Newfanzone BPL Team of the week (Week 23)

The lads at the Newfanzone have chosen this weeks BPL Team of the Week, do you agree? Or have you got your own team of the week? If so please send mail to fanzone.fans@gmail.com, you can also follow @Newfanzone on Twitter and like our Facebook page

Formation: 4-4-2 Diamond

Goal Keeper: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)

Lloris had a standout performance at the weekend making a lot of point blank saves to help his team get a win.

Right Back: Hector Bellerin (Arsenal)

The young Arsenal defender continues to impress in the right back position and capped off his outstanding performance against Aston Villa with his first Arsenal goal.

Left Back: Patrick Van Aanholt (Sunderland)

The Dutch defender gave a man of the match performance against Burnley,co-ordinating in defence and building up attack throughout the game. He created the assist for Sunderland’s second goal of the match.

Centre defender: Kurt Zouma (Chelsea)

The young French defender justified the faith his manager has in him with standout performance against the league champion Manchester City. He was commanding in defence throughout the game winning all five duels he competed in on Saturday.

Centre defender: Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle United)

Coloccini had an excellent performance at the KC stadium on Saturday. Fabricio Coloccini’s clearance off the line was a telling moment in the game,as he helped his team keep their first clean sheet since November.

Defensive midfielder: Daley Blind (Manchester United)

The Dutch midfielder had an outstanding game at Old trafford at the weekend,building up attack and co-ordinating the midfield. He gave an assist to Robin van Persie with a sublime pass and was credited with the assist for Wes Morgan’s own goal.

Midfielder: Mesut Ozil (Arsenal)

The German midfielder was back to his best and was the tormentor in chief of the Aston Villa side. He scored and created a lot of attacking moves throughout the match.

Midfielder: Christian Eriksen (Tottenham)

The Danish midfielder continues to give the Spurs fans something to rejoice about,his sublime free kick goal was a delight to watch.

Attacking midfielder: Raheem Sterling (Liverpool)

It was another outstanding performance by the English midfielder and he capped it off with a lovely goal.

Forward: Jonathan Walters (Stoke City)

It was a terrific performance by the Republic of Ireland striker scoring a perfect hat-trick (left foot, right foot, head) against QPR at the Britannia stadium at the weekend

Forward: Harry Kane (Tottenham)

The young English striker continues to be a revelation this season scoring goals with ease. He scored a lovely brace against West Bromwich Albion at the weekend

WBSC Appoints Kenyon & Kenyon’s Colbert As General Counsel, Cuba’s Castro As Global Ambassador

The WBSC, baseball and softball’s world ruling body, at its executive meeting in the Olympic Capital this past Saturday, appointed Edward Colbert of the Washington D.C.-based law firm Kenyon & Kenyon as WBSC General Counsel and Dr. Antonio Castro as WBSC Global Ambassador.

Colbert, a partner at Kenyon & Kenyon, considered by Fortune 500 companies as one of the most elite intellectual property law firms in the world, has significant experience in international intellectual property licensing and acquisitions, and manages the trademark portfolios of leading retailers, companies and organizations worldwide.

Colbert helped create and shape the United States Olympic Committee licensing program and was involved in the licensing and enforcement of Olympic marketing rights in the United States and certain related global rights for the U.S. Olympic teams. He serves as an arbitrator on the International Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne and for the American Arbitration Association.

World Baseball Softball Confederation

WBSC Global Ambassador Castro, who has been a strong advocate of sports diplomacy and baseball and softball’s bid to return to the Olympic stage, has served as an executive committee member of the International Baseball Federation since 2009 and will have an expanded role within the WBSC, particularly as the geopolitical landscape evolves, and will have a seat (without vote) on the WBSC Executive Board.

Castro, who was present for WBSC’s meetings in Lausanne, was also a member of WBSC’s official presenting team in which baseball and softball finished second in voting — only behind wrestling — for a place in the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games, a vote that took place at the International Olympic Committee session in Buenos Aires, Argentina in September 2013.

