England hosted and won the world cup in 1966. Less than four months before the tournament was due to begin, the English FA was left panicking over the theft of the World Cup trophy. The Jules Rimet trophy was on display at a stamp exhibition in central London but on Sunday, 20 March – just the second day it was on show – it was taken from its case in Westminster’s Central Hall. With the security guards absent on a break, the exact circumstances of how the cup was taken remain a mystery. “The idea there were people by the display case all the time is just not true,” said Doctor Martin Atherton, author of the book ‘The Theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy’. “The whole thing was amateurish – the fact the FA let the trophy out, the security arrangements and the whole recovery of the trophy. “It came out one of the security guards was 74 years old or something. The security was quite inadequate. “We think two people broke in through an emergency exit, took the trophy and walked out again.”

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An EgyptAir airliner has been hijacked and forced to divert to Larnaca airport on the south coast of Cyprus. Flight MS181, an Airbus A320 carrying 81 passengers from Alexandria to Cairo, was taken over after a passenger said he was wearing an explosives belt. EgyptAir said negotiations had resulted in the release of all those on board apart from the crew and four passengers. No demands have been made by those in control of the plane. Larnaca airport has been closed and scheduled flights diverted elsewhere.

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Nigeria’s U-17 female team, Flamingoes, have qualified for the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup billed for Jordan from September 30 to October 21. Bala Nikyu’s girls recorded a 1-0 victory over hosts South Africa at the Makhulong Stadium to qualify 7-0 on aggregate. Bantwana needed to score seven goals to go through to the World Cup without a reply from the Flamingoes but Nigeria’s captain, Rasheedat Ajibade’s 28th minute goal put paid to any hopes of the hosts pulling off a surprise turn-around. Africa has three slots at the U17 Women’s World Cup and South Africa was hoping to snatch one of the spots. Maude Khumalo’s charges tried hard in the second half to go out with pride but a resolute Nigeria defence snuffed out any chances the locals had of scoring a consolation goal. Nigeria has never failed to qualify for the competition since it began in 2008.

The Chairman/CEO of Capital Oil and Gas and the proprietor of FC Ifeanyi Ubah, Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah has given out a cheque of $5000 to the Super Eagles of Nigeria players as motivation for them to go all out and win Eqypt on Tuesday in Alexandria to put their AFCON qualification in the right path. Uba had promised the Nigerian team the said amount should they win Egypt in the matched played last Friday in Kaduna but despite the game ending 1-1 apiece, Uba still went ahead to redeem his pledge. He also handed out the sum of $3000 to the team officials.

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Happy Easter to all our readers. Have fun!

The Super Eagles were denied the chance of going top on the standings in Group G of the 2017 AFCON Qualifiers after they were forced to a 1-1 draw by the Pharaohs of Egypt at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna on Friday. Oghenekaro Etebo got the only goal for Nigeria on the hour-mark after a goal mouth scramble that finally broke the resilience of the Egyptians who looked very much contented with a draw. But what was looking like a fair result was overturned when Roma’s Mohammed Salah got the equaliser in the 90th minute. The second leg comes up in four days’ time in Alexandria.

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The interim head coach of the Nigeria U-23 team, Fatai Amoo has said the display of his boys against host Brazil has justified their emergence as the African champions, and shown that they really can win gold at the Olympics in Rio come August this year. Speaking after the Dream Team defeated Brazil by a lone goal, Coach Amoo admitted that his boys struggled to contain the hosts in the first half as they launched their attack from the left wing, but the team was able to redress that in the second half. “The first half was very difficult for us, but then it is expected, having in mind that we scored an early goal and as such it was expected they would come all out against us to get the equalizer, but I must give my boys a lot of credit for holding their own. “The boys did a great job if you recall that 80 percent of the boys we brought here were just meeting one another for the first time, and we needed to see all of them in match situation. I’m happy we have seen them and this is hopiing that as we play more friendlies, we would discover more players that will compete for jerseys before the Olympics proper.

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Netherlands footballing great Johan Cruyff has died of cancer aged 68. Cruyff, who made his name as a forward with Ajax and Barcelona, was European footballer of the year three times. He won three consecutive European Cups with Ajax from 1971, coached Barcelona to their first European Cup triumph in 1992 and helped the Dutch reach the 1974 World Cup final, where they lost 2-1 to West Germany. The Dutch FA said: “Words can hardly be found for this huge loss.” It added that Cruyff was the “greatest Dutch footballer of all time and one of the world’s best ever” and wished everyone “a lot of strength in this difficult time”.

