football Administrator has aided the growth of football in the Federal Capital with his numerous initiatives since resuming office as Chairman.
“Ratels Sports Development Foundation look forward to a strong collaboration and relationship with the FCT F.A. We are indeed appreciative of the support that we’ve already gotten from the Association.
“Our intention is to leave a positive legacy for Football in Nigeria, so that we can contribute to future generations, but to achieve these objectives, we need the support and assistance of Organisations like the FCT Football Association.”- the President concluded
Manchester United confirm they have reached an agreement to re-sign five-time Champions League winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 36-year-old Portuguese forward ended a three-year deal with the Old Lady. He had been linked with several of Europe’s top clubs before deciding to call Old Trafford home once again after speaking to former and present club players.
Manchester City were the latest of the clubs who looked at the possibility of having his signature as at Friday morning, but at lunch news broke that the star will be returning to the red side of Manchester.
The five times Ballon d’Or winner will be returning to Old Trafford 12 years after leaving the club to join Real Madrid and will sign a two-year contract, as per Fabrizio Romano.
The United fans and the legends are full of happiness as the club’s official media handle posted on twitter “Welcome home, @cristiano”.
This season is the first time since 1998–99 where three major European club competitions — UEFA Champions League (UCL), UEFA Europa League (UEL), and the newly created UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) — are organised by UEFA.
No changes are made to the format of the UCL, but teams which are eliminated from the preliminary round and first qualifying round of the UCL will now be transferred to the UECL instead of the UEL.
The 2021/22 UEFA Champions League group stage draw ceremony is held on Thursday 26 August in Istanbul, Turkey.
Manchester City are in the toughest group, featuring the defeated finalist of the past two seasons, plus RB Leipzig, who reached the semi-final two seasons ago. Lionel Messi and his PSG team will look to avenge last season’s semifinal defeat when they face Man. City.
Group B could turn out to be the group of death, featuring three former winners and a side that has three times lost in the final.
2021/22 UEFA Champions League Draw
Barcelona will begin a Champions League campaign without Messi as they meet Bayern again. The last time they met, Bayern Munich defeated Barcelona 8-2. The group will feature three former winners and a former semi-finalist.
Other interesting fixtures include; Manchester United in the same group as their last season Europa League final opponent. Inter Milan in the same group as Real Madrid, and the defending Champions share group with Juventus.
The final will be played at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The Europa League and Europa Conference League group-stage draws take place on Friday, in Istanbul, Turkey.
After narrowly missing out of the top 4 last season, Leicester City will face Napoli, Spartak Moscow and Legia Warsaw in Group C of the 2021-22 Europa League.
West Ham secured a top-six finish to secure their place in the group stage for the first time and will play Dinamo Zagreb, Genk and Rapid Vienna in Group H.
2021/22 UEFA Europa League Draw
Scottish champions Rangers have been drawn against Lyon, Sparta Prague and Brondby in Group A, while Celtic are in Group G with Bayer Leverkusen, Real Betis and Ferencvaros.
The final will take place in the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville.
The winner of the tournament will automatically qualify for the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage, if they miss out of their local league Champions League spot.
The 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League is the inaugural season of the Europe’s tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA.
Tottenham will play Rennes, Vitesse and NS Mura of Slovenia in Group G.
Nuno’s side are regarded as one of the leading contenders to win the competition in its inaugural season, along with Roma, who are now managed by former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho.
2021/22 UEFA Europa Conference League Draw
AS Roma are drawn in Group C with FC Zorya Luhansk, CSKA Sofia and Bodo/Glimt.
Matches will be played on Thursday nights alongside Europa League matches.
The final will be played at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania.
The winners of the 2021/22 UEFA Europa Conference League will automatically qualify for the 2022/23 UEFA Europa League group stage, unless they manage to qualify for the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage spot of their local league.
The new away goal rule:
UEFA explained in a statement. “With the decision to remove this rule, ties in which the two teams score the same number of goals over the two legs would not be decided on the number of goals scoredaway, but two 15-minute periods of extra time played at the end of the second leg and in case the teams score the same number of goals or no goals during this extra time, kicks from the penalty mark would determine the team which qualifies to the next stage of the competition”.
Edinson Cavani, Bruno Fernandes and Gerard Moreno were shortlisted for the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League Player of the Season award.
Villarreal forward Gerard Moreno finished ahead of Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani in the poll of coaches and journalists.
Gerard Moreno was the competition’s top scorer, his seven goals and five assists helped Villarreal to their first ever major European trophy triumph.
The award which was announced today during the UEFA Europa League group stage draw in Istanbul, saw the 29-year-old finished with 289 voting points ahead of Manchester United pair of Bruno Fernandes (160 points) and Edinson Cavani (44 points) to win the fifth edition of the award.
MOLATsportgist 