Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova crashed out of the US Open on Monday in back-to-back seismic shocks under the Arthur Ashe Stadium lights.

Federer, the five-time champion and looking to end his 10-year wait to add to his total in New York, was beaten by Australia’s world number 55 John Millman 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/3).

It was 20-time major winner Federer’s first loss against a player outside the top 50 in 41 meetings at the US Open.

He finished with 77 unforced errors and 10 double faults.

“It was very hot. I felt I couldn’t get any air and I was sweating more and more and became more and more uncomfortable,” explained Federer.

“I guess I was happy when the match was over.”

He added: “John dealt with it better — he’s from Brisbane, one of the most humid places in the world!”

It was the world number two’s earliest defeat at the tournament since a fourth round loss to Tommy Robredo in 2013.

The result meant there would be no quarter-final showdown with old rival Novak Djokovic who will now face Millmann instead.

“I have so much respect for Roger and everything he’s done for the game. He’s been a hero of mine,” said Millman.

“Today he was definitely not at his best. But I’ll take it.”

Sharapova, the 2006 champion, suffered a second successive last-16 exit in New York, blasted off court by Carla Suarez Navarro.

The Spanish player marked her 30th birthday in style with a memorable 6-4, 6-3 win over the five-time major champion whose last Slam title was in Paris in 2014.

Federer had cruised through the first set against Millman who was appearing in his maiden last-16 at the majors.

But the Swiss, who lost in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon where he was defending champion, began to look every bit the 37-year-old he is as he struggled in the suffocating humidity.

He squandered two set points in the second set and another in the third set tiebreak as the errors piled up.

Federer was 4-2 up in the fourth set but was reeled in and two back-to-back double faults sent him 1/4 down in the tiebreak.

– ‘Break a leg’ –

The contest was over shortly before 1 a.m. when he hit a weary forehand wide.

Djokovic reached the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over unseeded Joao Sousa.

Djokovic, who ended a 54-week title drought with his 13th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, said he was relieved to get past 68th-ranked Sousa in straight sets as temperatures soared again.

“Very happy to get this one done in straight sets,” said Djokovic, who left the court for a medical evaluation early in the third set but returned to wrap things up in exactly two hours.

Marin Cilic, seeded seven, beat David Goffin of Belgium 7-6 (8/6), 6-2, 6-4 and next takes on Japan’s Kei Nishikori who saw off German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.

Cilic defeated Nishikori in the 2014 final when he won his only Slam title.

Sharapova, the 2006 champion who was trying to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2012, hit 38 unforced errors and dropped serve six times.

The defeat also ended the former world number one’s perfect record of 23 wins — 22 of them on Arthur Ashe Stadium — in night sessions at Flushing Meadows.

“I thought she played really well. I thought in today’s conditions, her ball was getting up on me a little bit more, much more than my previous three opponents that I played,” said Sharapova.

“I didn’t take care of the chances that I had. By ‘chances,’ I mean the balls that were a little bit shorter.”

Suarez Navarro, who was also a quarter-finalist in New York in 2013, goes on to face American 14th seed Madison Keys, the runner-up in 2017.

“Maria has played here at night many times so I knew I needed to be aggressive, focussed and play solid,” said the 30th seeded Spaniard.

Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final, beating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, tearfully admitting she was prepared to “break a leg” to win the match.

The 20-year-old became the first Japanese woman in the US Open last-eight since Shinobu Asagoe in 2004.

Osaka, seeded 20, came back from a break down in the final set to take the tie on a fourth match point when Sabalenka served up an eighth double fault.

“I would never have forgiven myself if I had lost that match,” said a tearful Osaka.

“When I was a break down in the final set I thought I would even break a leg if needed so I could get to every ball.”

Osaka will next face Lesia Tsurenko, the 36th-ranked Ukrainian who beat Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 6-2.

 AFP

Fifa has granted Cameroon’s five-man Normalisation Committee a three-month extension to continue managing the country’s football federation (Fecafoot).

Fifa says this second extension will enable Cameroon’s caretaker body to hold elections and manage Fecafoot’s affairs before 16 December 2018 when the mandate expires.

