History
Thomas Tuchel targets four signings at Chelsea after contract extension
According to the Daily Star, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel wants to bring in four new players this summer after signing a new contract with the club. Tuchel arrived at the Bridge in January earlier this year, after Chelsea had sacked club legend Frank Lampard owing to a disappointing run of results that threatened to derail the campaign. Under the German, though, the Blues experienced a tremendous turnaround as they clinched a top-four finish in the Premier League and also made it to the FA Cup finals. But the cherry on top was Chelsea going on to win the UEFA Champions League for just the second time in the history of the club, beating Man City in the finals in Porto. Following the sensational turnaround, Tuchel, who had initially signed just an eighteen-month contract, has now been hande...
Ex-Governor Mimiko: President Buhari‘ll be judged based on fight against insecurity
Former Ondo State governor, Segun Mimiko, has said posterity will judge President Muhammadu Buhari based on his ability to tackle the present security challenges ravaging the country. Mimiko stated this, on Tuesday, while speaking at the 71st birthday ceremony/ public presentation of biography of the former chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Joseph Akinlaja, in Abuja. The former governor, who stated that the country is perching precariously at the precipice, noted that President Buhari has an opportunity to determine his legacy. According to him, President Buhari will not be remembered by the kilometers of railway gauges built by his administration nor the Second Niger Bridge, but by his ability to tackle insecurity across the country. He said...
Senate committee gets 14 days to process President Buhari’s N2.343 trillion loan request
The Nigerian Senate has given its Committee on Foreign and Local Debts 14 days within which to process President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for a fresh ₦2.343 trillion ($6.183 billion) for approval. Senate President Ahmad Lawan gave the directive at the commencement of Tuesday’s plenary session shortly after the Senate Majority leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, drew the attention of the Senate to the pending request. The Senator Clifford Ordia-led Committee on Foreign and Local debt had approved a total of $28 billion so far. The current request will take the total loan approved to $35.683 billion. Buhari had urged the Senate to approve N2.3 trillion ($6.183 billion) external borrowing. He said the loan was to finance the 2021 budget deficit of N5.6 trillion. The President indicated that the loan ...
UEFA supremo: Barcelona, Real Madrid & Juventus ‘paralysed themselves’ with ‘strange’ Super League approach
Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus have “paralysed themselves” with their “strange” approach to the Super League, according to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. A controversial proposal for a new competition to rival the Champions League was met with universal condemnation in April, leading to the withdrawal of nine of the original 12 founding clubs. The Super League plans were subsequently put on hold, but Barca, Real and Juve have vowed to continue pushing for change despite being threatened with serious sanctions by UEFA, who are in the process of investigating their involvement in the breakaway. The three remaining clubs released a statement criticising European football’s main governing body last week, which read: “FC Barcelona, Juventus FC and Real Madrid CF wish to express their a...
Sri Lanka launches probe after burning ship pollutes beaches
Sri Lanka launched a criminal probe on Sunday into a huge container ship fire that has swamped the island nation’s coast with plastic pollution causing probably one of its worst marine disasters in history. Tonnes of microplastic granules have inundated the South Asian country’s famed beaches in Negombo, a popular tourist destination, forcing a fishing ban and prompting fears of ecological damage. The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl has been smoldering on the horizon for 11 days after a blaze broke out as it was heading to Colombo from the Indian state of Gujarat. The 25-member crew, who have already been evacuated from the ship, will be questioned on Monday after a complaint was lodged by Sri Lanka’s Marine Environment Protection Authority, police said. Last week, authorities said t...
Juventus officially announce return of Max Allegri as head coach
Juventus have officially announced the return of Massimiliano Allegri as head coach at the Allianz Stadium. ‘We are ready to build our future together’. Andrea Pirlo only lasted for one year as coach of the Bianconeri, as Juventus have officially announced the return of Allegri, who left in 2019. “Massimiliano Allegri is the Juventus coach again,” Juventus wrote in a statement. “Allegri finds a bench he knows very well, a club that he loves and that loves him, to start a new journey together today, towards new targets. “Those achieved in his first adventure with Juventus are engraved in the history of the club: five Scudetti, four consecutive doubles with the Coppa Italia, two Supercoppa Italiana, two Champions League Finals in three seasons, epic feats in Italy and in Europe. “And then we...
