Sports

EFL Cup final: Liverpool beat Chelsea in penalty shootout

28, February 2022

EFL Cup final: Liverpool beat Chelsea in penalty shootout 0

Liverpool have claimed the 1st domestic trophy of the season after edging out Chelsea in the Penalty shootout at Wembley.

It was a neck and contest as neither side managed to open the scoring during the regulation time and then extra time. So the match went into a penalty shootout, where both teams scored all their first 10 penalties, putting the fate of the match into the hands of their keepers.

Caoimhin Kelleher made it 11 from 11 for Liverpool but Kepa Arrizabalaga blazed wildly over the top as the high-class showpiece was decided by the finest of margins after 21 successful attempts. With the victory, the Merseyside Reds won the trophy for the first time since 2012.

As war rages in Ukraine Abramovich hands over control of Chelsea to club’s foundation

26, February 2022

As war rages in Ukraine Abramovich hands over control of Chelsea to club’s foundation 0

Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich said Saturday he was handing over the “stewardship and care” of the Premier League club to the trustees of its charitable foundation.

The move comes with Russia under intense scrutiny following its invasion of Ukraine this week.

Billionaire Abramovich, who took over at Stamford Bridge in 2003, said in a statement: “During my nearly 20-year ownership of Chelsea FC, I have always viewed my role as a custodian of the club, whose job it is ensuring that we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future, while also playing a positive role in our communities.

“I have always taken decisions with the club’s best interest at heart. I remain committed to these values. That is why I am today giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC.

“I believe that currently they are in the best position to look after the interests of the Club, players, staff, and fans.”

It is understood Abramovich took the decision in order to protect Chelsea from continued links to the wider global political situation as war rages in Ukraine.

On Wednesday, using parliamentary privilege, Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran named him as one of 35 “key enablers” to Russian leader Vladimir Putin who should be sanctioned.

Source: AFP

Paris replaces St Petersburg as Champions League final venue

25, February 2022

Paris replaces St Petersburg as Champions League final venue 0

PARIS has been confirmed as the replacement for St Petersburg for the 2022 Champions League final.

Uefa convened for a meeting this morning and made the announcement after pressure from major Champions League sponsors.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked a backlash against European football’s governing body, who are sponsored by gas supplier Gazprom, whose name is also on the 64,000-capacity stadium in the Russian city.

Chelsea are on the verge of losing experienced defenders Cesar Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen for FREE this summer.

However, the West London outfit are reportedly interested in a move for Wolves defender Max Kilman, following his impressive performances this season.

Kilman is a boyhood Blues fan and could be open to the move if he hears the club are in for him.

Elsewhere, Kylian Mbappe is said to have been offered whopping £1m-a-week wages to stay with PSG.

The Frenchman has long been linked with a move to Real Madrid, who he scored a winner in the Champions League against last week.

Source: The Irish Sun

Lions keen on Manchester United’s Anthony Elanga, Yaoundé makes offer to switch nationality

22, February 2022

Lions keen on Manchester United’s Anthony Elanga, Yaoundé makes offer to switch nationality 0

Anthony Elanga has impressed for Ralf Rangnick’s Manchester United sop far this season, and the youngster could represent three different nations at international level with Cameroon keen on him

Manchester United’s young starlet Anthony Elanga has been approached to switch nationalities as his stock continues to rise at the Red Devils.

Elanga was born in Sweden to Cameroonian parents, but he moved to England at 12-years-old, making him eligible for all three.

However, the youngster has represented Sweden, the country of his birth, at youth level – and Sweden are confident he will represent them.

But after being called up by the first team, Elanga failed to make an appearance after Untied blocked the call-up.

And Cameroon are now attempting to swoop in to secure the services of the youngster.

According to Footazimuts, Cameroon are trying to tempt the youngster into representing the African side on the international stage.

Elanga’s father, Joseph Elanga, represented the Indomitable Lions between 1998 and 2002, earning himself 17 caps.

He was even part of Cameroon’s side for the 1998 World Cup which was held in France.

