Governing Bodies
LA LIGA PREPARING FOR POST-MESSI ERA
La Liga president Javier Tebas insisted on Monday that he was never “seriously worried” that Lionel Messi would leave Barcelona as the Spanish league has been preparing for an era without the six-time Ballon d’Or winner.
“I was worried but not seriously worried. Obviously we want Messi to be with us because I’ve always said he’s probably the best player in the history of football,” said Tebas in the La Liga Kick-off 20-21 event, which was streamed live on YouTube. “But we’ve been working for many years on the fact that La Liga’s brand has to be above individual players and clubs.”
This comes as Messi said last week that he will remain at Barca for another year after initially announcing that he wanted to leave.
La Liga then released a statement on Aug 30 saying that his contract was still valid and the only way he could leave was if a club triggered the €700 million (S$1.13 billion) release clause, days after his shock announcement and hours after he failed to attend a pre-season medical test.
Messi on Monday reported for club training for the first time since handing in the transfer request. But the possibility of the Argentinian leaving next year may force Spanish clubs to look for new marquee players, such as Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix, 20, and Barcelona’s Ansu Fati, 17.
Tebas added: “Ansu Fati started from the bottom in the (La Masia) academy. If he continues what he’s doing, like what we’ve seen so far… He had a great match (on Sunday with Spain) and I think he’s brilliant and got good feet.”
Fati, nicknamed the “jewel of La Masia”, became his country’s youngest scorer when he netted in their 4-0 victory over Ukraine in the Nations League.
He made his Barcelona senior debut in August last year and has seven goals in 24 appearances.
Besides still getting to see Messi in a Barca shirt, La Liga fans can also look forward to a more immersive viewing experience with the use of augmented reality. Graphics such as player profiles and statistics, including success rates of free kicks and penalty kicks, will be shown in real-time during matches.
The new La Liga season kicks off on Friday.
The Straits Times
Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
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