Emmanuel Amuneke believes he has outgrown the junior national team coaching jobs and so his name will not feature in the over 60 applicants for the Boys U17 and U20 and other national teams.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova has accepted a wildcard invitation to make her seventh appearance at the China Open in October. Sharapova won the China event in 2014 and also made the final in 2012.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova has accepted an invitation to make her seventh appearance at the China Open in Beijing.
After a thigh injury kept her away from Wimbledon and the entire grass court season, an arm injury forced her to withdraw last week from her comeback tournament at the Stanford Classic. Since her return in April from a 15-month doping ban, Sharapova has only played in four tournaments.
The Russian tennis star, who missed Wimbledon and the entire grasscourt season with a thigh injury, also had to withdraw from the Stanford Classic due to soreness in her left arm. The former World No.1, Sharapova was also scheduled to play at the Rogers Cup in Toronto this week but withdrew with the same injury.
“Hello, my SharaFamily in China. I’m very happy to announce that I will return to Beijing and play the China Open this October,” the wtatennis website quoted Sharapova as saying in a statement. “This is especially exciting as it will be my first tournament in Asia this year!” she added.
Maria Sharapova
Image: Yibada
Meanwhile, Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza, Caroline Wozniacki, Venus Williams, Zhang Shuai and Peng Shuai will also take part in the Beijing event, which runs from September 24 to October 8.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has ruled out selling Gareth Bale this summer despite Jose Mourinho going public with his interest in the Welshman.
The Manchester United boss admitted he would ‘fight’ to bring Bale to Old Trafford if Real decided to cash-in on the former Tottenham star.
But after watching Bale help the Real Madrid defeat Manchester United yesterday, Perez revealed that at no point had he thought about letting him go.
‘I don’t contemplate selling Bale, he’s important for us and is one of the best in the world,’ Perez said after the showpiece game in Skopje, Macedonia.
‘We have great players and my idea after winning the Champions League was to do nothing and stay with the same team.’
Mourinho watched from the touchline as goals from Casemiro and Isco either side of half-time gave Real Madrid victory at the Philip II Arena.
Summer signing Romelu Lukaku pulled a goal back for United with a little under half an hour left to play, but after the game Mourinho conceded that Bale would not be joining the former Everton man in Manchester.
‘I think clearly the club wants him, the manager wants him and he wants the club so it’s game over, even before it started,’ Mourinho said.
‘I think game over because now everybody knows he is going to stay.
London – Botswana star Isaac Makwala was barred from running in the men’s 400m world final on Tuesday because he was suffering from an infectious disease, athletics’ governing body confirmed.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) issued a statement after the Botswana team claimed the 30-year-old Makwala was fit and healthy and should not have been turned away from the warm-up track ahead of the final.
However, the IAAF insisted that he needed to be placed in quarantine for 48 hours – ending on Wednesday – as he was infected with the highly contagious norovirus.
Public Health England revealed that 30 athletes and support staff had been affected with two cases confirmed as being the norovirus bug at a hotel hosting athletes.
“Isaac Makwala has been withdrawn by the IAAF Medical Delegate from tonight’s 400m final after the athlete was diagnosed with an infectious disease on Monday,” read the IAAF statement.
“As per UK health regulations, it was requested that he be quarantined in his room for 48 hours, a period which ends at 14:00 on Wednesday, August 9.
“These procedures are recommended by Public Health England.”
The IAAF said that contrary to what had been claimed by the Botswana team, it had made it clear that under no circumstances could Makwala take part.
“It was clearly explained to the teams in writing on Sunday and in person to the Botswanan delegation, a member of which was present with many other representatives of teams at a meeting that took place at the Guoman Tower Hotel on Sunday.
“The decision to withdraw him from the 200m heats last night and the 400m final today was made on the basis of a medical examination conducted in the warm-up medical centre by a qualified doctor on Monday and recorded in the electronic medical record system of the championships.
“A copy of this medical record was given to a member of the Botswana team medical staff following the examination.”
Makwala had insisted on Tuesday he was ready to run the 400m before the IAAF stepped in. He was then caught on camera being turned away from the warm-up track.
That sparked an angry reaction from the team.
“Isaac has been denied entry to the stadium and has been taken back to the hotel where the team stays,” Botswana national sports commission chief executive Falcon Sedimo told the BBC.
“We don’t have any official communication from the IAAF pointing to the reasons that have led to Makwala being debarred from competing in the 400 metres final for men.
“I met Makwala this morning before 11:00 and I also met him again this afternoon at around 15:00 and the indications were that he was ready and raring to go.”
Norovirus is often caught through close contact with someone carrying the virus or by touching contaminated surfaces or objects.
Norovirus, which brings on diarrhoea and vomiting, is rarely serious, with most people making a full recovery within one or two days, without treatment.
However, Shirley Kirnon, Senior Lecturer in Infection Prevention and Control at the School of Health Sciences at Birmingham City University, warned that organisers faced a race against time to prevent it spreading like wildfire.
“The main issue facing the organisers will be one of trying to attain swift containment, which will be pretty challenging due to the nature of the virus,” she said.
“It is highly infectious and with vast numbers of people – athletes, site personnel and visitors – in such close proximity, exposure to affected individuals cannot be contained easily.”
Kirnon added that it was crucial those affected were kept away from presently healthy individuals.
“In terms of public health, the emphasis should be to limit the exposure to others,” she said.
“This involves limiting social integration and movements of affected individuals.
