Pistorious release delayed….

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Oscar Pistorius will not be released from prison on Friday as planned, after South Africa’s justice ministry announced its decision to review the decision. In a statement, the ministry said the decision to release Pistorius 10 months into his five-year sentence was made “prematurely” and with “no legal basis”. Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide in October last year after shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. She would have celebrated her 32nd birthday on Wednesday. The decorated Paralympic athlete now looks set to stay in prison at least until the case has been looked over by South Africa’s correctional supervision and parole review board.

Chelsea agree deal for Barca’s Pedro….

Pedro

Chelsea have agreed a deal with Barcelona to sign winger Pedro for a fee of £21m. The 28-year-old, who was a target for Manchester United, is flying to London to finalise terms on the transfer. The Spain international is a product of the La Liga club’s academy and has scored 99 goals in 326 appearances since his debut in 2008. He will be Chelsea’s second signing in less than a week after the arrival of Ghana defender Baba Rahman.

Kovacic joins Real Madrid….

Mateo Kovacic

Real Madrid have signed midfielder Mateo Kovacic from Inter Milan for an undisclosed fee. The 21-year-old Croatia international has signed a six-year contract at the Bernabeu, where he will be presented to the Real fans on Wednesday. Kovacic scored eight goals and provided 11 assists in 97 games for Inter, whom he joined from Dinamo Zagreb in 2013. Real, who finished second behind Barcelona in La Liga last season, begin the new campaign on Sunday. Kovacic, who has played 21 times for his country, will join countryman Luka Modric at the club.

Pique banned for four games….

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Barcelona centre back Gerard Pique has been banned for four matches after he was sent off for insulting a linesman in Monday’s Spanish Super Cup second leg against Athletic Bilbao. Barca can appeal and may get the sanction reduced, but if that fails the Spain international will miss the the club’s opening four La Liga matches, including Sunday’s trip to play Bilbao and the game at Atletico Madrid on 12 September. Pique apologised for his dismissal via his Twitter account on Tuesday, but denied using insulting language.

Leicester sign Inler….

Gokhan Inler

Leicester have confirmed they have signed Napoli midfielder Gokhan Inler. The 31-year-old, who will cost the Foxes a reported £3m, signed for Napoli from Udinese in 2011. Inler has more than 80 caps for Switzerland and has played for his country at two World Cups and Euro 2008. Foxes boss Claudio Ranieri has been chasing a new midfielder after failing to persuade Esteban Cambiasso to stay at the club, and has already signed N’Golo Kante from Caen to beef up his options.

Sebastian Coe is new IAAF president….

Former Olympic 1500m champion Lord Coe is the new president of the IAAF, the body that governs world athletics. The 58-year-old Briton beat rival Sergey Bubka, a former Olympic pole vault champion, by 115 votes to 92. One of Coe’s first tasks will be to deal with the fall-out from a series of doping allegations to hit athletics. Double Olympic champion Mo Farah and Olympic 1500m silver medallist Steve Cram have backed their countryman to make a positive impact. Following his election, Coe tweeted that, after the birth of his children, this was the most “momentous moment” of his life. The former chairman of London 2012, Coe replaces 82-year-old Senegalese Lamine Diack, who has been in charge for 16 years.

Maradona meets Bennaceur years after 1986 World Cup….

Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona was in Tunisia at the weekend, where he “had a very emotional reunion” with Ali Bennaceur – the referee who took charge of Argentina’s infamous World Cup quarter-final meeting with England at Mexico 1986. “I had bought him an Argentina shirt, with my dedication ‘for Ali, my friend eternal’,” said Diego. The Tunisian official returned the favour by gifting Maradona a picture from that game in which Maradona punched the ball past England’s goalkeeper Peter Shilton and give Argentina the lead.

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Athletic Bilbao win Spanish Super Cup….

Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao won a first trophy in 31 years as a 1-1 draw with Barcelona at the Nou Camp secured the Spanish Super Cup with a 5-1 aggregate victory. Bilbao won the first leg 4-0 but Barcelona threatened a comeback with Lionel Messi’s close-range finish. Barca defender Gerard Pique was sent-off after the break and Aritz Aduriz struck late on to seal it for Bilbao. The visitors had Kike Sola sent-off late on, but the celebrations for Bilbao had already begun. It was ultimately a disappointing display for Barcelona who, despite plenty of possession, failed to threaten often enough.

Diamanti joins Watford….

Alessandro Diamanti

Watford have signed former Italy midfielder Alessandro Diamanti on a season-long loan from Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande. The 32-year-old, who played in the Premier League for West Ham in 2009-10, spent the second half of last season on loan at Serie A side Fiorentina. Diamanti has won 17 international caps and was part of the Italy squad that finished as runners-up at Euro 2012. He becomes Watford’s 12th signing of the summer.

Doping cheat stripped of London gold….

Asli Cakir Alptekin

London 2012 Olympic 1500m champion Asli Cakir Alptekin has been stripped of her gold medal for doping. The Turkish athlete has also been banned for eight years, the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirmed. An appeal by world governing body the IAAF was upheld after the 29-year-old was cleared in Turkey. Straight after the race, Britain’s Lisa Dobriskey, who finished ninth, told BBC Radio 5 live: “I don’t believe I’m competing on a level playing field.” Alptekin served a two-year ban after a positive test as a junior in 2004. Her competitive results obtained since July 2010 have been disqualified after abnormal values were found in blood samples. The case comes amid a series of allegations of doping in athletics made by the Sunday Times and a German broadcaster. Last week the IAAF said it was suspending 28 athletes as a result of suspicious findings in doping tests.

Oliseh makes first foreign pros invitation….

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The Head Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, today released a list of eighteen (18) foreign based professional who would join the home based counterparts for the camping ahead of the game against Tanzania. The match is a 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifier and will be played in Dar es Salaam. The list has some surprise inclusions with English premier league players like Mikel Obi, Victor Moses, Brown Ideye, Victor Anichebe, Odion Ighalo and Osaze Odewingie all missing.

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Prosecutors call for Pistorius murder charges….

Oscar Pistorius

South African prosecutors have filed an appeal calling for Oscar Pistorius to be convicted of murder for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The Olympic and Paralympic athlete was jailed last year after being convicted on the lesser charge of manslaughter over the 2013 killing, and is due to be released from prison later this week. Pistorius’ defence team has until 17 September to file its response.

Chung confirms Fifa presidency bid….

South Korea's Chung Mong-Joon

South Korea’s Chung Mong-Joon says he will run for FIFA president and has pledged to help the governing body clean itself up if he gets elected. “Today FIFA is undergoing a profound crisis. Under these circumstances, the FIFA president must be a crisis manager and a reformer,” said the 63-year-old, who is a former FIFA vice-president. “The problem at FIFA is that those mired in corruption, the only thing they are interested in is hiding the corruption. The real reason FIFA has become such a corrupt organisation is because the same person has been running it for 40 years. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The election to succeed Sepp Blatter takes place on 26 February.

Sergio Ramos extends Real Madrid deal….

Sergio Ramos has been made captain at the Bernabeu

Defender Sergio Ramos has agreed to sign a new five-year contract with Real Madrid. The Spain World Cup winner will join club president Florentino Perez in a signing ceremony on Monday. Manchester United had a £28.6m bid for the 29-year-old defender rejected in June as contract talks stalled. United are now unlikely to sign a new defender before the transfer window closes, while goalkeeper David De Gea, a Real target, is expected to stay. The Old Trafford club have insisted they will only sell the 24-year-old Spain international to the La Liga side for a world-record fee for a goalkeeper, or if Ramos is part of a deal. The current transfer window closes on 1 September. Ramos, who scored an injury-time equaliser as Real beat rivals Atletico Madrid in the 2014 Champions League final, will be contracted to stay at Real until 2020. He is the longest-serving player at the Bernabeu and was made captain by new manager Rafael Benitez in July after goalkeeper Iker Casillas left for Porto. Ramos was signed from Sevilla in 2005 and has 128 caps for Spain, winning two European Championships and the 2010 World Cup.

Nigerian Premier League results….

