Transfer round up for January 10th 2016

Done deals:

– Bournemouth have completed the signing of Benik Afobe from Wolverhampton Wanderers for an undisclosed fee.

– Monaco have completed the signing of Wagner Love from Corinthians.

Benik Afobe, photo credit: Æthelred
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Today’s reports and rumours:

– According to reports, Barcelona are considering a £50 million summer move for Aaron Ramsey.

– According to reports in Italy, Newcastle United are interested in Sassuolo striker Gregoire Defrel.

– Liverpool have reached an agreement to bring Alexandre Pato to Anfield, according to reports.

– Manchester United are closing in on a £12million January deal for the “Japanese Messi” Yoshinori Muto, according to reports.

– According to reports in England , Jurgen Klopp has become “increasingly frustrated” Daniel Sturridge repeated fitness problems and would consider offers in the region of £25million for the 26-year-old forward.

More details
Chelsea’s Willian (left) and Radamel Falcao,
photo credit: @cfcunofficial (Chelsea Debs) London
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– Chelsea striker Radamel Falcao looks set to stay at Stamford Bridge for the rest of the season after Monaco ruled out taking him back early.

– According to reports in England, Everton will make a £21million January move for Dynamo Kiev winger Andriy Yarmolenko, as the Toffees are worried the 26-year-old will attract big suitors if he impresses with Ukraine at Euro 2016.

– Swansea are poised to make a £4million bid for AC Milan midfielder Nigel de Jong, according to reports.

– Newcastle will make a club-record £18m bid for West Brom striker Saido Berahino this month,according to reports.

– Aston Villa defender Philippe Senderos hopes he can return to Switzerland in the January transfer window, as he looks for regular football again.

– Genoa are lining up a move for out-of-favour Aston Villa striker Libor Kozak, according to reports.

– Swansea City want to bring Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony back to the club, according to reports.

Louis Van Gaal

– Louis van Gaal says Manchester United are unlikely to be active in the January transfer window, and would not be drawn on speculation linking the club with Lazio’s Felipe Anderson.

– According to reports, Premier League side Aston Villa, Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen and Italian club AS Roma are all lining up to sign Arsenal right-back Mathieu Debuchy this month.

– Lille are closing in on the signing of left-sided player Julian Palmieri,according to reports.

– Wolves have submitted an offer for Rennes’s full-back Cheikh M’Bengué, according to L’Équipe.

– Hellas Verona are keen on signing Lyon defender Lindsay Rose, according to reports.

– Bournemouth have bid for Norwich City striker Lewis Grabban, according to Sky Sports sources.

– Fiorentina are considering a swoop for central defender Luis Neto from Zenit St Petersburg, according to reports.

Romelu Lukaku signs for Everton Fc- photo credit evertonfc

– Everton striker Romelu Lukaku, 22, wants to join Paris St-Germain or Real Madrid in the summer rather than Manchester United.

– According to reports, Debreceni forward Norbert Balogh is expected to fly in today for a Palermo medical.

– Sampdoria striker Eder has reportedly turned down a huge offer from Chinese club Jiangsu Suning FC.

– Mauricio Pochettino would not be drawn on speculation linking Andros Townsend with a move away from Tottenham in January.

– Manchester United forward Adnan Januzaj failed to show the necessary desire during his loan spell at Borussia Dortmund, coach Thomas Tuchel has said.

Football tit bits:

Pep guardiola
photo credit: Thomas Rodenbücher
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– Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure’s agent has questioned the credentials of Pep Guardiola and claimed his grandfather could win the league in Spain and Germany.

– Carles Puyol believes it would be a “huge injustice” if Lionel Messi did not win an unprecedented fifth Ballon d’Or on Monday.

– Real Madrid’s midfielder Luka Modric believes Saturday’s 5-0 drubbing of Deportivo La Coruna in La Liga in Zinedine Zidane’s debut as the club’s manager shows the former Real and France great is the right man for the job.

– Gonzalo Higuain insists Napoli must not get too excited about being Winter Champions. “Being there in May is what counts.”

2016 ITF/CAT AJC: Nigeria Makes Bright Start As Mcleod, Quadri Take Centre Stage

Host Nigeria got off to a flying start on Sunday with most of her players bagging victories as the 2016 ITF/CAT Africa
Junior Championships West & Central Qualifiers served off at the Tennis Centre of the National Stadium, Abuja.