The WBSC Executive Committee also appointed Italy’s Vincenzo La Rocca as a member of the WBSC Legal Commission. La Rocca oversaw legal proceedings at the first-ever WBSC Congress last year, which formalised the historic union of baseball’s and softball’s two independent international sport federations.

Castro, Colbert and La Rocca will assume their positions within the WBSC leadership immediately.

TOP CHINESE ATHLETES MARK 200-DAY COUNTDOWN TO IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BEIJING 2015

With 200 days to go until the Chinese capital hosts the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015, seven leading athletes have been made ambassadors of the championships, which will run from 22-30 August.

Three of the seven ambassadors appeared at a press conference on Tuesday (3). Liu Xiang, the 2004 Olympic 110m hurdles champion, gave a short but pertinent speech to invite spectators from all over the world. “Athletics is the mother of other sports,” he said. “Let’s throw ourselves into her arms.”

Chen Ding, the Olympic 20km race walk champion, is aiming to win his first world title in Beijing this August. “The World Championships is always exciting,” he said. “And competing on my home soil for my country is going to be an unforgettable experience.”

Wang Yu, the 2.33m high jumper, hopes to compete at this year’s World Championships without any added stress. “I am going to invite my roommates and classmates to cheer for me on site,” said the World University Games bronze medallist.

Besides Liu, Chen and Wang, the other ambassadors are 100m national record-holder Zhang Peimeng, world indoor long jump silver medallist Li Jinzhe, world and Olympic shot put bronze medallist Gong Lijiao, and 2011 world 20km race walk silver medallist Liu Hong.

TOP CHINESE ATHLETES MARK 200-DAY COUNTDOWN TO IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BEIJING 2015 © Beijing 2015 LOC

Further details of the ticketing policy were revealed at the press conference.

The price of single-day tickets range from ¥50 to ¥1000. Nine-day packages, with prices ranging from ¥1200 to ¥7136, are also provided. School students are offered a concessionary rate of only ¥10. Spectators booking tickets before 3 May will be randomly awarded a gift provided by sponsors of the event.

“The students’ sale is part of the IAAF youth development project,” said Chen Jie, executive vice secretary general of the LOC. “It is the first time in IAAF World Championships history that there has been a preferential policy aimed at students.”

Tickets will soon be available to buy on the official website of the event, iaafbeijing2015.com.

Pyagbara, Alegbe Leave Dolphins

Two players, Christian Pyagbara and Victor Alegbe left the camp of the team yesterday and did not return with them to Port Harcourt after the Super 4 ended in Abuja.

Victor Alegbe played for Dolphins last season from Wikki Tourist and Christian Pyagbara who was at Sharks last year is on the verge of joining the CAF Confederation Cup campaigners.

After an above average showing at the Super 4, both players caught the eyes of the Flying Eagles (U20 team) coaches who requested that they stay back to join their team.

Pyagbara scored one goal for Dolphins at the Super 4, in the 4-1 loss to the Flying Eagles while Victor Alegbe did not get a goal.

Pyagbara Sharks fc of Portharcourt

Meanwhile, Dolphins returned to Port Harcourt on Monday but did go to their Elekahia Estate camp.

They stopped at the Greater Port Harcourt City where they camped before the Super 4 to continue their preparations for next weeks’ game in the CAF Confederation Cup against Leonas Vegetarianos of Equatorial Guinea.

THIRD SEASON OF IAAF INSIDE ATHLETICS LAUNCHED

The IAAF is excited to launch its third season of IAAF Inside Athletics, the online track and field show hosted by Ato Boldon.

There will be 20 episodes in this year’s series and they will be released on the first and third Tuesday of every month, appearing on both the IAAF website and the IAAF World Athletics Club Facebook page.

Each episode will feature a prominent personality within the sport. This week’s episode is the first of a four-part series focusing on the high jump and features world indoor champion Mutaz Essa Barshim.

Subsequent episodes in that mini-series will feature 1968 Olympic champion Dick Fosbury, world record-holder Javier Sotomayor and 1987 world champion Patrik Sjoberg.

