Governing Bodies
Osimhen’s Napoli consolidate at the top as Juventus are handed 15 points deduction
Juventus (JUVE.MI) have been deducted 15 points for the current season by an Italian soccer court investigating the club’s transfer dealings, leaving the country’s most successful team marooned in mid-table.
The ruling, which also deals a blow to the club’s reputation , is tougher than a nine-point deduction a soccer prosecutor had requested earlier on Friday during a hearing looking at the way Juventus and a number of other teams dealt with player exchange deals.
With 20 games left to play this season, Juve were third in Serie A with 37 points, 10 behind leaders Victo Osimhen’s Napoli.
The deduction pushes them down into 10th place, outside the qualifying spots for lucrative European competition.
In a late night statement, the court also imposed bans from holding office in Italian soccer on 11 past and present Juventus directors.
These included 24 months for Andrea Agnelli, who was replaced this week as chairman after formally stepping down in November, and 30 months for former sports director, Fabio Paratici, now managing director of football at England’s Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.
Juventus said it would appeal to the country’s Sport Guarantee Board once the reasons for the ruling were published.
“We consider this to be a blatant injustice also for millions of fans, which we trust will soon be remedied in the next court,” lawyers for the club said in a statement.
Juventus have denied wrongdoing and said their accounting was in line with industry standards.
The club is controlled by the Agnelli family’s Exor (EXOR.AS) holding company and its shares are listed on the Milan stock exchange.
CASE REOPENED
The ruling reversed a previous decision in April to clear Juventus, 10 other clubs and their executives of wrongdoing.
Soccer authorities had reopened the case and requested the partial cancellation of the initial decision so they could assess new documents collected by public prosecutors in the city of Turin who are investigating the finances of Juventus.
The court confirmed the acquittal of eight other soccer clubs, including Serie A’s Sampdoria and Empoli, and their directors, for whom prosecutors had also wanted to reopen the case.
Public prosecutors in Turin have requested Andrea Agnelli, 11 other people and the club itself to stand trial over allegations of false accounting.
Juventus shareholders earlier this week appointed a new slimmed-down, five-member board with Gianluca Ferrero – an accountant close to John Elkann, the senior business figure in the family that has owned the club for a century – replacing Andrea Agnelli as chairman after over 10 years.
Governing Bodies
Sanusi set for record-extending tenure as Nigeria’s football politicians assemble in Asaba
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Speculations gathered ahead of the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Nigeria Football Federation holding in Asaba on Friday have it that tenure elongation for the General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, is a major item on the agenda.
Neither formal confirmation nor denial has been issued since one of the leading newspapers in Nigeria, ThisDay dropped the hint.
The agenda of the meeting is also not made public. Dr, Sanusi is the longest-serving General Secretary in history having been in office from 30 March 2015 making 3,476 days or nine years six months and four days.
It easily drowned that of his closest rival in tenure – Sani Toro whose tenure from 21 December 1993 to 3 May 1999 is merely 2020 days or five years, six months and 12 days.
Thus, no one had enjoyed a longer period in office than the incumbent, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi. It is speculated that the tenure will be extended as NFF has reported that all delegates have arrived in the Delta State capital by Thursday evening.
The NFF Annual General Assembly, the first of which took place 90 years ago in Lagos on 19 February 1934, is the biggest assemblage of football administrators and stakeholders in the country.
In one such meeting on 24 July 2008 in Makurdi, the football body changed its name from NFA to NFF.
This year, according to a press release by the NFF, the plenary will have in attendance, the chairmen and secretaries of football associations in the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory, chairmen and secretaries of the Nigeria Premier Football League, Nigeria National League, Nigeria Women Football League and the Nationwide League One, as well as chairmen and secretaries of the referees’ association, players’ union and coaches’ association. This group of 88 makes up the Congress.
They are joined by the members of the NFF Executive Committee and the management team as well as former NFF Presidents and General Secretaries.
The Minister of Sports Development, John Owan Enoh, is announced as the special guest. Nigeria’s Member of the FIFA Council, Amaju Melvin Pinnick is also expected as well as a representative of the West African Football Union (WAFU B).
The Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Francis Oborevwori will declare the General Assembly open.
Venue is the Unity Hall of the Delta State Government House.
Governing Bodies
Like in Egypt, former Nigerian Olympian, Sadiq Abdulahi wants Tinubu to declare ‘State of Emergency’ in Sports
Former Nigerian tennis player and Olympian, Prof. Sadiq Abdulahi has called for drastic action to arrest the decline of Nigeria in global sporting events.
The former tennis player who is now a professor in the United States declared that the “failure to win a medal at the regular 2024 Paris Olympics, the few medals at the Paris Paralympic and the fallout at the National Youth Sports Festival has exposed the deep problems facing the sport’s sector.”
He wants Nigeria to have the same approach that the Egyptian president has taken while reacting to the country’s performance at the Paris 2024 Olypics.
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered a comprehensive evaluation of sports federations that participated at the Paris Olympic Games, following a mission report submitted by the country’s sports minister.
According to Prof. Abdulahi, the National Sports Federations charged with the preparation of elite athletes have failed to do their job despite the cry for funding from the government.
“Federal Government cannot adequately fund all the Olympics sports. It is impossible.
“By declaring a state of emergency, new people, new approaches and new funding models will be identified. More importantly, the Federal Government will redefine grassroots sports development.
“We will lay sustainable foundation for sports development.”
Continuing, he called for the return of the National Sports Commission (NSC) which enabling decree was abolished through Decree No. 7 of 1991, but came back through presidential proclamation under Sani Abacha before it was abolished again.
The original NSC was established in 1964 as National Sports Council before the promulgation of Decree 34 of 1971 which legalised it as the apex Federal Government agency to control, regulate and organize sports.
“The FG may now bring back the National Sports Commission or the National Sports Authority. Our emerging national economy with the full participation of the private sector can support this new beginning. I hope this helps.”
RELATED STORY: President Al-Sisi orders sports system overhaul
Governing Bodies
CAF gives Yoruba and Arabic interpretations of ‘OLA’ the Super Cup 2024 Official Match Ball
The Confédération African of Football, CAF, has given the linguistics interpretation of OLA, the confederation’s official match balls produced by Puma which has also unveiled a special edition for the Super Cup duel holding on Friday in Saudi Arabia.
According to CAF, OLA, symbolizing the dynamic and energetic nature of African football, means “wealth,” “honour,” and “respect” in Yoruba and “rise” and “success” in Arabic.
The OLA ball stands out with its vibrant design and cultural significance. “OLA”
The ball is a mix of black and gold, representing power and sophistication. The ball will be the centrepiece of the eagerly-awaited match between the two giants of African football.
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