The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Sunday announced the appointment of José Santos Peseiro as the new Head Coach of the Senior Men National Team, Super Eagles.

The appointment is with immediate effect, subject to the signing of agreed terms between the NFF and Peseiro, according to an official statement on Sunday evening by the NFF.

According to the country’s football body, “62 year old José Vitor dos Santos Peseiro, is a Portuguese who played as a striker in his days and has wide and varied experience coaching top Clubs and National Teams across four different continents, namely Europe, Asia, Africa and South America.

“An educationist with a degree in physical education/sports sciences, Peseiro has top-level coaching qualifications/training, and has coached at Sporting Lisbon, FC Porto, Panathinaikos, Rapid Bucharest, Sporting Braga, Victoria Gumaraes, Al-Hilal, Al-Wahda, Al-Ahly Cairo, Sharjah FC and Real Madrid (assistant coach during the Galacticos era), as well as serving as Head Coach of the Saudi Arabian and Venezuelan National Teams.

“Peseiro is expected to lead out the Super Eagles for the first time during the upcoming tour of the United States of America, during which the three –time African champions will slug it out with Mexico and Ecuador ‘A’ Teams in prestige friendlies.

“The Eagles will clash with the El Tri at the AT & T Stadium in Dallas, State of Texas on Saturday, 28^th May before flying to New Jersey to confront Ecuador at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison on Thursday, 2^nd June.

“The NFF also announced that former Nigeria international forward, Finidi George will now be 1^st Assistant to Peseiro, with Salisu Yusuf now to be 2^nd Assistant as well as Head Coach of the CHAN and U23 National Teams. 

“Usman Abdallah is 3^rd Assistant while Eboboritse Uwejamomere will be the Match Analyst and another former Nigeria international, Ike Shorounmu will be the Goalkeepers’ Trainer.” 

Liverpool is officially 2022 FA Cup Champions after defeating Chelsea in a penalty shootout. 

This is Liverpool’s second trophy and their second victory over Chelsea, as Jurgen Klopp’s pursuit of the quadruple continues.

This also mark the first time Klopp has lifted the FA Cup as Liverpool manager as his side emerged victorious at Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon after a 6-5 win over Chelsea on penalties in what was an entertaining contest. 

The Reds remain in with a chance of sealing a historic quadruple if they can win the Premier League and Champions League.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has approved the appointment of Jose Peseiro as the new head coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

The Super Eagles have been without a full time head coach since December, following the sacking of Gernot Rohr.

Rohr was fired by the NFF in December 2021, just weeks before the start of the AFCON in Cameroon.

The sports ministry has now approved Peseiro’s appointment after NFF president Amaju Pinnick met with the sports minister, Sunday Dare on Monday.
Rohr was fired by the NFF in December 2021, just weeks before the start of the AFCON in Cameroon.

The sports ministry has now approved Peseiro’s appointment after NFF president Amaju Pinnick met with the sports minister, Sunday Dare on Monday.

World cup winning coach, Laurent Blanc, former Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde and erstwhile Netherlands defender Philip Cocu were also linked with the post.

Details of Peseiro’s contract including paperworks are almost done and official

announcement would be made soon.

The Portuguese was first announced by the NFF to take over the Super Eagles after the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

Peseiro eventually did not take up the job, after Augustine Eguavoen was appointed as the interim technical adviser of the Super Eagles.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate withdrawal of Nigeria from all international basketball competitions for a period of two years with immediate effect.

Sunday Dare, the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, disclosed this while briefing newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

Dare, represented by Ismaila Abubakar, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, said a committee would be set up to oversee basketball leagues in the country.

“Following the unending crisis which have plagued and nearly crippled the development of basketball in Nigeria, President Buhari has approved the withdrawal of Nigeria from all international basketball competitions for a period of two years.

“This is with immediate effect,” he said.

The minister added that the withdrawal of Nigeria is in order to concentrate efforts by government towards revamping the sport from the grassroots as well as domestic leagues which have become moribund.

“This will also allow for the setting up of an Interim Management Committee (IMC) to oversee the management and development of the domestic basketball leagues in Nigeria,” he said.

Dare also said this will further address other related issues around the development and advancement of the game in Nigeria.

He then called on stakeholders to help sustain and stabilize the game.

“In issuing the order, the Federal Government reiterates its interest and commitment to the development of the sport of basketball in Nigeria as well as huge talents of our youth domestically in an atmosphere free of rancour and squabbles.

“Government, therefore, calls on players, officials, fans, and other stakeholders of the sport to remain calm as it embarks on far-reaching initiatives to reposition, sustain and stabilize the game of basketball.

“This will aid in the growth and success of the sport in the long-term interest of the country,” the minister said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the basketball sport has been engulfed in leadership crisis in the last five years.

Two parallel national federation board elections were held in 2017 (in Kano and Abuja) and 2022 (in Benin and Abuja), leading to the emergence of separate governing bodies.

According to reports by BBC Sport Africa, CAF awarded the hosting rights of the CAF Champions League to Morocco as the country was the only one that submitted bid.

With the North African nation having hosted last year’s final, Caf encouraged other countries to stage the match but, despite expressions of interest from Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, only Morocco remained when it came to decision time.

With its brand new 50,000-capacity stadium in Diamniadio, Senegal had been considered a serious candidate to win the bid but they withdrew last week.

A Caf source told BBC Sport Africa it costs “a significant amount” to host the final and “if it was easy, we’d be discussing candidacies from 10 countries or so”.

The African Champions League final was previously decided via a two-legged (home and away) tie, but the format was changed to a one-off match in 2020.