In the Girls’14&u, Marylove Edwards made a winning debut by beating Patricia Nyarko of Ghana 6-1,6-0 and she was
emulated by Sani Musa, who edged Ivorian Soulemane Quattara 6-2,4-6,7-6(4) in the Boys’ 14&u.

Other Nigerians that won their opening round-robin games are Fortune Joseph, Toyin Asogba, Peter Lawal, Gabriel Inyang and
Daniel Adeleye,

The 12-nation tourney continues on Monday.

Nigeria, 93 Others Listed For 2016 ITTF World Championship

Nigeria and 93 countries have been listed by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) for the 2016 World Team Championships holding in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur from Sunday February 28 to Sunday March 6.

Nigeria and Egypt are the only two countries that made the list of 46 teams that qualified automatically based on their ranking for the tournament.

In 2014, Nigeria was unfortunate to lose to England and missed from making it to the top 20 teams in the world.

Funke Oshonaike vs Ning
QOROS 2015 World Table Tennis Championships,

Unlike Nigeria and Egypt, countries like Algeria, Congo Brazzaville, Congo DRC, Ghana, Morocco, Togo and Tunisia made the list of participants through the continental tournament held in Egypt in 2015.

In the list of qualified countries confirmed by ITTF, over 94 countries will compete in the men’s event while 84 nations will battle for titles in the women’s cadre.

Meanwhile, WITH the Swaythling Cup and the Corbillon Cup at stake; China, the defending champions, occupy the top seeded positions in both the Men’s and Women’s events at the 2016 World Team Championships.

In each of the Men’s Team and Women’s Team events there are four divisions. There are 24 outfits in each of the top three divisions; in Men’s Division Four, there are 22 teams, in Women’s Division Four, there are 12 teams.

Teams in the Championship Division are seeded no.1 to no.24; in Division Two from no.25 to no.48, in Division Three from no.49 to no.72 and in Division Four from no.73 onwards.

The teams that finished in the top 16 places at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships in Tokyo are guaranteed a place in the Championship Division regardless of World Ranking.

Segun TORIOLA

Meanwhile, the teams who finished in first and second places in the remaining divisions in Tokyo gain promotion to the next highest division.

Teams promoted to the Championship Division are guaranteed a seeded position of no.23 and no.24 unless their current World Team ranking determines a higher place.

The same principle applies to Division Two where the promoted teams are guaranteed a seeding of no.47 and no.48; also to Division Three where the minimal seeding is no.71 and no.72.

Malaysia, as the hosts, has accepted the option of a place in the Championship Division in both the Men’s and Women’s events.

England and Italy are the promoted outfits in the Men’s event, in the Women’s event it is Brazil and Sweden. The remaining places are allocated based on the current World Team ranking. Teams who finished in positions no.27 to no.40 at the ZEN-HOH 2014 World Team Championships receive an automatic place in Division Two, as do the teams who finished in places no.51 to no.64 in Division Three.

Initially, in each event there are four groups with six teams in each group; teams finishing the first three places in each group progress to the main draw, teams finishing in the latter three places compete for the lower positions.

Fixtures in the second stage are based on the knock-out principle.

Nigerian Women’s Team, at the 2015 ITTF-Africa Senior Championships

Seeding in every division is based on the World Team Ranking published for January 2016; the World Team Ranking for each national association is based on the three highest ranked players in that association named on the current Men’s and Women’s World Rankings.

The draw for the Championship Division, Division Two and Division Three will take place at 3.00pm (local time) on Saturday16th January at the Subang Grand Dorsett Hotel. Later, the draw for Division Four be conducted at 11.00am on Friday 26th February.

NBBF Set Annual General Assembly for Feb. 3rd In Abuja

The Nigeria Basketball Federation has announced her 2016 Annual Stakeholders Consultative forum for Wednesday 3rd February , 2016 at the National Institute for Sport Auditorium, National Stadium, Package B, Abuja.

According to the statement from the NBBF secretariat, delegates which include Corporate sponsors, Team owners, Club chairmen, Club secretaries as well players, coaches, technical officials and the esteemed media are expected to arrive Abuja on February 2nd as the forum is billed take off at 9am prompt on Wednesday.

