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TAKEOVERS THAT CHANGED ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE HISTORY

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Newcastle United’s sale to a Saudi-backed consortium appears to be close to completion- a deal that could turn the long-time underachievers into a major Premier League power.

The potential £300 million (S$528 million) takeover will reportedly see Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund take a controlling stake in the club in northeast England.

Agence France-Presse Sport looks at three other English clubs who enjoyed a meteoric rise after lucrative takeovers:

1. Man City become ‘noisy neighbours’

When Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group completed their £210 million takeover in September 2008, Mark Hughes was City’s manager, Brazilian Jo was their leading striker and Stephen Ireland was being touted as the team’s future star.

Stuck in the shadow of Manchester United for decades, City had ended the previous season with an 8-1 defeat at Middlesbrough and were so hard up that Vincent Kompany said the dressing room toilet at their training ground did not even have a door.

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It is safe to say a lot has changed in the past 12 years.

The turnaround from also-rans to the “noisy neighbours” of Alex Ferguson’s nightmares began just hours after the takeover with the shock signing of Brazilian star Robinho – the first in a long list of mega-money transfers that speeded City’s meteoric rise.

City won the 2011 FA Cup and a year later Sergio Aguero snatched the title from United with his stoppage-time winner against QPR on the last day of the season.

Big spending on stars such as Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling ensured City remained the team to beat and they secured another Premier League title in 2014.

Pep Guardiola’s appointment in 2016 lifted them onto an even higher level and they won the Premier League in record-breaking style in 2018.

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Clinching an unprecedented domestic treble in 2019 established Guardiola’s group as one of the greatest teams in Premier League history.

2. Chelsea’s Russian revolution

Roman Abramovich changed the face of the Premier League with his Russian revolution at Stamford Bridge.

Abramovich’s £140 million takeover in 2003 triggered a seismic shift in power in the Premier League.

Manchester United and Arsenal were England’s pre-eminent forces, but all that changed when, as Gunners vice-chairman David Dein noted with much regret, Abramovich “parked his Russian tanks on our lawn and fired £50 notes at us”.

Abramovich’s cash landed Jose Mourinho in 2004 and funded his wunderkind manager’s assault on the Premier League establishment.

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Mourinho won the title in his first season, ending Chelsea’s 50-year wait to be crowned kings of English football, and followed that feat by retaining the trophy 12 months later.

Carlo Ancelotti delivered more Premier League glory in 2010 and Mourinho returned to win his third title in 2015 before Antonio Conte landed the fifth English title of the Abramovich era in 2017.

Having fallen in love with football while watching a Champions League match between Manchester United and Real Madrid, Abramovich’s holy grail was to lead Chelsea to their first triumph in Europe’s elite club competition.

His wish came true in 2012 when Chelsea defied the odds to beat Bayern Munich in the final in the German team’s own Allianz Arena.

3. Blackburn dream

Fulfilling a childhood dream, Jack Walker’s vast investment transformed unglamorous Blackburn from a relic of the past into English champions.

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Blackburn were in the lower reaches of the second tier when Walker became the club’s majority owner after selling his steel business to British Steel for a reported £360 million.

Walker was the local boy made good, who came back to revive the team he supported as a youngster.

Blackburn had not won a major trophy since the 1928 FA Cup, but Walker lured Kenny Dalglish as manager in 1991 and together they put Ewood Park back on the map.

Rovers were promoted in 1992 and Walker’s lavish spending made them a Premier League force.

They flexed their muscles by splashing a then English record £3.6 million to sign Southampton striker Alan Shearer, beating Manchester United in the race.

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In 1995, Shearer’s goals helped Blackburn win the title for the first time in 81 years.

It was the culmination of Walker’s ambitious dream, but they could not sustain that success and were relegated in 1999, a year before their benefactor’s death.

-AFP

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Governing Bodies

Sanusi set for record-extending tenure as Nigeria’s football politicians assemble in Asaba

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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.

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 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.

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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.

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Governing Bodies

Like in Egypt, former Nigerian Olympian, Sadiq Abdulahi wants Tinubu to declare ‘State of Emergency’ in Sports

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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.

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“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.

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  “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

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Governing Bodies

CAF gives Yoruba and Arabic interpretations of  ‘OLA’ the Super Cup 2024 Official Match Ball

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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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