An Egyptian soccer super-star playing for British football club Liverpool, Mohamed Salah has allegedly threatened to leave the premier league club over an Israeli player joining the team. 

Salah threatened to quit Liverpool if Moanes Dabour joined the team, media reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, Salah said that he will leave Liverpool should Dabour be signed.

Salah in the past refused to shake hands with Israeli players.  

However, people close to the Egyptian athlete said he needs to be left alone to focus on playing soccer and that he is a professional, and it is not his concern with whom Liverpool is discussing a possible contract. 

Salah has had a very good debut season in Liverpool history, helping the club reach the Champions League final.

Salah also represented his country at the World Cup.

Egypt and Liverpool forward, who is currently the best footballer in Africa, has been voted BBC’s No.1  African Footballer of the Year for the second time in a row.

Prior to this Nigeria’s Jay-Jay Okocha had won the award in consecutive years.

Source: Presstv

British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua has been awarded by the Royal Family for his services to Sport. The award of an OBE bestowed on him by the Prince of Wales. Joshua is currently a unified world heavyweight champion, holding three of the four major championships in the sport.

An OBE simply means: (Officer of the) Order of the British Empire. The event took place on Thursday December 20, 2018.

Anthony Joshua who has Nigerian roots currently holds the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight belts. He has fought 22 fights and won all with all but one coming by way of knockouts.

Anthony Joshua was born in Watford to a Nigerian mother and a British father of Nigerian and Irish descent. He has lived some parts of his life in Nigeria until his boxing debut in 2013.

Joshua expressed interest in representing Nigeria at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, but wasn’t selected. He has since climbed the ladder to be the unified World Heavyweight Boxing Champion under the British flag.

Source: Africa News

Chinese football on Thursday imposed a salary cap of 10 million yuan ($1.45 million) a year for domestic players and vowed to kick teams out for so-called “yin-yang contracts”.

The swingeing measures are part of a ramped-up effort by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) to clamp down on big spending and get teams to toe a tougher financial line.

There will also be a limit on bonuses and other financial inducements for domestic players, according state sports channel CCTV5, reporting on an end-of-season CFA conference in Shanghai.

Foreign players are not affected by the salary cap, which will be in place for the new Chinese Super League (CSL) season when it starts in the spring.

Among a raft of other measures, teams must submit contracts for their players and coaches by the end of the year as part of a crackdown on “yin-yang contracts”.

Such contracts — one for the tax man and another with the real value of the agreement — are thought to be widespread in football and showbusiness in China.

If the CFA uncovers any tax-avoidance schemes, the offending player or coach face a ban of between one and three years. Their clubs can be deducted points or even kicked out the league.

Two years ago, Brazilian attacking midfielder Oscar joined CSL side Shanghai SIPG from Chelsea for an Asian-record 60 million euros and Argentine forward Carlos Tevez signed for rivals Shanghai Shenhua, both earning some of the highest wages in world football.

Their high-profile arrivals, along with dozens of other foreign stars such as Brazilians Hulk and Paulinho, triggered fears that Chinese clubs were distorting the international transfer market with overinflated wages and fees.

But the CFA has since moved to stop the splurge and force teams to focus on youth development instead, and there is unlikely to be serious money spent when the winter transfer window opens on January 1.

“The association will draw on the experience of advanced overseas leagues to design comprehensive measures to control high wages, high bonuses, high transfer fees and other issues,” Li Yuyi, CFA vice chairman, said earlier this week, according to Xinhua news agency.

Li added: “If there’s only investment but no clear idea of what the long-term returns are, Chinese football is not sustainable.

“Companies (who own teams) need to understand why invest, what are the rewards and what it contributes to society.”

 AFP

President George Weah is indeed one of the most successful soccer players to come from Africa, but there are not enough pieces of information out there about his playing days in Liberia.

A situation veteran sports journalist Omari Jackson, who is now an editor at the Daily Observer newspaper is trying to solve in his upcoming biography of the president, titled the “Untold Story of President Weah.”

