Sports

18, April 2020

Virus Outbreak: Eto’o plans to help 100,000 in Cameroon ⁰

Former Barcelona and Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o has said he will distribute supplies to 100,000 people to help support efforts to combat coronavirus in his home country.

Eto’o runs a foundation in the country and has promised that it will be used to “share soaps, sanitisers and several food items to fifty thousand households in four cities – Douala, Buea, Yaoundé and Bafoussam.”

An additional 50,000 protective face masks will also be supplied – specifically for taxi drivers in the country.

“This is a serious humanitarian crisis and only via proper sanitisation and the distribution of health kits can we curb the coronavirus,” read a statement from the Samuel Eto’o Foundation.

Cameroon’s government continues to take measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, including closing down the central African nation’s borders and suspending all sports activities.

On 5 April, Cameroon’s health minister Manaouda Malachie reported that 650 people had tested positive with the virus. A total of 165 have recovered while there have been 17 deaths.

With Cameroon’s top and second tier football championships suspended, several players have taken to social media to plead for help amidst growing financial concerns.

Around a thousand footballers from 44 clubs of the country’s men and women’s domestic championships are also expected to benefit from the move via food items and basic necessities.

Eto’o, four-time African Player of the Year, has previously taken to his social media to give fans advice on following World Health Organisation tips on fighting coronavirus.

Source: BBC

14, April 2020

Football: Cameroonian-Born Wonderkid In Line To Make Bundesliga History ⁰

A groundbreaking rule change by the Bundesliga has put Borussia Dortmund’s free-scoring wonderkid Youssoufa Moukoko in line to smash one of the league’s all-time records.

Earlier this month, the Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL) amended its rules to allow Bundesliga clubs to register youth footballers for senior matches at the age of 16, with the rule coming into effect from the start of the 2020/21 campaign.

The rule change comes as good news for Cameroon-born Moukoko, who could now become the league’s youngest-ever player when he makes his senior debut for Dortmund, having already earned a call-up to the Germany U19 team.

Moukoko has been a revelation at youth level for BVB, having scored 128 goals in just 94 appearances across U17 and U19 levels, and he became the youngest-ever goalscorer at the UEFA Youth League last year.

The 15-year-old is held in high regard by Dortmund’s senior coaching staff and, in an exclusive interview with Soccer Laduma in October, assistant manager Jorg Heinrich backed the youngster to break into the first team.

“There are very few players who can play the way he does and skip through the youth teams,” Heinrich shared. “I’m convinced that if he continues to develop as he has done since joining Dortmund, then he’ll play for the first team one day…”

The record is currently held by former Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin, now of Werder Bremen, who made his senior Bundesliga debut for the club in 2005 at the age of 16 years, 11 months and one day.

Source: Soccerladuma

10, April 2020

Football: Barcelona deny corruption after six board members resign ⁰

Barcelona have denied what the club describes as “serious and unfounded accusations” of corruption after a former vice-president claimed someone “had put their hands in the till”.

Emili Rousaud was one of six board members to resign on Thursday night as Barca continue to be embroiled in political crisis under their current president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

All six resigning board members called for the 2021 presidential elections to be brought forward in a joint letter published on Friday by the newspaper La Vanguardia.

In an interview with Spanish radio station Cadena Ser, Rousaud discussed the social media controversy that rocked the club in February, when Barcelona were accused of hiring a company called I3 Ventures to discredit opponents of Bartomeu online, including players like Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique.

“If the auditors tell us the cost of these services is 100,000 euros and we have paid one million, it means someone has put their hand in the till. I have no evidence and I cannot say who,” Rousaud told the programme RAC1 on Friday.

Barcelona responded with an official statement that read: “In the light of the serious and unfounded accusations made this morning by Emili Rousaud, ex-vice president of the club, in different interviews with the media, FC Barcelona categorically denies any activity that can be described as corruption and therefore reserves the right to any legal action that may correspond.”

Bartomeu terminated the club’s contract with I3 Ventures in February. He said the company had been hired only to monitor posts on social media and announced an internal audit to investigate any irregularity.

“The analysis of the monitoring services of social networks is being subjected to an independent audit by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), which is still ongoing and, therefore, without any conclusions,” Barcelona’s statement added.

Rousaud had been appointed as a club vice-president in January and was seen as a leading candidate to succeed Bartomeu, who cannot stand again when the presidential elections come round next year.

Instead, Rousaud has quit, citing frustrations with the club’s management, along with fellow vice-president Enrique Tombas, as well as directors Silvio Elias, Josep Pont, Jordi Calsamiglia and Maria Teixidor.

Bartomeu has overseen a string of political spats in recent months being played out in public, with Messi also involved.

