International Football
PARLIAMENTARIAN DENIES COMPLICITY IN KILLING OF JOURNALIST WHO BLEW OPEN CORRUPTION IN GHANA FOOTBALL
A Ghanaian parliamentarian, Kennedy Agyapong, accused of complicity in the last week’s killing of an undercover journalist, Ahmed Hussein-Suale.
According to a Ghana radio channel, Neat FM, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, has denied any complicity in the murder of Tiger Eye PI’s undercover journalist and investigator, Ahmed Hussein-Suale on Wednesday, 16 January 2019.
The police have been called by a section of Ghanaians on social media to invite Kennedy Agyapong for questioning in connection with the killing of investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ teammate after the lawmaker exposed his identity on his TV station and also incited violence against him.
Also, speaking on Class91.3FM on Thursday , Mr Kissi Adjabeng, the lawyer of Tiger Eye PI, said that that: “A sitting Member of Parliament who owns media houses went on his media houses and invited the entire world to beat him up for payment, and that he was going to pay. We complained bitterly about it that this conduct is reckless. You’re a sitting Member of Parliament, you don’t behave like that and that he the sitting Member of Parliament, whose name I refuse to mention, dragged Anas Aremeyaw Anas to the General Legal Council…”
Mr Adjabeng further said: “If you go on air and put a young man’s picture out there and you invite the general public to vehemently beat him up and whatever happens you are going to pay for it, that sitting Member of Parliament should be asked questions now in respect of that reckless conduct he engaged in, and we were amazed that apart from us, nobody was complaining about that conduct and now the young man has been shot dead.
“You put it out there that he should be beaten and you’ll pay for it, certainly, the authorities should ask him some questions. He claims that nobody is above the law, he is definitely also not above the law but he definitely has some questions to answer. You publicly called for his beating up and he’s been killed”.
However, Kennedy Agyapong, reacting to the development on Accra-based Neat FM on Thursday, 17 January 2018, said his hands are clean.
Kennedy Agyapong said: “I had a call that something was trending on social media; that I have engineered the murder of someone called Ahmed. The guy has not offended me in any way. When I was premiering ‘Who watches the watchman’, somebody told me I knew the guy because I had once given him money for his school fees, so, I told my staff not to allow him into my building again because he is a bad boy and that If he comes around, they should beat him up because he will come and secretly set cameras in the building.
“This is what I said. This boy is not relevant to my life. I’m so blessed, so, why will I go and do something stupid like that? First of all, he has not offended me in any way. They should look for those he has offended. This is cheap propaganda, I’m not afraid of anybody. People say the police should invite me, for what?
“The evil that men do lives after them; that is why I don’t want to offend anybody. Once I speak my mind, it is finished; but to plan a murder, I don’t have time for stupid things like this.”
Mr Agyapong continued: “He and Anas stepped on a lot of toes, so, they have their own enemies that they’ve created not Kennedy Agyapong. I only wanted to expose him to people to know that he is equally corrupt and that is exactly what I did.
“From my investigations, they have offended so many people, so, they should focus and investigate the death well or else the very people who have committed that crime will go scot free.”
Hussein-Suale was killed by unidentified men who were riding on a motorbike on Wednesday night.
He was shot in the chest and neck at Madina in Accra while driving home.
According to his colleagues, nothing was stolen from him.
International Football
Players’ union, FIFPRO, wants 20-minute halftimes, more cooling breaks amid extreme heat
Global players’ union FIFPRO is exploring whether extending halftime to 20 minutes and introducing more frequent cooling breaks could better protect players from extreme heat.
Nine of the 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup face conditions considered “extreme risk” for heat-related illness.
Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Monterrey and Philadelphia are expected to face dangerous levels of heat and humidity, posing player safety concerns and fuelling calls for mandatory cooling aids or schedule changes.
FIFPRO’s heat risk assessments are based on wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure combining temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed to estimate how environmental conditions affect the body’s ability to cool itself.
Under FIFPRO guidelines, a WBGT reading above 28 degrees Celsius indicates conditions in which matches should be postponed or rescheduled to protect players’ health.
By comparison, world soccer governing body FIFA’s own guidelines set the extreme risk threshold higher, at 32 degrees Celsius WBGT – but even by that standard, six of the nine cities are still projected to exceed safe limits.
Major League Soccer in the U.S. has a threshold of 29 degrees Celsius WBGT.
“Cooling breaks at the 30th minute and 75th minutes are quite traditional, but from a physiological point of view it does not make sense,” said Vincent Gouttebarge, FIFPRO’s Medical Director.
“Even if you ingest more than 200 millilitres of fluid, you already cannot take it all. So I would definitely like to see some project where we look at the efficacy of perhaps more frequent but shorter cooling breaks – every 15 minutes, rather than only one during each half.”