The book, which is expected to be out early next year revealed that the first semi-professional contract President signed in the 1980s, with Tonnerre Klara Club of Yaounde of Cameroon was intended for James Salinsa Debbah, but the Liberian all-time high goalscorer turned down the opportunity on three different occasions before it went to George Oppong Weah which he gladly accepted.

Jackson writes that Mohammad Konneh, a Liberian with a Cameroonian mother was disappointed that Debbah had turned down the offer, which was apparently because of the love and acceptance that Liberian soccer fans had for him, including President Samuel Doe.

“I have tried for at least three times to get the boy to agree to play in Cameroon without success. I want you to help me find a quality striker,” Konneh was reported to have pleaded.

“Mr. Konneh,” Mr. Jackson said with some warmth, “since from your experience it does not seem that Salinsa is interested in these series of invitations, could you give it to Oppong (George Weah)? After all, he is the next upcoming player with a future.”

Fortunately, Jackson was able to meet President Weah between the corner of Carey and Gurley Street and told him about the opportunity which he gladly accepted.

“Hello, Oppong.”

“Hello Jackson,” Weah said.

“We have a friend who has just returned from Cameroon with an invitation for you to play a semi-professional soccer career in Cameroon. My man, you are already our wizard dribbler and that you can make it in Cameroon,” Jackson writes in the forthcoming book.

Responding to Jackson’s appeal, Oppong (now president) said: “I am ready to play in Cameroon.”

The positive response from President Weah was enough to motivate Jackson who used his influence and had the Liberia Football Association to invite Tonnerre Klara Club of Yaounde to form part of its 50th-anniversary celebration since the club had interest in the president.

After the 50th-anniversary soccer game, Jackson discloses that President Weah was able to seal the deal with the Cameroon giant, making him the first Liberian player to sign a semi-professional contract.

Complication

Upon his return to Liberia to finalize his trip to Cameroon, Jackson in the book, “Untold Story of President Weah” unveiled a situation that almost destroyed the president’s emerging soccer career.

The problem was a result of strong interest from Simplice Zenzou, an Ivorian soccer lover who was then the owner of the Africa Sports FC who offered President Weah a much better contract to play for his club.

“Weah’s brief meeting with Zenzou created a problem. He had signed a contract in Cameroon for three years, and all of a sudden, the Zenzous boys’ offer came, something which he could not refuse,” Jackson writes.

Fully aware of the consequence of what could have happened if President Weah failed to fulfill his contract with the Cameroonian club, Jackson and journalists (Mozart Dennis and Bana Sackey), took upon themselves to intervene in the situation through Josiah N. Johnson and Sam Burnette Jr., invincible Eleven’s godfather back then.

From that meeting, Johnson and Burnette Jr., went on to convince President Weah to turn down the deal from Africa Sports and keep his bargain with TKC, which he gladly did, Jackson writes.

Debbah and Weah rivalry

The two first cousins have been an internal rivalry from day one of their playing days for IE and Mighty Barrolle respectively in Liberia.

Such rivalry, according to Jackson gained momentum during a particular tournament, style Who Owns the Land where Debbah scored two last-minute goals to help his team Barrolle to defeat President Weah team IE 3-2.

Debbah’s performance from that game earned him the title “The Miracle Man,” a name that Jackson says came as a result of the striker’s exceptional ability to score crucial goals when they were needed.

The helpers who are unknown

President Weah during his playing days in Liberia was supported by lots of people financially and morally some of whom are unknown to the public.

Some of these people, Jackson revealed were Tonia Klay, Lydia Jones, S. Izetta Wesley, D. Sheba Brown and Kadiattu Diara (later Mrs. Findley) who once served as president of Invincible Eleven Majestic Sports Association.

Other strong supporters of President Weah, according to Jackson were Archibald Bernard, former President of IE, now legal adviser to the President and Burnette Jr.

Jackson writes that both men, unlike their Mighty Barrolle counterparts, were willing to let their star player seek greener pasture abroad despite fans protest.

