Two days shy of his 78th birthday, Brazil’s oldest professional club coach, Aderbal Lana, penned a fresh deal with Amazonian outfit Princesa do Solimoes on Friday.

Lana returns for his fourth spell with the club, who made the announcement on social media including a Star Wars twist, saying: “Lana’s return. May the Force be with you, Professor”, with a photoshopped image of the coach in a Jedi costume.

With more than half a century of experience under his belt, Lana has managed 25 clubs, mainly in Brazil’s fourth division, Serie D, and the Amazon championship.

Lana has moved clubs four times this year.

“Age is in people’s heads. You can be 10, 20 or 30 years old, it all depends on what you want to do and how you want to live your life,” Lana told Brazilian newspaper Globo Ge in April, when he was appointed Monte Roraima coach.

“I’m a very happy, healthy and calm guy, so my biggest motivation is not to get old and die slowly,” he added.

Lana’s most notable successes have come in the Amazon championship, winning the title on nine occasions, including four with Nacional-AM, three with Sao Raimundo and once each with Rio Negro-AM and most recently Manaus in 2017.

-Reuters

United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has pardoned Zamalek players Mostafa Shalaby and Nabil Emad and the Egyptian club’s sporting director Abdel Wahed El Sayed after they were each handed one-month prison sentences for assault during a match in the UAE, the Emirates News agency (WAM) said on Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court handed the prison terms as well as 200,000 dirhams ($55,000) fines after the three men were involved in a scuffle with a stadium organiser during this month’s Egyptian Super Cup semi-final at the Al Nahyan ground in Abu Dhabi.

Zamalek beat Pyramids 5-4 in a penalty shootout on Oct. 20.

“The President of the State pardons those accused in the events of a football match that brought together the Egyptian clubs Zamalek and Pyramids in Abu Dhabi, based on the fraternal relations between the Emirates and Egypt,” WAM said in a report posted on X.

The Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports said earlier in its Facebook page: “The Egyptian state ends the Zamalek trio crisis within hours.”

“It is expected that the complete end of the crisis and the return of the players will be announced in the coming hours, in the context of full respect for the legal frameworks and based on the historical relations between the two sister countries, Egypt and the Emirates.”

Zamalek’s Mostafa Shalaby and Nabil Emad have been given a one-month prison sentence and fined 200,000 dirhams ($55,000) each for assault during this month’s Egyptian Super Cup semi-final in the United Arab Emirates, the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court said.

Zamalek sporting director Abdel Wahed El Sayed got the same punishment after the three men were involved in a scuffle with a stadium organiser at the Al Nahyan ground in Abu Dhabi. Zamalek beat Pyramids 5-4 in a penalty shootout on Oct. 20.

The court said in a statement on social media platform X on Tuesday that the three men were “… committing acts that would disturb public order and incite riots in front of the fans …”

Zamalek declined to comment.

-Reuters