All present at the assembly will witness milestone presentations, from first, a top managing consulting group signed to manage and develop the Nigerian Basketball Federation’s digital space, i.e website and social media accounts. As well as, presentations from the Referees and Coaches Associations, both inaugurated and reconstituted respectively after the 2015 consultative forum which had over 150 stakeholders in attendance in Abuja.

The Stakeholders forum will also feature the pre-season seminar for all basketball officials, that is, Referees, Table officials and Technical (match) commissioners. With the 2016 national grading exercise taking place for new officials, and national officials that will be sanctioned to officiate in the 2016 season of the DStv and Zenith Bank Leagues this season, from the 4th to 6th February in Abuja, 9am to 6pm daily.

Tijjani Umar, President NBBF

The statement also read that, the board of Nigeria Basketball Federation led by Mr. Tijjani Umar is extending an open the invitation to all. Team owners, club secretaries, coaches, players, and the media to come assess the highs and lows of Nigerian basketball in the previous 12 months and to project a course for the upcoming calendar year, across all the cadres ( the Senior and Junior national teams; men’s and women’s league; youth and developmental programmes, e.t.c) they remain steadfast in building on the challenges and great exploits of 2015, and launching Nigerian basketball to greater heights in 2016.

Nigeria’s SPORTS MINISTER TO MEET AMAJU, GIWA JAN 20

The Hon Minister of Youth and Sports Barrister Solomon Dalung is to meet with the two warring groups of the Nigeria Football Federation NFF. The meeting holds on January 20 2016 at 8 pm. The peace meeting with Messers Amaju Pinnick and Chris Giwa is to finally resolve the issue over the leadership of the football house.

NFF President Amaju Pinnick

In a statement, Barrister Dalung again appealed to the two groups for calm.

” After a comprehensive study of submissions from both sides, I have fixed January 20, 2016 to meet with the leaders of the two groups to resolve the issue.

In the light of the above, the leaders of the two warring groups are hereby advised to refrain from acts capable of jeopardizing the peace process. They should therefore maintain calm while the issue is being resolved. All should note that any act contrary to my appeal will continue to tarnish the image and Integrity of the country and further scare would-be investors from our sports “.

Chris Giwa, photo credit Yinka Elebute

The Chris Giwa led group had announced that they will resume at the Glass House on January 12 in a renewed claim to the leadership of the NFF. The seat of the President of the Nigeria Football Federation is currently being occupied by Amaju Pinnick .

Egypt, Algeria, Cameroon, Tunisia In Semifinal Of Men’s African Olympic Volleyball Qualifier

2016 Men’s African Olympic Qualifiers- Day 3

History was re-played in the 2016 Men’s African Olympic qualifiers as the 4 continental giants Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Cameroon booked semifinal tickets to retain their dreams of filling Africa’s direct vacancy to the prestigious Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games after the competition’s third day held at Henri Elende Hall in Brazzaville, Congo on Saturday.

Egypt upset their arch rivals Tunisia 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-20) to lead Pool A with 2 wins, but the losers had already secured the qualification ticket to the semis earlier.

RD Congo in timeout

Algeria finished their pool B matches with a clean sheet after they pulled off the third victory over RD Congo 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-11) and were joined by Cameroon who set their second victory over Nigeria 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-20).

Now Egypt (1st of Pool A) face Cameroon (2nd of Pool B) and Algeria (1st of Pool B) line up against Tunisia (2nd of Pool A) in classic semifinal matches on Monday. Congo Brazzaville meet their neighbours RD Congo for the fifth place.

The 4 qualifiers were the semifinalists of most of the recent editions of African Nations Championship.

Egypt overwhelmed Tunisia in the last of pool A matches in a match lasting 72 minutes. Egypt dominated the match throughout the three sets led by the match scorer Ahmed Salah who scored one third of his team points. Egypt led the pool with a win loss ratio of 2-0, while Tunisia dropped to 1-1 to join Egypt to the semifinal leaving hosts Congo in the third position.

Algeria celebrate the victory

Algeria were too strong for RD Congo to easily go to a straight sets victory (25-17, 25-18, 25-11) to lead Pool B with 3-0 record, while the losers dropped to 1-2 to finish third. Cameroon rebounded from the second day defeat against Algeria to clinch the second win against Nigeria 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-20) to improve to 2-1 and qualify to the semifinal as second of the pool, while winless Nigeria finished fourth of the pool.