February 9, 2022
As a result of his exclusion from the AFCON squad, Hakim Ziyech has announced his severance from the Atlas Lions of Morocco.
The Chelsea star man Hakim Ziyech missed out on the chance to represent Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations throughout January, despite being one of Morocco best players.
Ziyech was reported to have had a fallout with National teamcoach Vahid Halilhodzic as the latter was said to be unhappy with the player’s attitude at training and on matchdays, which led to the decision to leave him out of the squad.
But Ziyech has come out to announce his retirement during his club preparation against Al Hilal in the FIFA Club World Cup.
“I will not return to the national team. This is my final decision. Everything is clear to me. I focus on what I do, my club. (If he’s disappointed?) Sure, who wouldn’t? But in the end, it’s him who makes the decisions and that must be respected. It is clear to me and I will not return to the team.
I understand them and I feel sorry for the fans,” he said.
Despite being born and raised in the Netherlands, Ziyech had represented Morocco at international level since he was 15 due to his family roots.
Morocco were knocked out of the 2021 AFCON competition in the quarter-final by Mohamed Salah’s Egypt, who lost to Senegal in the final.
January 26, 2022
The Board and Management of Nigeria Nationwide League One (NLO) has mandated owners of clubs in all its division to see it as a top priority to hire qualified coaches for their teams.
In a statement issued by its media department, the NLO noticed with dismay that despite a series of appeals and directives to clubs to desist from engaging unqualified coaches to work with their teams, some of the Club Owners still engage personnel that don’t qualify to be called coaches.
As a sequel to the above, the Secretariat of the nation’s third-tier domestic league hereby reiterates her stand that Club Owners should not engage personnel that are not qualified coaches to handle the training of players, as this has been seen as counterproductive and inimical to the development of football at the grassroots.
The NLO equally appealed to the State Football Associations to assist in ensuring that on no account an unqualified coach is allowed to operate within their domain. Stating finally, no NLO club will be registered without presenting the certificate or diploma of their respective coaches.
Recall that as the NLO is ensuring to equip coaches in the league with the new trends in coaching, the second edition of NLO/Berackiah Grassroot Football Coaching Clinic will kick off from February 1st and end 28th in the six geo-political zones.
January 25, 2022
Eight people have died while several others were injured in a stampede outside the stadium in Olembe where the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon took on debutants; Comoros Island in the Round of 16 at the Ongoing Africa Cup of Nations.
The unfortunate incident happened as crowds struggled to get access to Olembe Stadium in the capital city of Yaounde to watch the host country play Comoros in the knockout phase of the Continental showpiece.
Officials at the nearby Messassi hospital said they received at least 40 injured people, who were rushed to the hospital by police and civilians. The officials said the hospital wasn’t capable of treating all the victims and had to transfer some to other Facilities .
The Camerounian government in a Press release also confirmed the sad incident.
Novak Djokovic has won an appeal against a decision to deny him an entry visa in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia ahead of the Australian Open.
The Court which sat via Videolink had Judge Anthony Kelly squash the visa cancellation, and ordered the Australian Government to pay legal costs and release Djokovic from detention within half an hour as he delivered his verdict a few minutes past 6:00am.
World Number, Novak Djokovic arrived at Melbourne Airport around 11.30pm local time where he was held and detained despite having been medically exempted by a Panel to participate in the First Grand slam of 2022.The Australian Open starts on Monday January 17, with the draw taking place on Thursday January 13.
The Judge Anthony Kelly expressed agitation over the rejection of Djokovic’s medical exemption, asking the Government Lawyers what else was expected of Novak Djokovic.
