Nigeria international Gbolahan Salami has joined Finnish club Kuopio Palloseura (KuPS) to team up with his Warri Wolves teammate, Azubuike Egwuekwe. The club announced on their website that the ex-Shooting Stars forward has signed a year’s deal with an option of another year. The 24-year-old was the top scorer in Nigeria league in the 2014/2015 season with 17 goals. He opted to stay out of CHAN 2016 so as to finalise his move to Europe. Last year January, Salami moved to Serbian club  Red Star Belgrade, but returned to Nigeria to join Warri Wolves after the club could not pay his wages. – Vanguard.

Seven-time Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) champions Enyimba will play their home fixtures in the 2016 CAF Champions League at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt. The Enyimba Stadium in Aba is currently under renovation and it seems increasingly unlikely that the refurbishment will be completed in time for the club’s opening game in the competition on February 28. Enyimba are to face Ugandan club, Vipers SC, in the preliminary round of this year’s edition of Africa’s premier club competition with the first leg set to be held on the weekend of February 12-14 at the 5 000-seat Bunamwaya Stadium in Uganda.-Vanguard.

Today February 5 happens to be birthday of so many football stars namely:

Cristiano Ronaldo – Real Madrid and Portugal forward, born 1985.

Carlos Tevez – Former Manchester City and United striker, born 1984.

Vedran Corluka – former Spurs now Lokomotiv Moscow defender, born 1986.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst – Former Arsenal and Barcelona man, born 1975.

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Ajax Cape Town withdraw from the Confederation Cup because of concerns over how they will travel to face Angolan side Sagrada Esperanca. The South Africans had been scheduled to play Sagrada Esperanca in Dundo on Saturday but now face a three-year ban from continental club competition. Ajax insist Angolan officials have refused to provide details of domestic travel arrangements for the match. And the club says it has pulled out to ensure the safety of its players. The South African club revealed it has been unable to obtain insurance for their trip to Dundo, which is some 1120km from the Angolan capital Luanda, because they do not know on which airline they will travel. Confederation of African Football rules state that internal domestic travel is the responsibility of the host association but repeated attempts by Ajax to find out how they will travel between Luanda and Dundo have produced no information.

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Jiangsu Suning have agreed a deal to sign Alex Teixeira from Shakhtar Donetsk for €50m, the Ukrainian club have announced on their website. Liverpool had been closely linked with a move for the 26-year-old Brazilian during the January transfer window and Shakhtar said they rejected a €24m offer from the Premier League club for the attacking midfielder, with their asking price being €70m for a summer transfer. However, Shakhtar have now announced a deal with the Chinese side Jiangsu. A statement on shakhtar.com read: “Shakhtar Donetsk and Jiangsu Suning FC have agreed on all the necessary formalities for the transfer of Alex Teixeira to the Chinese club. Transfer fee for the Brazilian midfielder is €50m. Shakhtar thank Alex for the time spent in the team and wish him success at his new club.”

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Lazio have been fined 50,000 euros after their match against Napoli on Wednesday was temporarily halted following racist chants. The Rome club will also have to close three sections of the Stadio Olimpico ground for their next two Serie A home games. The match was stopped for three minutes in the second half after some fans aimed racist chants at Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly. League leaders Napoli won 2-0. Senegal international Koulibaly, 24, praised referee Massimiliano Irrati for stopping the match.

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The Argentina Football Association have been handing out bans to 15 players after a friendly between Gimnasia and Estudiantes erupted into a brawl. Rival players punched and kicked each other during Sunday’s abandoned match. Three Estudiantes players were banned for eight games, while three of the Gimnasia side were banned for five matches. Another nine players from both sides were suspended for between one and four games. The Argentine government had already punished 12 players for their involvement.

Top Ten:

1. Belgium

2. Argentina

3. Spain

4. Germany

5. Chile

6. Brazil

7. Portugal

8. Colombia

9. England

10. Austria

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Wednesday 3 February, 2016:

Everton 3 – 0 Newcastle 

Watford 0 – 0 Chelsea

World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has still not decided if he will fight Wladimir Klitschko again and could quit boxing. Fury upset Klitschko to claim the WBA, IBF and WBO titles in November and is due to take on the Ukrainian in a rematch in May or June.  I’m struggling to get motivated Fury told BBC. “I could walk away. I could just sail into the sunset unbeaten with all the belts and live a normal life.” He added: “All that I would be boxing for is money and I always thought to myself I never want to let sport become about money.” Continue reading →

DR Congo qualified for the final of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) by beating Guinea 5-4 on penalties. After an entertaining goalless 90 minutes Jonathan Bolingi scored what he thought was the winner in the first period of extra-time. But Guinea’s Ibrahima Sory Sankhon made it 1-1 in the final seconds of the game to send the tie to penalties. In the shootout Congo’s Ley Matampi saved from Mohamed Youla to send Florent Ibenge’s side to the final. The victory secures DR Congo’s place in Sunday’s final to decide the winners of CHAN 2016. They will face either Mali or Ivory Coast, who meet in Thursday’s semi-final.