IAAF Inside Athletics has been a huge success over the past two years, engaging athletics fans across the world. Individual episodes were regularly seen by more than 60,000 people and several episodes topped 120,000 viewers.

Host Ato Boldon won the world 200m title in 1997 and is now a respected broadcaster, working for television networks around the world.

FA Elections: NFF Warns Against External Influence

The Nigeria Football Federation has reiterated its warning that, in line with the NFF Statutes, there must be no external influence in the conduct of elections into the boards of the Football Associations of the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory.

Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, NFF Acting President, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi made it clear that the Federation would not treat any State that runs foul of this important proviso as a sacred cow.

“We are sending this important message to all the Football Associations of the 36 States and the FCT. Any State where it is found that external influence has played some role will be visited with the full sanctions applicable.

“The Nigeria Football Federation is serious about this. All the Football Associations of the States and the FCT have a duty to observe the guidelines and the stipulations to the letter, in the true spirit of association football,” Akinwunmi said.

Elections into the Boards of the Football Associations of the 36 States and the FCT have been scheduled for 15th – 28th February, 2015, with a number of the States having fixed dates for their elections already.

The Elections Monitoring Committee, headed by Member of the NFF Executive Committee and Chairman of Chairmen, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau, is presently going through documents submitted by the States for the conduct of the elections, including guidelines and delegates’ lists.

Barr Seyi Akinwunmi, NFF 1st Vice President

… emphasizes need for synergy among Leagues, departments

The Nigeria Football Federation has begun concrete moves to ensure synergy between the NFF and the different Leagues affiliated to the NFF, and also among departments within the Federation to guarantee global best practice in organization of matches and competitions in the country.

Commending the organization of the recently-concluded Super Six Tournament held in Abuja, NFF Acting President, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi thanked the League Management Company, Globacom Communications who are the sponsors, the participating teams and of course the fans who came out in their thousands to watch the matches. He stated that the gains of the brilliant organization, and the lessons learnt from whatever shortcomings there were, should be taken on board to guarantee much better organization of matches and championships.

On Monday, Akinwunmi as Chairman of the NFF Organizing Committee, chaired a meeting where the Premier League, National League, Women League and Nationwide League were represented, and which also had in attendance NFF General Secretary, Barrister Musa Amadu, as well as heads of the NFF Technical, Competitions, Marketing and Communications departments, Referees Unit, International, Inter-Clubs, Federation Cup Unit, and Security Committee.

“We must begin to insist on global best practice in everything we do, in organization of matches and carrying out of other assignments. The NFF leadership will begin to frown seriously at the attitude of ‘business as usual’ and people in positions of responsibility must discharge those responsibilities with absolute professionalism.

“Synergy between the NFF and all the Leagues and also among the departments within the NFF that are represented here is key for the real growth of Nigeria football.”

Daniel Bryan’s Quest At Wrestlemania Main Event Back On Track

WWE fans favourite, Daniel Bryan is only one match away from his dream of challenging for the WWE World Heavyweight title at Wrestlemania 31 against Brock Lesnar.

The former champion got his chance on RAW after the Authority decided to respond to fans discontent at Roman Reigns triumph at Royal Rumble. It was decided that instead of Reigns getting an automatic chance to fight Lesnar for the title at Wrestlemania, he will have to cross one more huddle by defeating another opponent at WWE Fast Lane in three weeks.

However, who Reigns would fight at the Fast Lane raised another dispute after Bryan and Seth Rollins both lay claims to the chance. It was later decided that both fighters will face each other later that night on RAW and the winner will go on to fight Reigns at Fast Lane for a shot at the WWE title.

The match between Bryan and Rollins saw the WWE resident YES man at his dominant best, despite the menacing presence of J&J securities and Big Show at ringside, the bearded grappler was on top of the situation the entire night.

Bryan’s case was further helped when Reigns stormed ringside and took out Big Show; he also delivered the Superman punch on Rollins which set the Authority’s chosen one up for the Flying Knee from Bryan for the win.

Sheyi Bello