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Footballer Adam Johnson has been jailed for six years for grooming and sexual activity with a girl aged 15. Sentencing the ex-Sunderland player, Judge Jonathan Rose told him he had abused a position of trust and caused his victim “severe psychological harm”. The judge told Johnson, 28, he had engaged in sexual activity with her knowing she was under 16. It can now be reported police found extreme pornography involving animals on Johnson’s laptop. The matter is not being taken any further, Bradford Crown Court heard. The sexual activity with the girl happened in the footballer’s Range Rover in January 2015 after he had groomed her using social media apps.

Chelsea star, Mikel Obi, has been named the new Super Eagles captain barely 24 hours to the crucial games against the Pharaohs of Egypt in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series. While Mikel had been one of the most senior players in the national team, he was overlooked by former coach, Sunday Oliseh, who instead opted for Ahmed Musa as replacement for Vincent Enyeama as the Eagles skipper. However, interim boss, Samson Siasia, at a press conference in Kaduna on Thursday, upturned the table for Mikel to get the captain’s armband.

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We want you guys to relax with these few pictures from the Super Eagles camp ahead of the all important double leg African Nations Cup qualifier against Egypt. The first leg is tomorrow (25th March) in Kaduna. Good luck to the Siasia coached team.

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Nigeria international Asisat Oshoala made a goal-scoring debut in Arsenal Ladies 3-1 victory against Reading FC Women on Wednesday night at Meadow Park. The Nigerian’s first appearance for the Gunners few days after her switch from Liverpool Ladies became a reality as she started against Reading in her second season in the English Women’s Super League.

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Wednesday 23^rd March, 2016:

Abia Warriors 0 – 0 Wikki Tourists

MFM 1 – 1 Kano Pillars

Niger Tornadoes 2 – 1 Shooting Stars

Rivers United 0 – 0 Sunshine Stars

Giwa 1 – 1 El Kanemi Warriors

Ifeanyi Uba 1 – 0 Heartland

Akwa United 0 – 0 Warri Wolves

Lobi Stars 3 – 1 Enugu Rangers

Belgium’s friendly against Portugal next Tuesday has been moved from Brussels to Leiria. The Royal Belgian Football Association announced on Wednesday morning that the game had been cancelled because of security fears following the terrorist attacks in Brussels. A statement on belgianfootball.be read: “For security reasons and precaution, the City of Brussels has asked the Belgian FA to cancel the match Belgium – Portugal on 29 March. “The match of our Belgian Red Devils against Portugal, scheduled Tuesday night at the King Baudouin Stadium, will not take place.” But several hours later the Belgian FA issued another statement announcing the game would be played after all but in Portugal. “Given the dramatic events of yesterday, in these difficult times to allow mass events to take place safely and given the terror level 4 at national level, the game against Portugal will not take place in Brussels next Tuesday,” it read. “This was decided today in coordination with the authorities and the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF).

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UEFA are in talks with clubs to change the format of the Champions League from 2018. One of the proposals under discussion is an expanded knockout round followed by a group stage made up of eight teams in two groups. If the proposal were to be adopted there would be more games between the so-called ‘big clubs’. Each team in the group stage would be guaranteed a total of 14 matches home and away. The format would also allow more clubs from Europe’s biggest leagues to qualify for the competition. AC Milan, who have won the European Cup seven times, have not played in the Champions League since 2014 and current Premier League champions Chelsea are likely to miss out next season. A new format is being discussed to head-off the threat of a breakaway Super League. Some of Europe’s leading clubs, represented by the European Clubs’ Association, want a new format to increase revenues and make the competition more exciting.

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Liverpool striker Christian Benteke is seemingly a bit baffled as to why he’s been playing so little under Jurgen Klopp. “Some team-mates have said that I was lucky with the arrival of Klopp, because I certainly would play,” he told Belgium’s Sport/Voetbalmagazine. “When your coach says he wanted to take you to Dortmund and a little later you sit at the same club and he ignores you it is hard to understand.”

Novak Djokovic has apologised for any offence he may have caused with his comments regarding prize money for men and women in tennis and sought to clarify what he meant. The world number one caused a stir at the weekend when, following controversial remarks made by Indian Wells chief executive Raymond Moore on the subject, he said men should be awarded more prize money than women. Speaking after his victory in the BNP Paribas Open final at Indian Wells, the Serbian said women deserve the money they get, but men should fight for more because their game attracts more viewers.

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