Former world number one Maria Sharapova has revealed she failed a drugs test at the Australian Open. The Russian, 28, tested positive for meldonium, a substance she has been taking since 2006 for health issues. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) said the five-time Grand Slam champion would be provisionally suspended from 12 March. Sportswear company Nike said it was halting its relationship with her until the investigation was complete. “I did fail the test and take full responsibility for it,” said Sharapova, who won Wimbledon as a 17-year-old in 2004. Sharapova has been the highest-earning female athlete in the world in each of the past 11 years, according to the Forbes list. With career earnings from tennis alone amounting to almost £26m, she claimed she had taken meldonium “for the past 10 years” after being given it by “my family doctor” but had known the drug as mildronate. “A few days ago, after I received a letter from the ITF, I found out it also has another name of meldonium, which I did not know,” she said.

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A man was killed after arguing with a friend over whether Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo was the best footballer in the world. Nigerian national Michael Chukwuma, 21, stabbed 34-year-old compatriot Obinna Durumchukwu in a Mumbai suburb, Indian police said. The incident took place following a party on Saturday night. “They were discussing football players. One is a fan of Messi and the other was for Ronaldo,” a police inspector said. “During the conversation a quarrel has taken place. The deceased threw a glass into the face of the accused person. The glass broke and caused small injuries. “After that the accused took the broken glass and assaulted the deceased person who died due to heavy bleeding.” Argentina international Messi, 28, is a five-time winner of the Ballon d’Or – the annual award given to the world’s best player by the governing body FIFA. Portugal captain Ronaldo, 31, has won the accolade three times.

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Juan Mata has posted his weekly blog on kicca.com and is talking about getting sent off at West Brom – two bookings in three minutes – as United lost 1-0. “After almost 500 games as a professional player, I was sent off for the first time in my career. As you can imagine, it’s not easy for me,” writes the Reds midfielder. “I have the feeling that both decisions were rigorous; that, in many occasions, we see more serious fouls that are not penalised in such a way, but at the same time I could have avoided them and I take responsibility. “It also leaves me with a bad taste for the supporters who travelled to the stadium, and for those who were watching the game from home, but I must carry on as always.”

Striker Christian Benteke has vowed to “fight till the end” to save his Liverpool career. The £32.5m summer signing has not started in the last six matches and told Belgian newspaper HLN: “It’s not the easiest of situations but you have to be ready. “In a career you’ll never have only top moments, also your difficult times. “It’s in the most difficult situations that the real warriors, the tough men and determined guys stand up. You have to be up for it. I have to take every chance, every minute the manager gives me: one minute, five minutes, 10 minutes, half an hour. “I’ve still enough ambition and enough character to fight in difficult moments. I don’t give up easily. I fight till the end.”

That’s the spirit Christian!

Eintracht Frankfurt have sacked manager Armin Veh after seven matches without a win has left them fighting relegation. Veh, 55, was appointed last summer but the club has won only five Bundesliga games and currently lie third from bottom in Germany’s top flight. “We want to give the team a new impulse for the final matches of the season,” said Eintracht chief executive Heribert Bruchhagen. Veh led Stuttgart to the 2007 Bundesliga title.

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Manchester United are front-runners to sign £20million-rated Watford striker Odion Ighalo. But with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger also keen, the Nigerian looks likely to be the subject of a summer tug-of-war. Man United are in the box seat and, intriguingly, Sunday People Sport understands they will press ahead with plans to sign the player whether Louis van Gaal or Jose Mourinho is in charge at Old Trafford for next season. Mourinho in particular is an admirer of the 26-year-old Ighalo, who has shot to prominence in the Premier League this season.

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Sunday 6th March, 2016:

Crystal Palace 1 – 2 Liverpool

West Brom 1 – 0 Man United

Hon. James Ocholi SAN, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Labour just had a fatal accident about 40 kilometres away from Kaduna, on his way to Abuja. According to the report, Ocholi reportedly died on the spot. The accident claimed Ocholi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria from Kogi State, and his son.

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Saturday 5th March, 2016:

Tottenham 2 – 2 Arsenal

Chelsea 1 – 1 Stoke

Everton 2 – 3 West Ham

Man City 4 – 0 Aston Villa

Newcastle 1 – 3 Bournemouth

Southampton 1 – 1 Sunderland

Swansea 1 – 0 Norwich

Watford 0 – 1 Leicester

Goal-line technology will be used during this season’s Champions League and Europa League finals. UEFA’s executive committee met on Friday at the governing body’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland where it was decided the technology should be used for the showpiece matches, which will be played in Milan on May 28 and in Basle on May 18 respectively. A decision had already been announced in January that the technology would be in place for Euro 2016 this summer and in next season’s Champions League from the play-off round onwards. At that time UEFA also said it would look at the feasibility of introducing goal-line technology from the group stage of the Europa League starting in 2017-18.