However, the report also claims that Elanga’s mother and agent aren’t sold on the side and the talks are ‘complicated’.

Source: Daily Star

Buea Mountain Race and Southern Cameroons Crisis: 27th edition kicks off

21, February 2022

Buea Mountain Race and Southern Cameroons Crisis: 27th edition kicks off 0

The 27th edition of Mount Cameroon Race, Africa’s oldest international athletic competition, kicked off early Saturday in Buea, chief town of Southwest, one of the two English-speaking regions of the country torn by an armed conflict.

Close to 500 athletes from 11 African and European countries and regions are taking part in the race.

The race is taking place under tight security amidst threats from armed separatists to disrupt the event.

Since November 2017, government forces have been clashing with armed separatist forces who want the two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest to secede from the largely French-speaking nation and form a new country they called “Ambazonia”.

Officials said in spite of the prevailing situation, the race must take place to strengthen Cameroon’s unity and integrity.

“This year’s edition is particularly good. The turnout is impressive which is clear proof of our determination to live together in peace and unity,” Cameroon’s Minister of Sports and Physical Education Narcisse Mouelle Kombi told reporters at the start of the competition.

All security measures have been put in place for the successful unfolding of the race, the region’s governor Bernard Okalia Bilai said.

The race, dubbed Race of Hope, is of a particularly difficult terrain with athletes going up and down the mountain which is over 4,100 meters above sea level.

Source: Xinhuanet

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Angry football crush victims’ families bury their dead without outside support

19, February 2022

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Angry football crush victims’ families bury their dead without outside support 0

Families of eight people who died in the January football stampede at Yaounde’s 60,000-seat Olembe stadium say they are burying their dead without assistance from Cameroon’s government or the Confederation of African Football. The stampede, which also injured 38, occurred ahead of an Africa Football Cup of Nations match between Cameroon and Comoros Island.

A Roman Catholic Church choral group sang on Friday at a viewing ceremony at Mbalmayo, a commercial town about 50 kilometers to the south of Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde.

Several hundred people, including teachers, students and merchants came to pay their last respects to Veronique Djilo, a teacher and one of those killed as crowds struggled to get into the stadium to watch the Cameroon national team play against Comoros Island on January 24.

Among the mourners was Etienne Modji, Djilo’s older brother. Modji said it was not easy for him to buy a casket and transport his sister’s body to Bandjoun, a western commercial town where Djilo was born. He said he has not been able to buy enough food for the hundreds of people coming to pay their last respect to Djilo.

Modji said he has not seen the money Cameroon state radio said Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions football team contributed for the injured and families of those killed in the Olembe stadium crush. Modji said his relatives and well-wishers donated money to help his family prepare for his sister’s burial.

Veronique Djilo was a person living with disabilities. She had no lower limbs and was teaching in Mbalmayo.

Emmanuelle Tchotchom, executive president of the nongovernmental organization Inclusive Society for Persons Living with Disabilities said at least 60 people with disabilities traveled to Mbalmayo, ready to accompany Djilo’s body to Bandjoun for burial. Tchotchom said the government did not transport neither Djilo’s body nor the people with disabilities accompanying the casket to Bandjoun, as her association had requested.

Tchotchom said only 12 of the 60 people who wanted to make the trip could afford the fares to and from Bandjoun, where Djilo was buried Saturday.

Three other crush victims have been buried in Yaoundé. Their families also say they did not receive any assistance from the government or the Confederation of African Football, CAF, which organized the tournament.

CAF President Patrice Motsepe visited injured victims at the hospital on January 25 and said it was the duty of host nations to take care of the security and safety of football players, fans and match officials. Motsepe said it is the host country that takes care of injured persons and families of the bereaved.

Cameroon’s team said it donated $85,000 to injured victims of the stampede and family members of those who died.

The injured victims and family members of the dead said they do not know where the money is.

Sports and Physical Education Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi would not comment this week when asked about the promised assistance to crush victims. He said, though, the injured were treated free of charge as instructed by Cameroonian President Paul Biya.