Set up in September 2017, it has been tasked with drafting new statutes for Fecafoot to hold free and fair elections.

However, elections can only happen if Cameroon’s sports laws – written in 2011 – are modified.

A new sports charter was brought into law in July 2018, but the election of a new executive committee has still not taken place.

Fifa stated that it was allowing the normalisation committee to stay on after Cameroon sports minister Bidoung Mkpatt wrote to them on 28 August 2018, establishing that elections could not be organised at Fecafoot because “it coincided with the holding of presidential elections in the country”.

Mkpatt added that the decision not to convene elections in August was to avoid “predictable interferences that could have marred both (presidential and fecafoot) elections”.

The caretaker committee is expected to forward a road map of activities to Fifa for validation before voting will take place.

Following the extension, Normalisation Committee member Kevin Njomo told BBC Sport the decision is in the best interests of Cameroon’s football fraternity.

“Three months is enough time for us to complete our job. Six months ago we had finished reviewing the statutes but elections weren’t held because of an audit.

“After the first prolongation, we had set dates with the adoption of texts and elections to take place from 23 June – 31 August 2018 but Fifa asked us not to proceed until the sports laws were adopted.”

“Fifa have our road map so if they decide to give us three months it’s because they know we can complete our mission. In the last 6 months we’ve met Fifa’s benchmark. Unfortunately elections just couldn’t be held under such conditions,” Njomo concluded.

Source: BBC

Thierry Henry will not be the next coach of Bordeaux, with the French club’s president confirming to AFP on Tuesday that negotiations had broken down.

“Yes, we can confirm the end of those negotiations,” Stephane Martin told AFP, following earlier reports in France and England that Henry had turned the job down.

Sky Sports, the channel for whom Henry worked as a pundit for four years before quitting last month, said late on Monday that he had refused the offer to take his first managerial role since retiring as a player.

According to French sports daily L’Equipe, Henry felt that he had not been given sufficient guarantees by General American Capital Partners (GACP), the American consortium expected to take over Bordeaux at the end of September from current owners, the media conglomerate M6.

Despite his lack of experience as a coach, appointing the 41-year-old would have been a remarkable coup for Bordeaux, the six-time French champions.

They are looking for a replacement for the Uruguayan Gustavo Poyet, whose departure from the club is expected to be made official later on Tuesday.

Poyet was only appointed in January and led the club to European qualification at the end of last season, but he was suspended earlier this month after a very public outburst at directors over transfer policy.

Henry, who had been working as an assistant coach to the Belgian national team, met GACP in New York at the end of last week having come to an initial agreement with M6.

According to reports, however, Bordeaux were surprised by his salary demands given his lack of experience as a coach. Reports say he also wanted three new signings before the transfer window closes at the end of this week.

Bordeaux had already been turned down by former coach Laurent Blanc and Remi Garde, another ex-Arsenal player who is now at Montreal Impact in Major League Soccer.

As their search for a successor to Poyet goes on, interim coach Eric Bedouet is set to take charge of the team in their next game, the Europa League play-off, second leg at home to Belgian club Gent on Thursday.

(AFP)

Arsene Wenger arrived in Liberia on Wednesday evening, with the ex-Arsenal boss set to be handed the country’s highest honour from president George Weah.

Wenger, who ended his 22-year association with the Gunners in May, will be inducted into Liberia’s Order of Distinction.

But in the wake of those reports that President George Weah is to award his former football coach with Liberia’s highest honor, the former Arsenal coach has out-rightly denied having knowledge of receiving any honor in the country.

He said: “I am not aware of any honor. I just came here to visit, because I promised George that one day, I will visit Liberia, and in return, I do not expect anything like award or honor. I am happy to be here.”

This also comes after Liberians expressed mixed reactions about the purported honor, in which the award ceremony is reportedly supposed to take place in the country’s capital, Monrovia, on Friday.

It was Arsene Wenger who took Weah to Europe, signing him for Monaco in 1988.

Source: Africa News

Liberian President George Weah is to award his former football coach, Arsène Wenger, his country’s highest honour. President Weah, the only African to have been named World Player of the Year, was signed by Wenger in 1988 when he coached Monaco.