LONGER HALFTIMES
Gouttebarge also questioned whether the traditional 15-minute halftime interval is sufficient when matches are played in extreme heat.
“You can imagine that halftime of 15 minutes might not be enough in order to decrease the core temperature,” he said.
“It could be a halftime of 20 minutes which would be significant. That has been shown in the laboratory and FIFPRO, together with the national union in Portugal in August, we are going to test this kind of mitigation strategy.”
The urgency of stronger heat protocols became clear at this month’s Club World Cup where two matches — Benfica-Bayern Munich in Charlotte and Chelsea-Esperance in Philadelphia exceeded the WBGT threshold FIFPRO considers unsafe.
“According to our position, those games should have been postponed later that day or rescheduled,” Gouttebarge said.
FIFPRO officials acknowledged that FIFA has responded constructively during the tournament by lowering thresholds for mandatory cooling breaks and improving pitch-side hydration, but stressed that proactive planning is critical.
“FIFA have been quite responsive once the tournament was under way,” said Alex Phillips, FIFPRO General Secretary.
“They have actually modified how they’ve been dealing with heat during the matches based on FIFPRO’s input, which is credit to the work of the team. Obviously, it would have been better if that happened in advance, but it’s better that they have adapted.”
FIFPRO warned that the risks highlighted at the Club World Cup are a preview of what players could face at the expanded 2026 World Cup.
“This is not just affecting the Club World Cup, but also future tournaments either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world,” said Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO Director of Policy & Strategic Relations.
“We need a better balance between commercial interests and the health and safety of players,” he added, referring to earlier kick-off times to accommodate European television audiences.
-Reuters
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Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Ince has been charged with drink-driving, police said on Monday.
Ince, who earned 53 caps for England and won two Premier League titles during his six years at United, has been released on bail and will appear in court on July 18.
“The incident involved a black Range Rover which had collided with the central reservation barrier. Officers attended the scene and arrested a 57-year-old man,” the Cheshire police said in a statement.
“Paul Ince, of Quarry Road, Neston, has since been charged with drink-driving.”
Reuters has contacted Ince’s representative for comment.
After retiring as a player, Ince led Milton Keynes Dons to a League Two title in 2007-08. He most recently managed Reading during 2022-23.
-Reuters
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International Football
From garbage collector to Starman of Ancelotti’s Brazil team: the story of Ribeiro
“I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me.!” Alex Ribeiro
Alexsandro Victor de Souza Ribeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 1999) was, until a few days ago, a semi-unknown to the general public in Brazil.
However, Carlo Ancelotti, impressed by his strong performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League, insisted on calling up the Lille centre-back… and giving him his debut.
Not only that. He started alongside Marquinhos against Ecuador (0-0) and Paraguay (1-0) and helped the Seleçao keep two consecutive clean sheets for the first time in the qualifying rounds.
Alex, as he likes to be called, impressed with his 1.92 meters (6′ 1″) frame and confidence. According to ‘R10Score’, he was the Brazilian player who completed the most actions with the ball (186) and the second with the most cuts (11).
He completed 154 of the 166 passes he made (92% accuracy) and won 12 of the 16 duels he was involved in: 5 of 7 at ground level and 7 of 9 in the air. “A gentleman defender,” boasted the official Ligue 1 Portuguese account.
His path to the elite wasn’t easy. “I don’t think you know this, but this is my first game as a professional in Brazil. Strange, isn’t it? There’s nothing better. To debut in Brazil like this, with a win and qualification,” he boasted after defeating Paraguay.
These first few days with Ancelotti have been unique; I’ll remember them for the rest of my life. I’ve responded well not only to myself, but also to the coach and the Brazilian people. I was able to demonstrate my ability to those who had doubts. Few people give me the opportunity that the manager has given me,” he insists
The Lille centre-back took his first steps in Flamengo’s youth system, where he even met Vinicius.
“When we played against Real Madrid, Vini came up to me and hugged me. He said, ‘I’m glad to see you here, brother.’ That inspired and motivated me even more,” he told ‘Globo Esporte’.
‘Fla’ cut him off. He had to make a living as a street vendor. He also collected trash, especially cans. “I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me, so I went to Europe to play in Portugal’s Third Division.”
Praiense (2018-20), Amora (2020-21), and Chaves (2021-22)—the latter already in the Second Division—were his springboard to Lille. The Bulldogs signed him in 2022-23 for €2 million. He has become a more than worthy successor to his compatriot Gabriel Magalhaes.
“Little by little, my name is spreading. My football is reaching everywhere. This includes Brazil,” he said before making his debut with the Seleçao. Now that he’s made it, he has another challenge: “I want to continue it.”
-Marca
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