Cameroon Football Federation officials did not answer reporters’ questions on the whereabouts of the money the Indomitable Lions said they donated.

Source: VOA

Francophones and their FECAFOOT: The unending war

18, February 2022

Francophones and their FECAFOOT: The unending war 0

The President of the Francophone dominated Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT), Samuel Eto’o travelled recently to Limbe in Southern Cameroons and staged the beautiful game’s support for the one and indivisible Cameroon policy. The Limbe meeting ended its deliberations with the appointment of new members in the executive committee of FECAFOOT. Not even a single English-speaking Cameroonian was appointed to the executive committee.

Federalists such as Barrister Agbor Balla and Dr Joachim Arrey of the Global Think Tank for Africa have already registered their utter disagreement and disappointment with the Eto’o decision. But the French Cameroun football legend is now focused on important Francophone FECAFOOT issues-the most urgent being who to replace the Portuguese António Conceição as head coach of the Indomitable Lions.

We gathered that the new FECAFOOT boss has already made public his intention of appointing Rigobert Song and the decision could be officially announced on Wednesday 23 February 2022. Will Rigobert Song Bahanag be the new coach of the Indomitable Lions?

There is one small thing. Small but great and it is the involvement of Sports Minister Hon. Narcisse Mouelle Kombi.  Minister Narcisse extended the Portuguese António Conceição’s contract last September and on February 13, 2022 a week after the end of the Africa Cup of Nations, the Minister announced his intention to keep the Portuguese technician for the qualification to the FIFA World Cup, which will take place in Qatar in November and December.

Stupid Francophones

On February 14, Samuel Eto’o addressed a letter to the Minister of Sports. In the letter, the FECAFOOT President raised a finger against Minister Narcisse Kombi’s involvement in the affairs of the Cameroon Football Federation.  Samuel Eto’o reminded the minister that according to the texts in force, the administrative, sporting and technical management of all national soccer teams is the responsibility of the Cameroon Football Federation. Eto’o cautioned the Biya acolyte to desist from commenting publicly on maintenance or termination of the contract of the Indomitable Lions head coach.

Interestingly, there was a president at the head of the Cameroon Football Federation before Samuel Eto’o took office! So, how come that it was Minister Narcisse who awarded the Portuguese technician a contract in 2019 at the Yaoundé Hilton Hotel?

Supported in his approach by the executive committee of the federation, which met on February 16 in Limbe, in Southern Cameroons, Eto’o is now planning to appoint Rigobert Song as head coach with the immediate objective of qualifying the Indomitable Lions for the 2022 World Cup.

Eto’o and Song: strange bed fellows?

Rigobert Song Bahanag, now 45 years old, has written some of the most memorable pages in the history of Cameroonian soccer. To be sure, Rigobert Song is the record holder of 137 caps for the national team and has played in four World Cups and eight Africa Cup of Nations. Twice, he was part of the team that brought the cup back to Yaoundé (2000 and 2002).

Song also played for Salernitana (Italy), Liverpool, West Ham (England), Cologne (Germany), Galatasaray and Trabzonspor (Turkey). He ended his career in 2010.

He then became a coach and a member of the executive body within FECAFOOT. A stroke in 2016 forced him to take a break off football matters, but he was able to resume his activities two years later.

During the time when both men wore the colors of Cameroon, Rigobert Song and Samuel Eto’o sometimes had a tense relationship. The former lost his captaincy to the latter in 2009.

Since then, the two former internationals have buried the hatchet. Last August, Rigobert Song publicly supported Samuel Eto’o in his campaign to win the presidency of the Cameroon Football Federation.

Minister Narcisse is reportedly holding meetings in Yaoundé and CPDM commentators are already painting Eto’o as a destructive element.

For his part, Eto’o is fighting the leadership of CAF, FIFA and now- a baron of the CPDM crime syndicate.

By Isong Asu  

Letter to the FECAFOOT President, Samuel Eto’o 

17, February 2022

Letter to the FECAFOOT President, Samuel Eto’o  0

 Dear Mr. President, 

Congratulations to you and your team for the just-ended meeting in Limbe, the Southwest region’s beautiful and friendly port city!  

