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.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Host CAF General Assembly For Third Time, CAF Awards For Seventh
Atlas Lions Embrace AI As Google Gemini Becomes Official Partner
NPFL at 36: Why Nigeria’s League Top Scorers Rarely Become Super Eagles Legends
Breaking! Uzoho suspended from Super Eagles’ next match with Sierra Leone
No longer Super League as CAF changes name of its new clubs competition
NIGERIAN FOOTBALL CHIEF EXECUTIVE, SANUSI CHARGES NIGERIAN COACHES TO BE UPRIGHT, DILIGENT
- World Cup4 days ago
FIFA Plans Three Opening Ceremonies in All Host Nations for 2026 World Cup
- World Cup3 days ago
United States Unveils Hollywood-Style FIFA World Cup 2026 Opening Ceremony
- World Cup4 days ago
Mexico president wavers on plan to cut school year by 40 days for the World Cup
- World Cup5 days ago
Burna Boy Joins Shakira for Official 2026 World Cup Song ‘Dai Dai’
- World Cup1 week ago
Despite 2026 Absence, Nigeria Still Leads Africa’s World Cup Winners’ Chart
- Premier League4 days ago
Man United’s Fernandes and City’s Shaw win FWA Footballer of the Year awards
- Nigerian Football4 days ago
Sporting Lagos Crowned 2026 NNL Champions After Dramatic Super Four Finale
- Premier League2 days ago
Arsenal survive huge scare to edge towards title