Messi reacted angrily in January to Eric Abidal, the club’s technical secretary, suggesting the players were to blame for the sacking of Ernesto Valverde and last month, the Argentinian criticised the club’s handling of negotiations with the squad over pay cuts.

Those remaining swiftly addressed the resignations from the board. “The resignations of the members of the board of directors announced over the last few hours have come about due to a reorganisation of the board put forward by president Josep Maria Bartomeu and which will be completed in the next few days,” the statement added.

Source: AFP

6, April 2020

Football: Bayern Munich to resume training despite coronavirus pandemic ⁰

Bayern Munich have confirmed that players will return to training on Monday for the 1st time since the Bundesliga was suspended due to the coronavirus.

The Bavarians said in a statement that the training session will be held in coordination with government policy and the relevant authorities. It added that players will train in small groups and that all hygiene regulations will be strictly observed.

The club also urged supporters to stay away from the training ground in order to further slow the spread of the deadly virus. Bayern’s return to training is in line with the German Football League’s policies.

DFL had recommended that clubs should not train until the 5th of April. Germany’s top flight, which was initially halted on the 13th of March, will remain suspended until at least the 30th of April, with Bayern sitting atop, 4 points clear of Borussia Dortmund.

Source: Presstv

3, April 2020

Coronavirus Pandemic: Dortmund football stadium to be used as medical centre ⁰

Germany’s biggest football stadium, Borussia Dortmund’s Signal-Iduna-Park, is to be partially transformed into a medical centre to help treat patients during the coronavirus pandemic, the German Bundesliga club announced Friday.

“Our stadium is a symbol of the city… its technical, infrastructural and spatial set-up make it the ideal place to help people who are potentially infected,” said club directors Hans-Joachim Watzke and Carsten Cramer in a statement.

Dortmund said they had transformed the north stand of the 81,000-capacity stadium — the one opposite the famous “Yellow Wall” — into a treatment centre in collaboration with a local medical association.

The centre will provide check-ups, issue prescription medicines and even offer initial treatment for those diagnosed with COVID-19.

It will be available only to those who are showing symptoms of the disease, and will be open daily from 12 noon to 4.00 pm.

“In this way, possible chains of infection can also be broken by avoiding contact to other patients, doctors and staff in the individual doctor’s surgeries,” the club said.

“It’s obviously strange at first to go to a football stadium when you have fever and breathing difficulties, but we actually do have optimal conditions here,” said Dirk Spelmeyer, chairman of the local Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KVWL).

He added that the stadium would relieve pressure on the other specialised coronavirus treatment centre in the north of the city.

The Signal-Iduna-Park is the second major European stadium to be used in the fight against the virus, after Spanish giants Real Madrid offered their Santiago Bernabeu — another 81,000-seater — to store medical equipment.

Source: AFP

2, April 2020

Mikel Obi en route to Brazil ⁰

Botafogo are interested in former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, according to Yahoo! Esportes.

The 32-year-old left previous club Trabzonspor over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic and has reportedly been in talks with the Brazilian side.

He played 23 times in Turkey after spending the second half of last season in the Championship with Middlesbrough.

Source: Goal.com

2, April 2020

Wimbledon cancelled for first time since WWII over coronavirus ⁰

The Wimbledon championships were cancelled for the first time since World War Two on Wednesday as the coronavirus pandemic struck another blue-ribbon sports event off the calendar and wiped out the entire tennis grasscourt season.

While the decision had looked inevitable for some time, since the virtual shutdown of world sport and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, Wimbledon had been one of the few events not to have been officially cancelled or postponed.

But after emergency talks between the various stakeholders over the last few days, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) announced that it was impossible for the grasscourt Grand Slam, scheduled for June 29-July 12, to take place.

“It is with great regret that the main board of the All England Club and the committee of management of the championships have today decided that The Championships 2020 will be cancelled due to public health concerns linked to the coronavirus epidemic,” the AELTC said in a statement.

“The 134th Championships will instead be staged from June 28 to July 11, 2021.”

Following the cancellation of the grasscourt major, and with the pandemic worsening in Europe and the U.S., the men’s ATP Tour, women’s WTA Tour and the International Tennis Federation extended the suspension of professional tennis for another five weeks to July 13.

“At this time, tournaments taking place from July 13, 2020 onwards are still planning to proceed as per the published schedule,” a joint statement from the three governing bodies said.

Britain’s death toll from the virus reached 2,352 on Wednesday, according to NHS figures.

The French Open, originally due to be held from May 24-June 7 has been postponed and controversially rescheduled by the French tennis federation for Sept. 20-Oct. 4, shortly after the end of the U.S. Open.

‘No vaccine = no tennis’

Former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo doubts whether either tournament will be played though.

