Ethiopian great Kenenisa Bekele has pulled out of next month’s London Marathon because of an Achilles tendon injury. The multiple Olympic and World track champion had been scheduled to make his debut in the London race which takes place on 26 April but he picked up the injury while competing in January’s Dubai Marathon. Kenya’s Geoffrey Mutai, the two-time New York Marathon winner, has been added to the field for the men’s race which already features current marathon record-holder Dennis Kimetto and former record-holder and defending champion Wilson Kipsang.

Hetha Berlin star Salomon Kalou could be fined up to 10,000 euros (£7,122) for using a hammer and chisel on the Berlin Wall, which is under a protection order. The Ivory Coast striker was being filmed by a Berlin TV station as part of a report on their 2-2 Bundesliga draw with Schalke on Saturday. He mimicked breaking off a piece of the wall with the tools at the tourist attraction, the Eastside Gallery. Anyone defacing the wall can be heavily fined with the authorities set to investigate whether any damage was done.

Sunderland have sacked manager Gus Poyet after a run of just one victory in 12 Premier League games. The Black Cats are one point above the relegation zone after Saturday’s 4-0 home defeat by Aston Villa. “Sadly, we have not made the progress that any of us had hoped for this season,” said chairman Ellis Short. “We find ourselves battling, once again, at the wrong end of the table. We have therefore made the difficult decision that a change is needed.” A Sunderland statement also added that an announcement about Poyet’s successor would be made “in due course”. The Uruguayan leaves with the club 17th in the Premier League, one point above the relegation zone.

Seven stadia in six cities will be used as soccer venues for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. Rio will host games at the Olympic Stadium and the Maracana while the other games will take place at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, the Mane Garrincha stadium in Brasilia, the Amazonia arena in Manaus, the Fonte Nova arena in Salvador and the Corinthians arena in Sao Paulo. Sixteen men’s sides and 12 women’s teams will play 58 matches between 3-20 August 2016 with Brazil chasing their first Olympic gold in the men’s competition.

Nigeria’s Brown Ideye continued his fine form in the English Premiership as he scored the only goal for his team West Brom with a flying header as they beat Stoke. Ideye who is the record signing for West Brom started slowly in his West Brom career but has hit form recently.

Three Ajax youth team players have been suspended amid an investigation into an alleged beating of a female officer, BBC reports. Dutch police questioned forwards Zakaria El Azzouzi, 18, Samet Bulut, 19, and midfielder Ashraf El Mahdioui, 18, in connection with the incident. It is alleged that a plain clothes policewoman sounded her car horn at another vehicle on Thursday night and there was a confrontation. Ajax said it takes the allegations “very seriously” and is investigating. In a statement, the club added that it is “doing everything it can to find out what happened. “Until then the players will not take part in any football-related activities.”

Serie A side Parma have had two points deducted by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for failing to pay their players’ salaries, BBC reports. The cash-strapped club’s players have not been paid all season and the Crusaders have a debt of 197.4m euros (£145m). They are bottom of the league, 15 points from safety and have already been docked a point. last December. The two-time UEFA cup winners have a bankruptcy hearing set for March 19. Former club president Tommaso Ghirardi and director Pietro Leonardi were also handed four-month bans by the FIGC. They were loaned 5m euros last week by the other Serie A clubs to help them complete the season. Should the club be wound up the rest of their fixtures could be declared 3-0 victories for their opponents. Parma returned to action last weekend to earn a draw with Atalanta Bergamo after their two previous games were called off by the FIGC to allow the club time to solve its problems. Ownership of the club has already changed hands twice this season. They were first bought by a Russian-Cypriot conglomerate and then acquired by the Slovenia-based Mapi group. The side finished sixth in the table last year, but missed out on the Europa League for not meeting Uefa’s club licensing criteria because of unpaid bills.

Saturday 14 March 2015:

Crystal Palace 3 – 1 QPR

Arsenal 3 – 0 West Ham

Leicester 0 – 0 Hull

Sunderland 0 – 4 Aston Villa

West Brom 1 – 0 Stoke

Burnley 1 – 0 Man City

Sunday 15 March 2015:

Chelsea 1 – 1 Southampton

Everton 3 – 0 Newcastle

Man Utd 3 – 0 Tottenham

Monday 16 March 2015:

Swansea 0 – 1 Liverpool

Saturday 14 March 2015:

Senegal 4 – 3 Congo

Nigeria 2 – 2 Ivory Coast

Nigeria and Senegal has qualified for U-2o world cup from Group A.

Senegal have accepted a request from the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to host the 2015 African Under-23 Championship in December, replacing the Democratic Republic of Congo, BBC reports. It follows a meeting on Friday between the Senegal president, Macky Sall (pictured) and the Caf president Issa Hayatou. The tournament also serves as qualifiers for the 2016 Rio Olympics. DR Congo withdrew as hosts to focus on the country’s elections in 2016. Caf confirmed that President Sall accepted the invitation to host the U-23s event,  which was originally scheduled to take place from 5-19 December 2015 in DR Congo. President Sall has asked Senegal’s Sports Minister, Matarr Ba, and the president of the Senegalese Football Federation, Augustin Senghor, to discuss details with Caf regarding the organisation of the 2015 championships. Senegal, who are currently staging the Under-20s African championships, received high praise from Caf president Issa Hayatou  who described the nation as “a beacon of football.”

Pulis

Tottenham forward Harry Kane has picked up the Barclays Premier League Player of the Month award for the second month in succession, BBC reports. Kane, 21, scored nine league goals in January and February, including braces in wins against Chelsea and Arsenal. “It’s an honour to get this award once in a season, let alone twice in two months,” he said. “Winning against Arsenal and getting both goals was a special day for myself and for the club.” Kane joins a select group to have won the award in consecutive months. Former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler, ex-Arsenal forward Dennis Bergkamp and former Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo are the only others to have achieved the feat since its inception. West Brom manager Tony Pulis received the Manager of the Month award after the Baggies went unbeaten in February. They picked up eight points from four games to ease away from the Premier League relegation zone.

