International Football
NFF OFFICIAL BRIEFS SUPER FALCONS ON INTEGRITY VARIABLES
World Cup –bound Super Falcons of Nigeria have been educated on what signs, symbols and issues constitute threats to the integrity of the game.
The Integrity Officer of the Nigeria Football Federation, Okey Obi, took the Falcons’ players and officials through the fine lines of integrity variables at their Event Hotel Pyramide in Vosendorf, Austria on Monday night, ahead of their departure to France on Tuesday.
“Match manipulation, in one way or the other, poses serious threat to the careers of football players in particular and the growth and development of football in general.
“That is one of the reasons FIFA has made integrity briefings mandatory for teams heading to the FIFA World Cup finals.
“In order to generate, capture and sustain the interest of the players and the officials, I enlisted the buy-in of the Head Coach, Thomas Dennerby and the captain, Desire Oparanozie.
“I also made the presentation interactive, with one of the players, Onome Ebi, a veteran of several World Cups, Dennerby and an assistant coach sharing their experiences and helping with practical examples and potential situations of match manipulation,” Obi, who is the Single Point of Contact (SPoC) for Nigeria for the 8th FIFA Women’s World Cup finals, told thenff.com.
Obi rated the session as highly successful: “I was pleasantly surprised with the level of acceptability which actually surpassed my expectation.
The players were very attentive and participated actively; they took pictures of the slides during the presentation and appeared to truly like the features of the mechanisms, especially the anonymity of the reporting that considered the safety and security of the person reporting.
“The briefing was a huge success considering that it was the first time this was happening in respect of women football.”
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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