It was also a pleasure to know that the deliberations ended in the appointment of new members of your institution’s executive committee. 

However, like many people of the English-speaking minority, I was very disappointed to know that not even a single English-speaking Cameroonian was appointed to your executive committee. 

Other English-speaking Cameroonians have already registered their utter disagreement and disappointment with this decision, but I would still like to add my voice to theirs to ensure that the language issue which is part of the many issues which have caused the conflict in the country is taken care of anytime a major decision is taken in your institution. 

Many towns and villages in the two English-speaking regions remain inaccessible to many patriotic and hardworking Cameroonians because of the war that is playing out there, and like many Cameroonians, I thought as a younger person, you would always make decisions taking into consideration such a serious matter. 

I know it is not too late for this decision to be corrected, but if it does not get corrected, know the enormous support you enjoy in those two regions will take a nosedive. If we want peace, then we must always practice justice!  

Also, another issue is that even before your election, your communication team did not incorporate English-speaking Cameroonians into whatever communication plan it had. This has caused many English-speaking Cameroonians around the world not to receive important communication products in time in the language they understand better.  

I know language services cost a fortune anywhere in the world, but if we, as a nation, have opted to run a bilingual system in Cameroon, we must accept it with all its inconveniences. I would like to underscore that Cameroon has a huge pool of experienced and effective English-speaking translators in Yaounde who will be very willing to join your team if called upon.  

In this regard, I am offering to help your communication team with any translation and writing services it may need. I would, however, be prompt to add that my services will entirely honorary. It is a personal decision not to receive any payment from any Cameroon government department.  

Thank you for your time. 

 Sincerely, 

 Joachim Arrey 

arreyjoachim@hotmail.com 

Football: Africa may finally be trusting its own coaches

17, February 2022

Football: Africa may finally be trusting its own coaches 0

This year’s Africa Cup of Nations featured 15 African-born coaches, leading some to conclude that local coaches had broken through racial and ethnic barriers to a level long reserved for Europeans.

But do the success stories in a few nations mean that the coaching pathway has truly opened up for local coaches in Africa?

While impossible to say definitively, the success of Aliou Cisse, coach of Senegal’s Lions of Teranga in this year’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON), appeared to erase all doubts in the minds of thousands of Senegalese fans celebrating jubilantly across the country’s capital.

“He allowed us to get the cup we had been waiting for for years. We’ve none better than him,” said one of Cisse’s ecstatic fans.

Until recently, European coaches were preferred by African teams despite their spotty achievements on the continent. In the book “Feet of the Chameleon: The Story of African Soccer,” author Ian Hawkey confirmed what many knew to be true.

“It’s tough for an African coach or manager to get a good job in soccer and even tougher for him to keep it,” he wrote. “But it can appear very easy to get a good coaching job in African soccer if you are from Europe or South America.”

One such European coach was Claude Le Roy, nicknamed “the White Wizard,” who arrived in Cameroon and took charge of the Indomitable Lions in 1986. After a narrow defeat in that year, they trounced Nigeria 1-0 with a lone goal in

the 55th minute.

The 73-year-old Le Roy took over Togo’s team in 2016. He managed to lead them to the 2017 finals in Gabon but he was sacked after they failed to reach the 2021 AFCON finals in Cameroon.

“To say Togo’s journey in the AFCON qualifiers was underwhelming would be an understatement,” wrote Ali Ismail, sports analyst. The team would now miss on their second consecutive Africa Cup of Nations, with their last appearance coming in 2017 one year after Le Roy’s appointment.

Despite several defeats, Le Roy managed to win the Cameroonian Order of Merit, the second highest honorary decoration in 2021. He returned the honor with a signed copy of his book “Claude Le Roy, Blond Magician,” which he gifted to President Biya.