Jackson’s forthcoming book, the “Untold Story of President Weah” provides an in-depth account of the president’s football days in Liberia and shined lights on the role many people supported his effort to get him where he is today. This book answers my questions about President Weah’s playing days in Liberia since the author carefully observed the events that surrounded him and the journey he took from Liberia.

There are other interesting issues that have never appeared anywhere else that Jackson reveals that demonstrates that President Weah’s story is an inspiration any young footballer can peruse for their own progress.

“I’m expecting this book to be out very soon. Hopefully by February of next year, but that will depend on the kind of publishing deal I get,” says Jackson.

Source: Daily Observer

Luka Modric ended the long reign of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo by winning the Ballon d’Or for the first time on Monday, while another first saw Norwegian forward Ada Hegerberg win the inaugural women’s trophy.

Messi and Ronaldo had won every Ballon d’Or since 2008, and usually fought only each other for the greatest recognition among soccer’s elite. Women’s fight for recognition on the biggest stage took a big step with Hegerberg’s award.

Modric won the Champions League with Real Madrid and then guided Croatia to the World Cup final in July. The midfielder was voted player of the tournament. “As a kid we all have dreams. My dream was to play for a big club and win important trophies,” Modric said. “The Ballon d’Or was more than just a dream for me and it is really an honor and a privilege to hold this trophy.”

Ronaldo was second in the polling followed by France forward Antoine Griezmann. France’s teen star, Kylian Mbappe, was fourth. Brazil star Neymar was third last year but only 12th this time. Messi was fifth in the voting, having been runner-up to Ronaldo the past two years and in the top three every year since 2007. Modric had never previously been in the top three.

“2018 is a dream year for me,” the 33-year-old Modric said. “Throughout my career I realized hard work, persistence and belief in yourself in difficult moments are the foundations of success.” Modric’s father was shown on the big screen wiping away tears during the ceremony at the imperious Grand Palais in Paris.

Ronaldo missed out on a record sixth award, which would have moved him one ahead of Messi. The last player to win it before those two started dominating world soccer awards was Brazil midfielder Kaka with AC Milan in 2007.

Ronaldo also won the Champions League last season with Modric, before leaving to join Juventus. He scored a hat trick against Spain at the World Cup but he failed to make an impression when Portugal lost to Uruguay in the round of 16.

Mbappe and Griezmann scored in the 4-2 World Cup final win against Croatia. Mbappe earned a domestic treble with Paris Saint-Germain. Griezmann also scored twice for Atletico Madrid in the Europa League final win against Marseille.

France coach Didier Deschamps said a France player should have won the award. “They deserve it because of what they did with the national team at the World Cup and also because of the trophies they won with their clubs,” Deschamps said.

The 19-year-old Mbappe   the youngest player since Pelé to score in a World Cup final   won the Raymond Kopa Trophy awarded to the best young player. France Football magazine has been awarding the Ballon d’Or since 1956, and created a women’s award for the first time this year.

Hegerberg is a three-time Women’s Champions League winner with French side Lyon and scored a tournament-record 15 times last season. “I want to say thanks to France Football. It’s a huge step for women’s football,” Hegerberg said. “I want to end this speech with a message to all young girls in the world. Believe in yourselves.”

The outspoken 23-year-old Hegerberg said she won’t play for Norway at the Women’s World Cup in France next June. Taking a stand against what she describes as a lack of respect for female players in Norway, she hasn’t played for the national team since 2017 when it crashed out of the group stage of the Women’s European Championship without scoring a goal.

Speaking in an interview shortly before collecting her Ballon d’Or, Hegerberg told The Associated Press on Monday she has no plans to reconsider her decision taken to preserve her “authenticity and my values, as a person, as a footballer.”

“A lot of things need to be done to make the conditions better for women who play football,” she said. “It’s all about how we respect women’s football. I don’t think the respect has been there. “Sometimes you have to take tough decisions to stay true to yourself. I let them know, quite clearly, what I found wasn’t working.”

(AP)