Former Manchester City and AC Milan midfielder Nigel de Jong has joined Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole at Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy. Netherlands international De Jong, 31, had his contract cancelled by Milan last week after three and a half years in Italy. “He’ll add qualities on the field that can strengthen our team in all areas,” said Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena. De Jong helped City win the Premier League in 2012 before moving to Milan. He also played in the 2011 FA Cup final as City defeated Stoke at Wembley. De Jong has earned 80 caps for the Netherlands and helped them reach the 2010 World Cup final, where he escaped punishment for a chest-high challenge on Spain’s Xabi Alonso. LA Galaxy confirmed De Jong would be added to their roster on receipt of international clearance.

Football fans will be begging Olivier Giroud not to score against Barcelona in the Champions League after Piers Morgan made a promise no one wants him to keep. The outspoken Arsenal fan vowed to perform a naked conga if Giroud scored against the Spanish giants in a rant bemoaning Arsene Wenger’s side. Speaking on Talksport, Morgan said: “If Giroud scores against Barcelona, I will do a naked conga around the Emirates Stadium. You heard it here first!” A lot of fans quickly tweeted they would rather someone else got the goals in the upcoming Champions League tie.

Bristow has released a statement.

It was earlier reported that a Bristow helicopter with nine passengers on board has gone missing. The 5N BJQ helicopter with a 2-man crew was said to be en route Lagos from Port-Harcourt. It was flying at 1 500 feet before crash landing. The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) who confirmed the incident, said the whereabouts of the helicopter is yet unknown. This is happening months after another Bristow Helicopter crash landed into the lagoon at the Oworonshoki area of Lagos state. Continue reading →

Roger Federer will be out of action for up to a month after undergoing knee surgery. The 17-time grand slam champion suffered the injury the day after his Australian Open run ended in the semi-finals at the hands of Novak Djokovic. “While this is an unfortunate setback, I feel grateful that up until now I have remained mostly healthy throughout my career,” the 34-year-old Swiss said in a statement. Federer has withdrawn from the World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam (8-21 Feb) and the Dubai Tennis Championships in Dubai (22-27 Feb).

Tuesday 2 February, 2016:

Arsenal 0 – 0 Southampton

Leicester 2 – 0 Liverpool

Norwich 0 – 3 Tottenham

Sunderland 0 – 1 Man City

West Ham 2 – 0 Aston Villa

Crystal Palace 1 – 2 Bournemouth

Man Utd 3 – 0 Stoke

West Brom 1 – 1 Swansea

Prosecutors in Brazil are recommending that football star Neymar be charged over four counts of fraud in relation to a tax case prior to his transfer to Barcelona in 2013. It is alleged that companies were set up as fronts in order for the striker to pay a lower rate of tax. Officials in Brazil say the allegations against the Barcelona striker cover a seven-year period from 2006. The allegations are separate from a case heard in Spain on Tuesday. Neymar appeared in court in Madrid in connection with fraud allegations surrounding his transfer. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

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Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande have broken the Asian transfer record by signing Atletico Madrid’s Jackson Martinez for £31m. The 29-year-old Colombia striker has signed a four-year deal and will join winter training in Dubai on 9 February following a physical examination. He scored only three goals in 22 appearances for Atletico following his £24.8m move from Porto last summer. Martinez is the latest high-profile player to move to China this year. Former Chelsea midfielder Ramires and ex-Serie A duo Gervinho and Fredy Guarin are among the other big Chinese signings in 2016. The transfer of Ramires to Jiangsu Suning last week – for what was believed to be around £25m – set the previous Asian record. Martinez’s manager at Guangzhou is former Chelsea and Brazil boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, while former Tottenham midfielder Paulinho and compatriot Robinho will be his new team-mates.

It is reported that INEC has re-scheduled the Rivers State rerun elections to fill the vacant positions of Senators, Members of House of Representatives and Members of the State House of Assembly to March 19, 2016. While addressing civil servants the governor spoke about the upcoming elctions. Gov. Nyesom Wike was quoted in Vanguard as saying : “Anyone who plans to rig an election is an armed robber and should be treated as such. If you are coming to rig an election in the state, first prepare your Will before embarking on the journey.  Inform your wife or husband and go ahead to say your last prayer.”

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