In a possible sign of the difficulties in finding a host nation willing to invest funds in hosting the final, Caf also announced on Monday that talks are underway to revert to a two-legged final.

Casablanca’s Mohammed V Stadium also hosted the African Champions League final in 2021.

In a separate development, Caf has announced the Nigerian city of Uyo will stage this year’s Confederation Cup final on Friday, 20 May.

Clubs from DR Congo, Libya, Morocco and South Africa remain in Africa’s second-tier continental competition.

Manchester City has confirmed a deal has been reached with Borussia Dortmund to sign Erling Haaland this summer.

The Premier League champions confirmed this in a tweet from their official handle.

It read: “Manchester City can confirm that we have reached an agreement in principle with Borussia Dortmund for the transfer of striker Erling Haaland to the Club on 1st July 2022.

“The transfer remains subject to the Club finalising terms with the player.”

A clause in his contract means Haaland is available for just £62m this summer.

Guardiola will finally land a striker, just 12 months after City were frustrated in a £150m move for Harry Kane.

The experienced Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho has created history as he guided the Italian Serie A club Roma to the inaugural final of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The 59-year-old has maintained his great records in the UEFA tournament once again in the inaugural edition of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Mourinho is the first manager to reach the finals of UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League.
He is also the first manager to reach the final of a major European competition with four different clubs. 
Before his latest Roma assignment for the UEFA Europa Conference League final, he reached the UEFA Europa League finals for Porto in 2003; UEFA Cup at that time and Manchester United in 2017, and UEFA Champions League finals for Porto I’m 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010.
The 59-year-old has a very good chance to become the first manager to win the UEFA Europa Conference League trophy and if he achieves this, he will also become the first manager to win three different UEFA tournaments that are currently running.

In the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League final, Roma will face the Dutch first division team Feyenoord Rotterdam on 25th May 2022 at Arena Kombëtare in Albania. 

World football governing body, FIFA have ordered the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF to pay the sum of one million, forty-five Thousand dollars ($1, 045,000) compensation and salaries to former Super Eagles Coach, Gernot Rohr.

Rohr was sacked as Super Eagles head coach in December 2021 while still being owed several months salaries as well as bonuses and allowances.

The German reported the NFF to FIFA and the world football governing body has ordered them to pay him $1,045,000 (about N433,873,550.00 officially) to cover his entitlements and additional compensation.

According to Best Choice Sports,NFF sources confirmed today that the ruling was made on 22 April but kept under wraps, and the body is not considering an appeal.

FIFA ruled that the NFF had no justifiable reason to terminate Rohr’s contract in the manner that they did, especially as they were owing him a large sum.

The world body also clarified that Rohr must be paid in dollars and not naira since he is no longer based in Nigeria.

Rohr was named as the Super Eagles head coach in 2016 and he was the longest-serving coach of the team with his over five years in charge.

The former Burkina Faso head coach was believed to be earning around $55,000 monthly in Nigeria.

He is yet to be replaced with a permanent successor after Austin Eguavoen’s disastrous spell as interim head coach.

Under Eguavoen’s three-month stint, the Super Eagles fell in the second round of the Africa Cup of Nations in January and lost out to Ghana in the World Cup playoffs in March.

FIFA says Nigeria had no reason to sacked Gernot Rohr last December and has ordered the NFF to pay him his entitlements.

American billionaire Todd Boehly, a part-owner of baseball club LA Dodgers, has signed an agreement to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich for £4.25 billion.

Backed by investment firm Clearlake Capital and fellow Dodgers owner Mark Walter, Boehly was considered the preferred bidder by Raine Group – the US bank overseeing the sale of the Blues – despite heavy competition from British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

From Mail Online Sport, A statement from the Blues read: “Chelsea Football Club can confirm that terms have been agreed for a new ownership group, led by Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjoerg Wyss, to acquire the Club.

“Of the total investment being made, £2.5bn will be applied to purchase the shares in the Club and such proceeds will be deposited into a frozen UK bank account with the intention to donate 100 per cent to charitable causes as confirmed by Roman Abramovich. UK Government approval will be required for the proceeds to be transferred from the frozen UK bank account.

“In addition, the proposed new owners will commit £1.75bn in further investment for the benefit of the Club. This includes investments in Stamford Bridge, the Academy, the Women’s Team and Kingsmeadow and continued funding for the Chelsea Foundation.

“The sale is expected to complete in late May subject to all necessary regulatory approvals. More details will be provided at that time.”

The takeover process seemed to have hit an impasse after Abramovich – who was sanctioned by the UK Government following his alleged involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – reportedly asked for his £1.5 billion debt to be repaid.

However, Chelsea rebuffed those reports as entirely false, stating that the Russian oligarch’s objective was encouraging the bidders to invest in the club.

The Blues manager Thomas Tuchel recently claimed that the takeover saga has been affecting their performances on the pitch. However, with new ownership set to take the helm, the defending European Champions will look to turn their fortunes around.

Arsenal have confirmed that Mikel Arteta has signed a new contract with the club, keeping him in north London until 2025.

A former Arsenal capatian, Arteta joined the club as manager in December 2019, winning the FA Cup in his first season. The Gunners are currently fourth in the Premier League as they look to end a five-year wait for Champions League football.

A new deal has also been signed by women’s team boss Jonas Eidevall, who has extended until 2024.

“I’m excited, grateful and really, really happy today,” Arteta told the club’s official website.

“When I spoke to Josh [Kroenke] he could see the club at the same point and he wanted to take the club the way I wanted to do it. So everything that he’s said, and that Stan [Kroenke] has said when I’ve been together with both of them, they’ve always delivered.