Brazil will play its last friendly of the year against Cameroon in London on Nov. 20, its soccer confederation said on Thursday.

The last time the teams met was during the group stage of the 2014 World Cup when Brazil won 4-1 in Brasilia with a Neymar double.

On Nov. 16, Brazil will face Uruguay in London. Coach Tite will announce his squad for the two friendlies on Friday.

Brazil has won all four friendlies since the 2018 World Cup in Russia, against United States, El Salvador, Saudi Arabia and Argentina.

Tite is preparing his players for the 2019 Copa America tournament that Brazil will host.

Source: AP

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The former Chinese owner of AC Milan has been added to China’s blacklist of untrustworthy individuals over millions of dollars in unpaid debt, according to a local court, which ordered that his passport be confiscated.

Li Yonghong emerged from obscurity to purchase one of Europe’s most high-profile and decorated football clubs from former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in 2017.

He was one of dozens of wealthy Chinese investing in or simply buying up some of the sport’s biggest clubs after President Xi Jinping declared he wanted to turn China into a football superpower.

But Li’s control of AC Milan was plagued from the start and this summer a creditor took over the club.

The order from the Jingmen City Intermediate People’s Court in central China this autumn, made public in October, is the latest indication of Li’s declining fortunes.

Li was on the hook for 60 million yuan ($8.7 million) in unpaid debt to a Hubei province investment company, and a 12 million yuan ($1.7 million) penalty, according to the court.

But the court found no assets to seize and repay the creditor as Li had no bank deposits or cars registered in his name.

Instead, Li’s name was added to China’s national blacklist of untrustworthy individuals, which restricts people from travel by high-speed train and airplane, staying in pricey hotels, or getting a credit card.

As a Hong Kong resident, Li’s passport was ordered confiscated and he was prohibited from entering or exiting China, though his current whereabouts are unknown.

The $740 million deal for AC Milan faced payment problems, with Li’s bid secured only by a last minute, high-interest loan from a US hedge fund.

In July, Li’s group was unable to repay the loan and the hedge fund Elliot Management took control of the club.

Source: AFP

The IOC has picked its first African host of any Olympics, formally awarding the 2022 Youth Games to Senegal.

Senegal President Macky Sall was present on Monday to see International Olympic Committee members confirm the executive board’s preference from four candidates.

Senegal will host the youth games in three places: Dakar; a new city of Diamniadio, close to the capital; and the coastal resort of Saly.

Sall said a 50,000-seat Olympic Stadium will be built for the government-backed project.

The games budget is estimated at $150 million, the IOC executive director of Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi, said at a news conference.

Senegal’s games are likely to be held in late May. This would be at the end of the dry season to “greatly reduce the prevalence of tropical diseases,” IOC vice president Ugur Erdener told the membership.

Erdener pointed to Senegal’s “booming economy” and better conditions than the other bidders from Botswana, Nigeria and Tunisia.

The construction project includes a rail link and an athletes village which will become university accommodation.

“It is not required to have a detailed budget at this stage,” Erdener said, though noting that Senegal’s government has “full understanding of the magnitude” of its task.

One IOC member from Africa said the whole continent would share the responsibility of its first Olympics, comparing it to soccer’s 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

“In Africa, when a family organizes a party all the neighbors chip in and they help organizing the event,” said Lydia Nsekera of Burundi, who also sits on FIFA’s ruling council, responding to a fellow IOC member’s question about Senegal’s economic indicators.

“It doesn’t matter, everyone will be there to help President Macky Sall organize and stage these games.”

Nsekera is a candidate to lead the African group of national Olympic bodies, ANOCA, in an election next month.

The 2022 decision was taken at a two-day IOC meeting on the sidelines of the Buenos Aires Youth Olympics.

In reports by past and future Olympic organizing committees about their work, the Pyeongchang Winter Games reported an operating profit of $55 million.

Pyeongchang organizing president Lee Hee-beom said the games in South Korea beat its target from sponsorship and donations, and raised almost $1 billion.

The IOC executive board has agreed to give its share of the surplus to sports in South Korea.

Three Pyeongchang venues still lack a long-term plan for use, including two skating arenas and the Alpine skiing downhill course. The slope at Jeongseon was promised to be replanted with trees and restored as a forest.

“This obviously has always been a concern,” Dubi said of the legacy planning. “It has been the case for many months and it will continue to be the case.”

Organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics said they hope to propose new sports for its medal program to the IOC “early next year.”

AP

Brighton and Hove Albion player Gaetan Bong has pleaded guilty to speeding at 90mph in a 70mph zone.

Crawley magistrates heard the 30-year-old was caught breaking the limit in his Land Rover on the A27 in Shoreham, West Sussex on 29 December.

The court was told the defender, from Cameroon, was travelling back from training. His solicitor pleaded guilty on his behalf as he was not in court.

Bong was fined £667 plus costs, and given three points on his licence. He already had six points before this offence.

‘Too fast’

In court, Bong’s solicitor Mark Haslam said the footballer “offers his apologies”.

“He was travelling back from training in the middle of the day,” said Mr Haslam. “He was driving too fast – I accept that on his behalf.”

Another charge – of failing to respond to a court summons – was dropped after it emerged that while Bong had submitted paperwork to the court, the details had not been logged.

Bong joined Brighton from Wigan in July 2015 and has since made 72 league appearances. He has also played for Olympiakos and Valenciennes in Greece and France respectively.

Source: BBC