Usain Bolt Takes Break from Football

Sprint legend Usain Bolt has put a halt to his football training after he flew out of Australia for a “previously planned commitment”, his A-League club has said.

This comes barely a month after the Jamaican superstar arrived in Gosford, 75 kilometres (47 miles) north of Sydney for training with the Central Coast Mariners in pursuit of his long-held dream of playing professional football.

The 32-year-old has been with the A-League side for three weeks and in late August made a 20-minute appearance for the club in a pre-season game.

“Usain Bolt will be abroad from Sunday, 9 September to Sunday, 16 September for a previously planned commitment,” the Mariners said on Saturday.

“This commitment was agreed between Usain Bolt and the Central Coast Mariners before his training period commenced with the club.”

Barcelona shirts banned in Saudi Arabia with possible 15-year prison Sentence & £120k fine

The Saudi authorities have banned football fans from wearing Barcelona shirt which is being sponsored by Qatar Airways, with a possible 15-year prison sentence and £120,000 fine if anyone is caught. The ban comes after Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Yemen and the Maldives cut off all ties with its neighbor, after they accused Qatar of supporting extremist groups. Although, Qatar have rejected the claims.

According to Sky Italy, those caught wearing shirts with the Qatar Airways wording now face a £120,000k fine and up to 15 years in prison.

Bash Ali arraigned for criminal trespass

A Gudu Upper Area Court, Abuja, on Wednesday granted N100,000 bail to a boxer, Bashiru Ali (a.k.a.Bash Ali) docked for alleged criminal trespass.‎

The judge, Alhaji Umar Kagarko, ordered the defendant to provide one surety in like sum that must reside within the court’s jurisdiction.

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies aged 74

Muhammad Ali.  Picture Credit John Rooney/AP Photo

The former world heavyweight boxing champion, one of the world's best-known sportsmen, died at a hospital in the US city of Phoenix in Arizona state after being admitted on Thursday.

He was suffering from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson's disease.

The funeral will take place in Ali's hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, his family said in a statement.

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Ali shot to fame by winning light-heavyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Nicknamed "The Greatest", the American beat Sonny Liston in 1964 to win his first world title and became the first boxer to capture a world heavyweight title on three separate occasions.

He eventually retired in 1981, having won 56 of his 61 fights.

Give me Reasons why Nigeria needs a foreign coach, Sports Minister tells NFF

Barr. Solomon Dalong at the Ministerial screening at the National Assembly Abuja

Nigeria’s Sports Minister Solomon Dalung has demanded justification from the leadership of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) over their planned moved to hire a foreign coach for the country’s national football team, the Super Eagles.

At a meeting held at his Abuja office on Tuesday, Dalung gave the NFF four weeks to submit a ‘comprehensive report’ on why it wants to hire a foreign coach for the Super Eagles.

The sports minister and the executive board of the NFF met for over two hours on Tuesday with the biggest topic of discussion centred on Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and the NFF’s decision to hire a foreign coach for the team.

NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, is insisting on a foreign coach for the Super Eagles following the failure to make the next Africa Cup of Nations after losing out to Egypt, but Dalung remains unconvinced that no Nigeria coach is good enough.

Benitez sacked, As club hero Zidane handed the Real hot seat

Zinedine Zidane’s appointment as Real Madrid coach in place of Rafa Benitez has handed the club’s former France great his chance to follow up a stellar career on the pitch with management success at the highest level.
Benitez, experienced but unpopular, was abruptly dismissed on Monday less than halfway through the season after an indifferent run of results left the club trailing leaders Atletico Madrid and second-placed Barcelona in La Liga.

Solomon Dalong: Minister warns factional NFF President, Giwa

Nigeria Football Federation is boiling up for another crisis, as Chris Giwa is spoiling for action to reclaim the leadership of the nation’s soccer ruling body come January 2016.

But he has been warned by Youth and Sports minister, Solomon Dalung not to foment trouble that could upset the smooth running of football as the country prepares for major tournaments in 2016.

Giwa, is still insisting that he is the elected president of the NFF and has submitted a petition to the Sports minister to that effect.

