A Teboho Mokoena free-kick goal gave South Africa a 1-0 victory over Ivory Coast on Tuesday at the Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. Nigeria won Tuesday’s other Group B game as they beat Zambia 3-1 at the tournament that also decides the three African teams for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Former Nigeria international Dickson Etuhu has been found guilty of attempted match-fixing by a Swedish appeals court. The Court of Appeal in Stockholm said in a release on Wednesday that it was clear that Etuhu and an unnamed former player tried to influence AIK keeper Kyriakos “Kenny” Stamatopoulos to fix a match in Sweden’s top division in 2017.
Belgium’s Gerben Thijssen is in intensive care after being injured in a heavy crash in the first night of racing at the Ghent Six Day. The Lotto Soudal rider, 21, suffered three small brain haemorrhages and fractured three ribs and a collarbone.
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is returning to football after he agreed to become FIFA’s new chief of global football development. The move ends speculation linking the Frenchman, 70, with a return to management as Bayern Munich boss.
Former world number four and Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulková has announced her retirement from tennis. The 30-year-old won eight WTA titles – including the prestigious WTA Finals in 2016 – and in 2014 became the first Slovak to reach a Grand Slam final, losing to Li Na in Melbourne.
The Spanish Super Cup tournament will be played in Saudi Arabia in January 2020, the national football association (RFEF) said on Monday. The four-team event features Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Valencia at the 62,000-capacity King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah.
Premier League referees are to be encouraged to make more use of pitchside VAR monitors, referees’ chief Mike Riley is expected to tell clubs later this week. All 20 top-flight clubs will be represented at a meeting with Riley in central London on Thursday.
Hertha Berlin marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by knocking over a replica before their Bundesliga game on Saturday. The wall had separated Soviet-controlled East Berlin and capitalist West Berlin during the Cold War.
Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson will not face Liverpool, having failed to recover from the muscular problem that led to his substitution against Atalanta in midweek. He will be replaced by Claudio Bravo, who was sent off in that game, while David Silva is not expected to be fit.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is set to return to Italian club AC Milan at the end of his spell with LA Galaxy, says Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber. The Swedish striker joined the Los Angeles side in March 2018 but his deal runs out at the end of the year.
An armed mugger who tried to rob Arsenal footballers Mesut Özil and Sead Kolasinac has been jailed. Ashley Smith (left) admitted attempting to steal luxury watches worth £200,000 from the pair in Hampstead, north-west London. A second man, Jordan Northover (right), 26, has also admitted his role in the robbery.
United States striker Alex Morgan says she wants to play at the Olympics – three months after she is due to give birth. Morgan, 30, finished joint-top scorer at the 2019 Women’s World Cup and is viewed as one of the world’s best female players.
Australia’s women’s football team, the Matildas, have struck a historic deal which will see them earn equal pay and entitlements on many key measures. Football Federation Australia (FFA) said it means the top male and female players will be on the same pay scale.
Eintracht Frankfurt fans have been banned from entering the Belgium city of Liege for Thursday’s Europa League group game against Standard Liege. UEFA banned Eintracht from selling tickets to its fans for the game, after crowd trouble in their 1-0 away win against Vitoria Guimaraes on 3 October.
Supporters of Tunisia’s Club Africain have donated more than US$450,000 in one day as they battle to save the financially-troubled club – including one blind fan who chose to forego the medicine he had been saving in order to help his beloved team.
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min’s red card for his tackle on Andre Gomes has been overturned by the Football Association. The tackle led to the Everton midfielder’s horrific ankle injury. Referee Martin Atkinson initially showed Son a yellow card before he changed it to red.
Liverpool will field different teams in two separate competitions within 24 hours after the EFL announced the date of their Carabao Cup quarter-final with Aston Villa will not be changed. The Reds will play at Villa on 17 December at 19:45 GMT and will compete in the Club World Cup semi-final in Qatar the following day at 17:30 GMT.
Dutch Olympic athlete Madiea Ghafoor has been jailed for eight and a half years after being found guilty of drug smuggling and trafficking. The 27-year-old, who competed in the 4x400m relay at Rio 2016, had £2m worth of drugs in the boot of her car when she was stopped at a routine border check near Elten in Germany in June.
Cardiff City face a three-window transfer ban if they fail to pay Nantes the first instalment of the £15m fee for striker Emiliano Sala. Sala, 28, died in a plane crash in January while travelling from France to join his new club. FIFA has released the full reasons for its September ruling ordering Cardiff to pay the first 6m euros. Cardiff will lodge an appeal against the decision in the next two weeks to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Bayern Munich have parted company with manager Niko Kovac. The decision follows Saturday’s 5-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, which was the German champions’ second in 10 Bundesliga games this season. Kovac leaves with Bayern fourth in the table, four points behind leaders Borussia Monchengladbach.
Naija Sports Crib 