Wenger, who stepped down as Arsenal manager this year after 22 years, nurtured several African stars. The president retired from football in 2003 and went into politics. He won last year’s election by a landslide.

Wenger is expected to be in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, for the award ceremony on Saturday, Liberia’s Information Minister Eugene Nagbe told the BBC.

He will be inducted into the country’s Order of Distinction and be given the title of Knight Grand Commander of the Humane Order of African Redemption – the highest rank possible.

The award is not only about the personal connection between the president and Wenger, the information minister said, it also recognises that he “has contributed to sports in Africa and has given many Africans opportunities”.

At Arsenal, Wenger coached 16 African players, including Ivory Coast’s Kolo Toure, Cameroon defender Lauren and Nigerian Nwankwo Kanu.

President Weah has said that Wenger “took care of me like his son” when he went to Monaco, adding that “besides God, I think that without Arsene, there was no way I would have made it in Europe”.

Wenger has returned the compliment, calling the president’s life story “a miracle”.

“I remember when I saw him the first time at Monaco, coming in a bit lost, not knowing anybody, not being rated by anybody as a player and becoming the best player in the world in 1995 and today becoming the president of his country,” he told journalists in January.

Seven things about George Weah:

PSG George Weah (R) kicks the ball during the Champions league match Spartak Moscow – Paris-Saint-Germain, on September 28, 1994, in Moscow.

Born 1 October, 1966, grew up in a slum in Liberia’s capital

Signed by Arsène Wenger to Monaco from Cameroonian club Tonnerre Yaoundé

Made Monaco debut in 1987, went on to play for AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea

Only African to win Fifa World Player of the Year

First ran for president in 2005, losing to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Graduated with a business degree from a US university after being accused of lacking education

Elected president in December 2017 winning 62% of the vote Presentational grey line

Wenger is also due to be made a chief by members of Liberia’s Arsenal fan club when he is in the country, the information minister said.

The current coach of the Togolese national team, Claude Le Roy, will also get a national honour on Saturday.

He coached Cameroon in 1988 and recommended that Wenger should sign George Weah, who was playing for Cameroonian side Tonnerre Yaoundé at the time.

Source: BBC

Global football governing body FIFA on Monday announced that Nigeria will no longer be suspended over a long-running court case focusing on the disputed leadership of its federation.

FIFA said it had received confirmation that the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) had restored control of the body and its offices to its president Amaju Pinnick and secretary-general Mohammed Sanusi.

“In view of these circumstances, FIFA deems that the conditions set by the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council have now been met and consequently the suspension of the NFF will not take effect,” FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA made its ruling after a spokesman for acting President Yemi Osinbajo said Pinnick and his executive committee were recognised as the leadership of football in Nigeria.

FIFA’s strict non-interference rules

Last week, FIFA threatened to suspend Nigeria and Ghana over if their governments intervened in resolution of leadership and corruption stalemates respectively.

The governments of the two African football powerhouses had intervened in the management of the football federations.

FIFA do not accept third-party interference in its member federations and in the case of Nigeria, warned that it would suspend Nigeria if the NFF was not led by its elected president, voted in 2014.

Nigeria put itself on a collision course with FIFA in July when the government’s sports ministry directed the NFF to comply with a court order to overturn Pinnick’s election and recognise Chris Giwa as its head.

A FIFA ban would have immediately meant that Nigeria would not honour a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Seychelles next month, while they would also have been disqualified from the under-17 African zonal qualifiers in Niger, which kick off on September 2.

Ghana settles with FIFA

Last week, the government of Ghana reached a deal with FIFA to work together to clean up football administration in the country, shelving plans to dissolve the corruption stained federation.

Ghana’s attorney general had taken steps towards dissolving the embattled Ghana Football Association (GFA) after an explosive documentary in June showed officials allegedly soliciting bribes worth millions of dollars.

In both cases, FIFA had its way and will continue to strictly enforce its regulations.

“FIFA will continue to closely monitor the situation in order to ensure that FIFA’s rules and regulations are fully adhered to,” it added.

Source: Africa News

VETERAN Cameroon star Samuel Eto’o has signed for Qatar league side, Qatar Sports Club, just days after he ended a brief stay at Turkish side Konyaspor.