Winfried Schäfer of Germany also coached the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon from 2001 to 2004. Schafer claimed credit for getting Samuel Eto’o Fils, arguably the best African player of all time, to “train full throttle.” Herve Renard, another Frenchman, was recently recruited from Saudi Arabia at a salary of $100,000 monthly to coach Ghana’s Black Stars.

Meanwhile, African coaches were forced to settle for interim positions, often being replaced before the major competitions came around.

“We felt powerless and hurt by these choices,” Mali’s national coach Mohamed Magassouba told DW, the German news service. “To those above, we were not good enough to manage our national teams. No matter what we did, we were not supported.”

“Native coaches in general are not respected,” he told DW, “even when we have the required skills and the same qualifications as Europeans.”

Sadly, Africans recruited to play in European teams have found themselves locked into contracts that deny their right to play at home for major games.

Just before the recent African Cup games, European clubs initially refused to release their African players to their national teams for the tournament last month. The association body of European clubs, ECA, linked the decision to the pandemic.

European clubs and nations use their powerful economic position to dictate the contract terms for soccer players from African nations.

The loss of Africa’s most talented soccer players to European leagues has been viewed as ongoing post-colonial exploitation. Ydnekatchew Tessema, former president of the Confederation of African Football, a vociferous critic of the export of African players, once argued: “When the rich countries take away from us our best elements, we should not expect any chivalrous behavior on their part to help African soccer.”

Analysis of the 2018 World Cup in Russia revealed a high presence of African (Black and Arabic) players in top European teams. Of the four semi-finalist teams, only Croatia was 100% white, while France (63% white), Belgium (31% white) and England (37% white) had a high number of children of immigrants.

This increasing prominence of African players has both positive and negative consequences. In the words of Inter Milan star, born to Congolese parents, Romelu Lukaku: “When things were going well…they were calling me Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker. When things weren’t going well, they were calling me Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker of Congolese descent.”

After their historic victory in last month’s competition, the Senegalese national team was rewarded with a cash prize of $87,100 and a plot of land in the capital Dakar. The team was crowned champions of Africa for the first time in their history.

Source: Amsterdam News

Champions League: Late Mbappé stunner gives PSG 1-0 home win over Real Madrid

16, February 2022

Champions League: Late Mbappé stunner gives PSG 1-0 home win over Real Madrid 0

Kylian Mbappé scored a stunning individual goal in stoppage time to give Paris St Germain a 1-0 home victory over Real Madrid and spare Lionel Messi’s blushes after he had missed a penalty in their Champions League last-16, first leg on Tuesday.

It took PSG 94 minutes to find the winner with a brilliant run by Mbappé, who danced in between two defenders and calmly slid the ball into the far corner to earn PSG a deserved victory after they had dominated the encounter.

PSG missed several chances and were thwarted by Real keeper Thibaut Courtois, who denied Mbappé on several occasions before superbly pushing away Messi’s spot kick in the second half.

“It was a great game for us and I’m always ready to help my team, there are no distractions,” said Mbappé, who has now scored 13 goals in his last 13 Champions League matches.

“We have to be humble and the second leg is still open. It will be a hard game but we will have the advantage and are very confident.”

Real Madrid finished the game with zero shots on target while PSG had eight, with almost 60% of possession.

Real will be without Casemiro and Ferland Mendy for the second leg at home on March 9. The pair were both shown yellow cards and will be suspended for collecting three yellows in the competition.

“Our counter-attack didn’t work today,” Courtois told reporters. “It’s hard to lose but the second leg is wide open. We have to win and we will try to do it in front of our fans, what is a great advantage.”

Courtois repeatedly frustrated Messi and Mbappé. His best save came early in the second half when Messi stepped up for the penalty after Mbappé had been fouled inside the area by Dani Carvajal. The Belgian stretched low to his left to stop the Argentinian’s shot with his hand.

But 30 minutes later Mbappé found the winner and Courtois could only watch as the ball went through his legs and into the corner of the net.

“Mbappé is the best player in European football,” Real manager Carlo Ancelotti said. “We didn’t play well but we are not dead yet.”

Source: REUTERS

«< 77 78 79 80 81 >»
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.