Kane

Ishaku Musa Dodo, a retired referee who was listed as a Grade One referee in 1999, slumped and died while jogging inside the Kwara State Stadium, Ilorin on Monday, goal reports.  The death of the 44-year-old was confirmed  at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) where he was taken to. His shocking death was listed as a result of heart failure.  His remains have been kept at the UITH mortuary in Ilorin awaiting his family’s arrangement for burial. RIP.

Saturday 14 March 2015:

Shooting Stars vs Heartland 4pm

Kano Pillars vs Bayelsa United 4pm

Sunday 15 March 2015:

Nasarawa United vs Wikki Tourists 4pm

Akwa United vs Taraba United 4pm

Sunshine Stars vs Ifeanyi Uba FC 4pm

Kwara United vs El-Kanemi Warriors 4pm

Enugu Rangers vs Sharks 4pm

Wednesday 18 March 2015:

Lobi Stars vs Enyimba International 4pm

Warri Wolves vs Giwa FC 4pm

Thursday 19 March 2015:

Abia Warriors vs Dolphins FC 4pm

Joachim Low has extended his contract as coach of world champions Germany until the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The 55-year-old’s previous contract took him through to Euro 2016, but he said the chance to extend the deal could not be turned down. “I said yes with my heart and my head,” Loew said. “We feel incredibly good working together and we have shared goals. We were crowned world champions and we want to experience that feeling again.”

Saturday 14 March 2015:

Crystal Palace v QPR 1:45 pm

Arsenal v West Ham 4 pm

Leicester v Hull 4 pm

Sunderland v Aston Villa 4 pm

West Brom v Stoke 4 pm

Burnley v Man City 6:30 pm

Sunday 15 March 2015:

Chelsea v Southampton 2:30 pm

Everton v Newcastle 5 pm

Man Utd v Tottenham 5 pm

Monday 16 March 2015:

Swansea v Liverpool 9 pm

Wednesday March 11:

Nigeria 4 – 1 Congo

Ivory Coast 2 – 2 Senegal

Nigeria’s goals = Ifeanyi Matthew – 4th minute, Musa Muhammed – 35th and 56th minutes (both from penalty kicks) and Taiwo Awoniyi – 87th minute.

Congo’s goal =  Silvere Ganvoula M’boussy – 61st minute

Ivory Coast’s goals = Victorien Angban – 8th minute and Chris Bedia – 89th minute.

Senegal’s goals = Ibrahim Wadji – 51st and 56th minutes

Thursday March 12:

South Africa 1 – 2 Mali

Zambia 1 – 2 Ghana

South Africa’s goal = Madisha Modjeka – 72nd minute

Mali’s goals = Hamidou Traoré – 78th and 87th minutes

Zambia’s goal = Dave Daka – 3rd minute

Ghana’s goals = Asiedu Attobrah – 26th minute and Samuel Afful – 86th minute

So far, Nigeria, Ghana and Mali have all qualified for the U-20 World Cup coming up later in the year in New Zealand. The last qualification spot is still open to Ivory Coast, Senegal and Congo (all in Group A with Nigeria).

The March 2015 world ranking was released yesterday March 12, 2015. The top 50 are:

Continue reading →

Former Super Eagles striker, Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Kalu Uche have emerged as the highest paid Nigerian football players in the recently compiled report of Nigerian footballers’ earners list, Supersport reports. The new report has it that the former Super Eagles striker, Yakubu Aiyegbeni has been named the ‘Richest Nigerian Player’. The pundit report also explained that Reading FC of England striker, Aiyegbeni and Kalu Uche are Nigerian highest earners in Europe in the 2014/15 season. The two Nigeria internationals who were formerly players in the oil rich Quatari club Al Rayyan earns over $2.5 million each year. Next in the list comes the Chelsea FC midfielder Mikel Obi and Sounder Seattle striker, Obafemi Martins who are earning $2 million per year. Emmanuel Emenike, the Fenerbahce striker is the fifth on the list considering his contract terms of ‘tax free’ at the Turkish club. Brown Ideye who is the West Bromich Albion of England striker, who also recently signed a three-year contract with the English Premier League club is the sixth on the list. But there is no Nigerian player that made it to the yearly rich list , which other African players like Samuel Eto’o and Yaya Toure were included.

And did we forget? Oh no… so sorry…. here are they:

Saturday 7 March 2015:

Heartland FC Vs Kano Pillars FC (Postponed)

Sunday 8 March 2015:

Bayelsa United 1 – 1 Lobi Stars

Enyimba Int’l FC 0 – 0 Akwa United

FC Taraba 3 – 2 Rangers Int’l FC

Sharks FC 0 – 0 Sunshine Starts FC

Giwa FC 0 – 0 Abia Warriors FC

Dolphins FC 0 – 0 Kwara United FC

El-Kanemi FC 1 – 0 Nasarawa United FC

Wikki Tourists FC 2 – 0 Shooting Stars FC

Ifeanyi Uba FC 2 – 0 Warri Wolves

Manchester City defender Martin Demichelis has signed a one-year contract extension at the club. The Argentina international’s current deal was set to run out at the end of this season. The new one will keep him at the club until the end of 2015/16. Demichelis, 34, has made 30 appearances in all competitions this season. “I want to say that I am really proud and happy to have extended my contract for another year,” he told the club’s website.  Demichelis joined Manchester City in September 2013 from Atletico Madrid for a reported £4.2m.