“I think we’re going to have to draw a line under the 2020 tennis season,” Mauresmo said on Twitter this week.

“International circuit = players of all nationalities plus management, spectators and people from the 4 corners of the world who bring these events to life. No vaccine = no tennis.”

Unlike the French Open which is played on clay, Wimbledon’s scope for re-arranging the start date was extremely limited.

While Centre Court and Court One boast a roof, playing elite level tennis outside on grass would have been extremely challenging in late summer or autumn with a lack of light and problems caused by dew forming on the surface late in the day.

Shortening the format of the tournament, or playing behind closed doors, would also have proved extremely unpopular with the players.

“While in some ways this has been a challenging decision, we strongly believe it is not only in the best interests of society at this time, but also provides certainty to our colleagues in international tennis given the impact on the grass court events in the UK and in Europe and the broader tennis calendar,” AELTC chief executive Richard Lewis said.

Tickets holders will be offered the chance to purchase tickets for the same day and court for 2021 championships as well as being issued with a refund for this year’s event, organisers added.

Wimbledon has been held every year since 1946 after a six-year hiatus because the country was at war.

(REUTERS)

31, March 2020

Former Olympique de Marseille president Pape Diouf dies of coronavirus aged 68 ⁰

He is the latest victim of the coronavirus outbreak. The former president of Olympique de Marseille (OM) Pape Diouf died after being hit by Covid-19. His death has been confirmed by RTS, Senegal’s public television channel. He was 68 years old.

Hospitalized in Dakar, where he was under respiratory assistance, Pape Diouf was to be repatriated from Dakar to Nice by medical plane but his condition deteriorated, the plane could not take off and he died on Senegalese soil.

A former journalist, players’ agent and then head of OM from 2005 to 2009, Diouf had notably contributed to building the 2010 French championship team after 17 years without a title for OM.

By Haggai Fung Achuo

27, March 2020

Messi, Guardiola donate 1 million euros each to coronavirus battle ⁰

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola have each donated One million Euros to fight the coronavirus outbreak in Spain.

Messi donated a total of 1 million Euros to 2 hospitals, one in Barcelona and the other in his own country Argentina. Guardiola’s contribution will go to a campaign being promoted by the Medical College of Barcelona and the Angel Soler Daniel Foundation.

The money will be used to help purchase medical equipment and protective material for the hospital staff involved in treating those admitted to hospital. Spain is one of the worst affected countries in Europe, with nearly 2,700 deaths and almost 40 thousand positive cases.

Source: Presstv

25, March 2020

Cameroonian basketball star to donate Sh53 million for coronavirus relief ⁰

Cameroonian basketball player Joel Embiid, of the Philadelphia 76ers, is donating $500,000 (Sh53,201,100) to coronavirus relief and helping team workers who have had their salary temporarily cut due coronavirus outbreak.

The Sixers announced they will slash salaries up to 20% for a few employees to help the franchise stay afloat throughout this 2019-20 season hiatus.

In a statement regarding the temporary salary reductions for some employees, Sixers CEO Scott O’Neil said, “To ensure we can continue to support and operate our businesses during these uncertain times without reducing our workforce, we are asking our full-time, salaried employees to temporarily reduce their pay by up to 20 percent and move to a four-day week.”

And according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Embiid is donating $500,000 to help survival and protection efforts in the community.

“Philadelphia 76ers star has decided to pledge $500K to COVID-19 medical relief—to help survival and protection efforts in the community. AND he’s committed to helping Sixers employees who will suffer financial hardship in light of the franchise’s salary reductions,” Ramona Shelburne tweeted.

Embiid, who has been in self-isolation since March 11, is the third highest-paid player on the team, making $27.5 million this season as part of his max-scale rookie contract extension.

The Sixers announced last Thursday that three members of the organization tested positive for the coronavirus.

The NBA suspended their regular season on March 11 after Utah Jazz centre Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. A total of nine players have tested positive for the virus.

About Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid was born on March 16, 1994, to a military officer, Thomas Embiid, and his wife, Christine Embiid, in Yaoundé, Cameroon. His father was also into sports and played handball.

He grew up playing volleyball and soccer and didn’t start playing organized basketball until 2011 when he was 17 years old.

Joel Embiid was discovered by Luc Mbah a Moute, another Cameroon native, and an NBA player, at a basketball camp in the country. Embiid moved to the US at the age of 16 taking Moute as his mentor.

He played one season of college basketball at the University of Kansas before declaring early for the NBA.

Joel Embiid declared for the 2014 NBA Draft on April 9, 2014. He was selected for the third overall pick by Philadelphia 76ers six days after his declaration.

He signed a rookie contract with the 76ers on August 26, 2014.

Culled from Standard Media