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West Ham’s Dimitri Payet has been named Premier League Player of the Year at the London Football Awards. France midfielder Payet, signed in the summer from Marseille, beat off competition from Tottenham’s Harry Kane, Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil, Chelsea’s Willian and Watford’s Odion Ighalo to land the award at a ceremony in London on Thursday night. Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino was named Manager of the Year, ahead of Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger, Slaven Bilic of West Ham and Watford’s Quique Sanchez Flores. Spurs’ 19-year-old midfielder Dele Alli, who has established himself as an England international in his first season in the top flight, was named Young Player of the Year, with Arsenal’s Petr Cech Goalkeeper of the Year and Fulham striker Moussa Dembele Football League Player of the Year. Chelsea captain John Terry was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to London Football award, while Chelsea’s Eni Aluko was named the Women’s Player of the Year. The awards were judged by a panel of former players, journalists and representatives of sporting bodies.

Ex-Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue is expected to finalise a short-term deal at Sunderland in the next 24 hours after the ex-Arsenal man’s experience proved sufficiently tempting for Sam Allardyce. Free agent Eboue has spent more than three weeks training with Sunderland and successfully completed 90 minutes for the Black Cats Under-21s earlier this week. The right-back has been without a club since leaving Galatasary at the end of last season, with that inevitably prompting reservations about the trialist’s fitness levels. But Allardyce believes Eboue has sufficiently improved his conditioning during his time at the Academy of Light and has offered the 32-year-old a contract until the end of the season, which is on the verge of being rubber-stamped. Allardyce said: “We will give him a deal until the end of the season, if we can sort it out. “He has got a lot of experience and has played football at the highest level, particularly in this country. “We think we can get him fit enough, he has already got 50-60% fitter since he has been with us. “He is a bit short on game practice, so he has to be careful there, but from an experience point of view he could be a key element.”

Barcelona broke a 27-year-old Spanish record by going 35 games unbeaten in all competitions with a 5-1 thrashing of nine-man Rayo Vallecano. Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick – his 35th – as the hosts fell apart after Ivan Rakitic’s opener. Diego Llorente and Manuel Iturra were both dismissed for Rayo, whose only goal was scored by Manucho. Luis Suarez also had a penalty saved before Arda Turan completed the rout to move Barcelona eight points clear. Suarez’s miss from the spot means Barcelona have failed to convert half of their 18 penalties this season. Messi has scored 33 goals this season and now has as many hat-tricks as Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo. “I’m pleased with how the season has progressed,” said Enrique. “There is attitude, intensity and finishing. When Barca manages to be like that, you create danger from the first minute and it’s hard to stop them.”

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech will be out for three to four weeks with a calf injury, says manager Arsene Wenger. The 33-year-old is likely to miss at least four league games, plus the Champions League trip to Barcelona and FA Cup replay against Hull. He was injured when he ran back to his area after going up for a corner in Wednesday’s 2-1 home defeat by Swansea. The Gunners are third in the table, six points adrift of leaders Leicester, and three behind second-placed Tottenham.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria interim coach, Samson Siasia, has invited 42 players for camping towards the double header AFCON qualifier against the Pharaohs of Egypt coming up later this month. The first leg of the encounter will take place on the 25th of March in Kaduna, and the return leg in Egypt 4 days later. 22 home-based players and 20 foreign-based players have been invited by the coach for the matches.

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*Cape Verde leads Africa.

World 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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Ex-England footballer Adam Johnson has been found guilty of one count of sexual activity with a girl aged 15. The jury at Bradford Crown Court found Johnson guilty of a charge of sexual touching, but not guilty on a charge relating to another sexual act. The former Sunderland player had previously admitted grooming the girl and one charge of sexual activity. Judge Jonathan Rose has warned Johnson he faces jail and told him to “say goodbye to your daughter”. In a statement, Johnson’s victim said she had been through the “hardest year” of her life. She said meeting her hero felt “surreal” at first but she now feels “used and let down” by Johnson. She said: “I have had to face so much abuse after he claimed his innocence and I was made out to be a liar. “What happened in his car has turned my life upside down. “There are people who have made assumptions about me and this has been hard to deal with… Him being found guilty shows everyone I was telling the truth.”

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European soccer’s ruling body UEFA has banned Galatasaray from European competition for one year over its failure in following financial fair play regulations, UEFA said in January that the club had failed to comply with its rules governing the permitted level of financial losses, paving the way for a potential ban from its Club Financial Control Body (CFCB). The Turkish club has also been ordered to limit the overall aggregate cost of the employee benefits expenses of all of its players'” for the financial years 2016 and 2017, UEFA said. Galatasaray will be excluded from the Champions League or Europa League if it qualifies either this season or next. The club must also control its wage bill. Galatasaray say club directors are meeting and examining the text of the decision before issuing a statement later today.