The former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea striker will be unveiled on Tuesday, said Qatar Sports Club, the latest big-name edition to Qatar’s domestic league as it gears up to host the 2022 World Cup.

The club said on social media that it would “present the international star Samuel Eto’o” at a press conference.

It is understood he underwent a medical earlier in the day. It will be the 13th professional club for Eto’o, who was reportedly considering the A-League as a destination for his next move.

The four-time African player of the year will join former colleagues in Qatar, including ex-Barcelona teammate Xavi Hernandez, who plays for Al Sadd, and Wesley Sneijder who was at Inter with Eto’o.

In 2009, Eto’o won the Champions League with Barcelona playing alongside Xavi. A year later he won the same trophy with Inter in the same team as Sneijder. The Dutchman now plays for Al Gharafa in Qatar’s domestic competition, the Qatar Stars League.

The signing is a coup for Qatar Sports Club, who finished in mid-table last season and currently have little hope of winning any domestic titles.

Earlier on Monday Eto’o said Ligue 1 clubs had contacted him after he announced he was leaving Turkey last week.

The 37-year-old is now in the twilight of a fabulous career. He enjoyed five hugely successful seasons with Barcelona from 2004 to 2009, before helping Jose Mourinho’s Inter team to win the treble of Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in his first season in Italy.

He then had brief stints at Chelsea and Everton in the Premier League. Eto’o also scored 56 times for his country in 118 appearances and won two African Cup of Nations with Cameroon.

Source: Foxsports

The new coach of Cameroon, Clarence Seedorf, has signed a four-year deal to take over as manager of the Indomitable Lions.

Last week, Cameroon’s Football Federation (Fecafoot) confirmed that Seedorf would be assisted by his former international Dutch teammate Patrick Kluivert to take charge of the five-times African champions.

Former Real Madrid, AC Milan and Netherlands midfielder Seedorf replaces Hugo Broos, who led Cameroon to Nations Cup success last year.

“I feel honoured to be given the opportunity to manage this great country,” Seedorf, who follows in the footsteps of compatriot Arie Haan as Cameroon boss, said at the signing ceremony.

“We are ready for work and I hope everyone is ready. Our job starts today.”

Seedorf and Kluivert have been given the task of retaining the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil next year, and also set the target of reaching the 2021 edition of the tournament and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The long-term contract, which runs to 2022, also stipulates that the Dutch duo must live in the country and provide support to the other national teams.

Seedorf, 42, has previously managed AC Milan, Chinese club Shenzhen and Deportivo La Coruna.

He lasted less than six months in all three roles.

Source: BBC

Former Cameroon captain Samuel Eto’o has left Turkish club Konyaspor by mutual consent.

The club say the former Chelsea and Everton striker, 37, has had his contract, which still had two years to run, cancelled, “on the basis of a previously agreed negotiation”.

Eto’o joined struggling Konyaspor from rivals Antalyaspor in January, scoring six goals in 14 appearances to help the club maintain its top flight status.

“We thank Samuel Eto’o for his contributions to the club and his services on behalf of our colours, and we hope that he will bring beauty, happiness and success to his future plans after a farewell to each other in warm and sincere feelings.” Konyaspor wrote on their website.

The four-time African footballer of the year winner has been widely linked with a move to the French Ligue 1 as well as a possible return to the Spanish league.

Eto’o, a three-time Champions League winner, moved to Antalyaspor in the summer of 2015 as the keystone of the club’s bid to find national and even European success.

Having previously played in Spain, Russia, England and Italy, Eto’o enjoyed much of his club success at Barcelona, where he played from 2004 to 2009.

His trophies there included three La Liga crowns, alongside former Brazil forward Ronaldinho, and two Champions League titles.

He also won the Champions League, under Jose Mourinho, at Inter Milan in 2010, and has an Olympic gold medal, which he won with Cameroon in 2000.

Eto’o is the leading all-time scorer in the Nations Cup with 18 goals and he appeared at four World Cup finals – 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014 – playing in eight matches and scoring three goals.

Cameroon’s all-time leading scorer with 54-goals, he won back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations titles with his country at the 2000 and 2002 editions.

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