Saturday 15 August 2015:

Abia Warriors 1 – 0 El-Kanemi

Bayelsa 1 – 1 Enyimba

Sunday 16 August 2015:

Lobi Stars 2 – 1 Taraba

Kwara United 0 – 1 Wikki Tourists

Nasarawa 2 – 0  Heartland

Akwa United 3 – 1 Sharks

Enugu Rangers 2 – 3 Ifeanyi Uba

Kano Pillars 4 – 1 Shooting Stars

Sunshine Stars 4 – 0 Giwa

Warri Wolves 1 – 0 Dolphins

English Premier League results….

Sunday 16 August 2015:

Crystal Palace 1 – 2 Arsenal

Man City 3 – 0 Chelsea

Saturday 15 August 2015:

Southampton 0 – 3 Everton

Sunderland 1 – 3 Norwich

Swansea 2 – 0 Newcastle

Tottenham 2 – 2 Stoke

Watford 0 – 0 West Brom

West Ham 1 – 2 Leicester

Friday 14 August 2015:

Aston Villa 0 – 1 Man Utd

 

Chelsea sign Ghana’s Baba Rahman….

Chelsea's former Augsburg defender Baba Rahman

Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign defender Baba Rahman from Bundesliga side FC Augsburg. The Premier League champions confirmed the move for the Ghana international, 21, on their club website  with Augsburg saying the fee will remain undisclosed. Chelsea had been linked with the left-back after allowing Brazil international Filipe Luis to re-join Atletico Madrid earlier this summer. He said: “I am very happy to sign for one of the biggest clubs in the world.” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, whose side lost 3-0 at Manchester City on Sunday, said: “It is important because he is a left-back, so he can compete with [Cesar] Azpilicueta. “At the same time, Azpilicueta can compete with [Branislav] Ivanovic for the right-back position, so he replaces Filipe Luis in the balance of the squad.” Rahman spent 12 months with Augsburg after signing from SpVgg Greuther Fürth in August 2014, making 31 appearances for the Bavarian club last season as they qualified for the Europa League. He was also a member of Ghana’s Africa Cup of Nations squad which lost in the final to Ivory Coast in February.

Kaka back for Brazil….

Kaka

Kaka will pull on Brazil yellow again after being included in the squad for the friendlies against Costa Rica and US next month. The 33-year-old Orlando City midfielder was left out of the squads for the 2015 Copa America and 2014 World Cup. He will be joined by Paris Saint-Germain forward Lucas and winger Hulk, currently with Zenit St Petersburg, who both earned recalls.

Silva credited with ‘Toure’s goal’….

David Silva and Yaya Toure

After a bout of fun Twitter banter between Yaya Toure and team-mate David Silva on Wednesday over who scored Manchester City’s opening goal in Monday’s 3-0 win over West Brom, it appears that the Premier League’s goal accreditation panel has made the decision for them. Yaya Toure had initially been credited with the goal, but now Premier League has twitted “GOAL ACCREDITATION PANEL @MCFC’s 1st goal against West Brom was in fact a @21LVA goal and has not been credited to @YayaToure” meaning the Silva has the goal. During the said match, a Toure shot appeared to take a slight deflection off David Silva before going through defender Craig Dawson’s legs and trickling over the line. This verdict means that Silva has score City’s opening goal of the season for the past three years!

Dzeko joins Roma on season-long loan….

Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko celebrates scoring

Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko has joined Serie A side Roma on a season-long loan. The Italian club have paid an initial £2.9m, with a further £7.9m due if the move is made permanent. “I came here to win titles with Roma,” Dzeko said. “I can only promise one thing and that is that I will give my best for this club in every game.” The 29-year-old Bosnia-Hercegovina international joined City from Wolfsburg in January 2011 for £27m. He had signed a new four-year contract at Etihad Stadium last summer. However, manager Manuel Pellegrini recently admitted Dzeko was likely to leave following the £49m capture of Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling. Dzeko was City’s leading scorer with 15 goals in 2012-13 and hit 26 more in all competitions as they won the Premier League the following season, but he managed only six goals in 32 appearances last season.