Antonio Conte leaves Inter Milan
Title winning Antonio Conte has parted ways with Inter Milan amidst rumors he’s set for a return to the Premier League. Conte who guided Inter to the Scudetto for the first time since 2010 has been embroiled in a dispute with the club’s owners following their decision to cut down the size of the squad. A statement on the club’s website reads, “Internazionale Milano can confirm that an agreement has been reached with Antonio Conte for the termination of his contract by mutual consent. The Club would like to thank Antonio for the extraordinary work that he has done, culminating in Inter’s 19th top-flight title. Antonio Conte will forever remain a part of our Club’s history.” There are, however, rumours that the former Chelsea boss is set for a return to England to manage Tottenham Hotspurs. ...
Lille win French Ligue 1 title for fourth time
Lille won the Ligue 1 title on Sunday thanks to a 2-1 victory over Angers which ensured they were crowned French champions for the first time since 2011. An early Jonathan David strike and Burak Yilmaz’s penalty in first-half stoppage time ensured that Christophe Galtier’s Lille finished one point ahead of second-placed Paris Saint-Germain, who won 2-0 at Brest. Angelo Fulgini pulled one back in added time at the end of the match, but the hosts couldn’t stop Lille becoming champions for the fourth time in their history. The title triumph came after another away success for Lille, who finish the season unbeaten on the road since November, and ends a three-year league winning streak for PSG. Mauricio Pochettino’s PSG will have to content themselves with the French Cup in a disappointing seas...
Firm cautions Nigerian government over sale of national assets
Agusto Consulting has cautioned the federal government over its plan to relinquish national assets to private hands, saying, the risk involved is unquantifiable. Agusto Consulting, in a report titled “Rethinking Nigeria’s Models for Infrastructure Development,” noted that, the benefits of relinquishing control to the private sector are glaring, but remain difficult to implement. Noting that the federal government’s handing off certain critical assets of the country that have been dormant over the years will positively impact on the country’s budgetary allocation, but added that this decision has caveats and risks associated with operating models that involve private sector participation regardless of the levels of participation. “First is the high level of corruption in the country and the...
Paul Pogba: N’Golo Kante star is a ‘smart kid’ and a ‘cunning’ player
N’Golo Kante “cheats a lot”, according to Paul Pogba, who has described the Chelsea star as a “smart kid” and a “cunning” player. Kante has established himself as one of the top midfielders in Europe since joining Leicester City from Caen in 2015, helping the Foxes win the Premier League title before also going on to lift the trophy with Chelsea. The 30-year-old has a World Cup winners’ medal to his name too, having been part of the triumphant 2018 France squad alongside Pogba, who has now revealed that his compatriot will do whatever it takes to win, even if it means bending the rules. The Manchester United talisman told beIN Sports of his international colleague: “He cheats a lot. A lot. At card games, board games. Honestly, I’m telling the truth. He cheats. “He says he doesn’t cheat, bu...
Judge postpones trial for three ex-cops in George Floyd case – reports
A judge postponed the trial of three former Minneapolis policemen accused of taking part in the murder of George Floyd to March 2022 after they said that prosecutors leaked prejudicial information about the case, online court records showed. Tou Thao, 25, J. Alexander Kueng, 27, and Thomas Lane, 28, all fired and arrested days after Floyd was killed on May 25, have been charged with aiding and abetting the second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter of Floyd. Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin was convicted on April 20 of murdering Floyd, 46, by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes, in a case that marked a milestone in America’s fraught racial history and a rebuke of law enforcement’s treatment of Black Americans. The death, captured on cellphone video, led to pr...
VP Osinbajo: Nigerian government democratising broadband connectivity
It’s the first in sub-Saharan Africa and one of the three such cutting-edge facilities on the continent, with top prime global certifications for smart card manufacturing and it is based in Lagos, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, relished yesterday afternoon while touring SecureID company’s premises, and affirmed Nigeria’s extremely bright economic future, which he said cannot be aborted despite current challenges. According to him, “the economic future of our nation is extremely bright. Yes, we have challenges today and they may look daunting. But let me assure you that these issues will be resolved. The march of this nation to its manifest destiny as Africa’s leading economic power will not be aborted. We are more than able to overcome.” An impressed Prof. Osinbajo said the Buhari Admi...