“For athletes (that means) staying in the rooms whilst having active symptoms (or) remaining within the designated camp, and (for) visitors with symptoms (it means) staying away from public areas
As the World Athletics Championship enters its sixth day, attention of many sports-loving Nigerians will be focused on two athletes, Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor and Ese Brume in the long jump event today.
The Cyprus-based Brume, with a personal best jump of 6.83m and season best of 6.64m is in Group A, while Okagbare is in Group B.
Although both Okagbare and Brume failed to meet the 6.75m qualification standard set for the long jump event in the 2017 IAAF Championship, Brume had declared before jetting out from Lagos a few days ago that anything could happen in London
“I am going to London to do my best for the country and I am optimistic of returning home with a good result,” the Commonwealth and African champion told The Guardian in a telephone chat.
Reigning Nigerian sprint queen, Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor leapt a rather pedestrian 6.48m at the Oslo Diamond League meeting to book her qualification to London.
Having failed to make it to the final of the 100m race, Okagbare is expected to use the long jump to put smiles on the faces of her family members and fans back home.
It is her fourth competitive appearance at the championships, and anything short of a podium performance will not be good for Okagbare.
The Nigerians must find a way to outplace USA’s duo of Brittney Reese and Tianna Bartoletta, as well as Ivana Spanovic of Serbia (7.24m) and Shara Proctor of Great Britain.
Former African football head Issa Hayatou has hit out at comments made by his successor, Ahmad, about Cameroon’s readiness to host the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
A narrow 2-1 win that gives Real Madrid the 2017 Super Cup, but a general gulf in quality between them and Manchester United that explains why the Spanish side won it and why they are European champions.
Jose Mourinho’s side still look very far off this level, and look even more like they could do with a forward of, oh, maybe Gareth Bale’s level. The winger had set up the brilliant Isco’s clinching goal and was supremely effective, but Real’s whole attack just looked so effervescent in contrast to Manchester United ’s.
Three positives for Manchester United at least were a first official club goal for Romelu Lukaku, the performance of Nemanja Matic as Real really made him work, and the knowledge they won’t face a side anywhere near this good in the Premier League.
That Real were not at full pelt, or putting out a full team was even more galling, even if Manchester United were missing some names themselves.
It was also selection, mind, that added one of the game’s main points of intrigue.
The Super Cup still may not mean all that much in the grander context of the season, but Mourinho mischievously imbued it with a bit more significance by suggesting that Real would be showing they did not need Bale if he started on the bench.
Zinedine Zidane promptly started Bale on the pitch, and the Welsh winger promptly became one of the European champions’ attackers who so regularly ripped into United’s backline. That they were doing it without the rested Cristiano Ronaldo made it all the more impressive, and further layered Zidane’s decision.
Manchester United had started with Matic finally filling the defensive midfield role that Mourinho had been so insistent on addressing in this transfer window, and that initially seemed to release his attackers – especially Paul Pogba. He twice roared forward on the break, in moves that suggested a greater zip to their forward play this season.
It didn’t take too long for Real to show them that would also involve much greater risk, too, and it’s not usually the type of risk that Mourinho stands for too long either.
Bale had already nudged over from a fine chance on two minutes, before Real again exposed some slack marking from Manchester United with Casemiro heading against the bar.
The Brazilian has somewhat quietly become one of Real’s key players amid the noise all their stars make, scoring in the Champions League final win over Juventus, and eventually got his goal here – with that the eventual consequence of Zidane’s side finding so much space.
Isco celebrating his goal against Manchester United
Image: getty images
Matic and the defence behind him were suddenly overwhelmed. On 24 minutes, right-back Dani Carvajal was allowed so much time to deftly loft over the kind of ball that Isco would have been proud of, with Casemiro sliding in to finish.
It might have been offside, but was not out of keeping with the pattern of the game. Real more than deserved their lead, and might have added to it when Karim Benzema forced a strong hand from David De Gea.
Mourinho responded by bringing on Marcus Rashford for Jesse Lingard but, as exciting as the precocious young forward is, Manchester United were soon reminded of the glaring gap between their attacking options and Real’s and why they really need someone like Bale.
Doubts about the Welsh forward’s Bernabeu future actually precede the pursuit of Monaco’s Kylian Mbappe and stem from how Isco stepped into the team when he was injured, but they combined divinely here for Real’s second. Isco started a quicksilver one-two on the edge of the box, before finishing so sleekly.
The contrast between the attacks wasn’t helped by the contrasts in execution. Manchester United went straight up the other end to fashion a chance with a good old-fashioned cross, only for Pogba to head directly at Keylor Navas and then Lukaku to somehow put the parried ball yards over the bar.
The Belgian impressively showed that didn’t get to him, as he emphatically took the next chance he got, powering the ball past Navas when the goalkeeper parried a Matic drive.
Lukaku pulled a goal back for Manchester United
Image: Getty images
At the other end, De Gea had just watched Bale batter his crossbar amid a general pummelling he was doing well to keep out, and it’s difficult not to wonder whether those kind of heroics, contrasted to Navas’ plunders, will revive thoughts of transfer.
Mourinho had looked to threaten Navas in another way by bringing on the aerial presence of Marouane Fellaini. The fact the Portuguese so often resorts to this tactic is just another reminder of why he still needs an elevation of quality in this attack, rather such an elevation in height.
It did pin Real back, and led to United’s best worked move of the game, as Mkhitaryan fed Rashford for the young forward to just shoot wide.
It was then that Zidane brought on Ronaldo, just further re-emphasising the gap, before Sergio Ramos lifting this exhibition trophy made it even clearer
Someone said somewhere that there’s no moral justification for any team to complain of unjust officiating because according to him “every team benefits from it in the course of the season”.