World Fastest Man. Usain Bolt Hosts Christmas Treat For Children

Usain Bolt the world fastest man has been enjoying his Christmas break; he held a Christmas treat for children in his community Sherwood Content in Trelawny Falmouth, Jamaica on Sunday.

Van Gaal Admits Pressure Increasing After Man United Loss

Manchester United suffered a 2-0 defeat to Stoke City on Boxing Day to make it their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat. Louis van Gaal, who expressed disappointment when talking to Sky Sports and MUTV after the final whistle at the Britannia Stadium, criticized his team for failing to play.
“My thoughts are that we didn’t dare to play football in the first half and then we gave a very bad goal away. That was too much. They scored from a free-kick and then it was half-time.
“We have spoken with each other and I have to say the second half was much better, we created one or two chances and you have to score. Then the belief is coming back and we played better in the second half, but the problem is we didn’t dare to play.

Olympics: I’ve not invited Musa, Mikel, says Siasia

Chief Coach of Nigeria’s U-23 Dream Team VI, Samson Siasia has come out to deny the rumours that he would invite Russia-based Super Eagles’ captain Ahmed Musa and Chelsea’s of England star, John Mikel Obi to his team for the football event of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Blessing Okagbare Enter Guinness Book Of Records

Nigerian sprinter and long jumper Blessing Okagbare over the weekend beat the World’s fastest man Usain Bolt to win the Guinness World Book of Records prize for most IAAF Diamond League appearances in 2015. Guinness Book of records said: “Multi-discipline athlete, Blessing Okagbare from Nigeria participated at 38 Diamond league events between July 3, 2010 and September 5, 2014.

FIFA bans Blatter and Michel Platini for 8 years

The Federation Of International Football Association (FIFA) has banned President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter and European soccer boss Michel Platini for eight years over an unauthorised 2 million Swiss franc ($2.4 million) payment, ending Platini's chances of taking over the sport's governing body.

Rio Olympics: 61 athletes meet standards Requirements

At least 61 athletes have met the International Association of Athletics Federations’ entry standards for the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Athletic Federation of Nigeria has said.

WWE: John Cena discusses his plans upon retiring

+John Cena  has served as the face of the +WWE since 2005 and has since then also branched out into numerous other fields like rapping and acting. Now that the 38-year-old public figure is already serving what would be called the last stretch of his wrestling career, Cena opened up on what the future might be like for him outside the ropes.

Sports: Chelsea consider TWO Mourinho replacements

Guus Hiddink heads a list of candidates to replace Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho until the end of the season, according to the Daily Telegraph.

N750, 000 too much for Eaglets – Presidency

A much lower proposal of 150,000 Naira per player of the victorious Golden Eaglets has been tabled by the sports ministry after a proposal of 750,000 Naira per player was rejected by the country’s Presidency as “too much”.

Manny Pacquiao gives 150 homes to poor families

Filipino boxer and lawmaker Manny Pacquiao has always been known for his charitable ways and the 37-year-old proved it once again when he gave 150 families new homes just a week before his 37th birthday.

Sports Minister hails Dream Team for picking Rio ticket

The Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalong has congratulated the Dream Team for picking a ticket to play in the men’s football at the 2016 Rio Olympics

Dream Team yesterday secured their ticket to fly Nigeria’s flag at the summer Games, following a nail-biting 1-0 win against hosts Senegal at the Leopod Senghor Stadium in Dakar.

It’ll Take Me 6 Months To Recover – Rousey

Ronda Rousey has revealed it could take her up to six months to fully recover from injuries sustained in her brutal knockout defeat to Holly Holm last month.

Nigeria U-23 beat Senegal 1-0, qualify for Rio 2016 Olympics

Nigeria have qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics after defeating hosts Senegal in the semi-finals of the 2015 Africa U23 Championship.
Etebo Oghenekaro’s penalty in the 77th minute was all the Dream Team VI needed to ease past the hosts after Ousseynou Thioune had handled the ball in his penalty area to prevent Eyo Ebong from scoring.
Ibrahima Keita failed to put his side ahead in the first half after seeing his penalty saved by man of the match, Emmanuel Daniel, who guessed the right way.
With this victory, the Dream Team will now face the winner between Algeria and South Africa for the 2015 Africa U23 title with the 2016 Olympics men’s football event ticket in their kitty.