NFF names Le Guen Super Eagles Coach

The Nigeria Football Federation on Monday named Frenchman Paul Le Guen as the new manager of the Super Eagles.

The detail was made public by the Technical and Development Committee of the Federation who listed Le Guen, 52, as the new Technical Adviser. He will be assisted by Nigerian Salisu Yusuf, who takes the role of Chief Coach. The appointments, they said, are subject to agreement of contract terms with the NFF Executive Committee.

Le Guen was highly expected to be named the new manager. No further definition was given by the NFF on the specific roles of the technical adviser and the chief coach on Monday.

The new Eagles manager Le Guen led the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon to the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals. As a player he stared for Brest, Nantes and Paris Saint Germain and won 17 caps for France. He later coached Rennes, Lyon, PSG (in France) and Glasgow Rangers (in Scotland). He has also managed Oman.

Yusuf played for Nigeria at the U20 level. Recently, he managed the Eagles in interim capacity for two international friendly matches in Europe against Mali and Luxembourg at the end of May, which the Eagles won.

Spokesman of the NFF committee, Paul Bassey, told thenff.com after the meeting at the NFF Secretariat on Monday that Enugu Rangers gaffer Imama Amapakabo and former Super Eagles’ goalkeeper and skipper Alloy Agu, who served as assistant coach and goalkeeper trainer for the games against Mali and Luxembourg in May, retain their places in the technical crew.

The new crew’s immediate challenge is a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Tanzania in the first week of September. The match can only serve as a preparatory game for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match away to Zambia on October 3 as both Nigeria and Tanzania have long been eliminated from the 2017 African cup race.

The committee has also recommended to the NFF board, the appointment of one-time Eagles assistant coach, Bitrus Bewarang, as the new NFF Technical Director. Bewarang, who is president of the Nigeria Football Coaches Association, will replace the late Coach Shaibu Amodu.

Fifa secures new World Cup sponsor

Fifa, which has struggled to find commercial partners since it was battered by a corruption scandal last year, named a Russian bank as its first regional World Cup sponsor.

The global soccer body on Monday said Alfa Bank would “activate sponsorship initiatives” around the 2018 World Cup, which is being hosted by Russia.

Fifa said that, under a new commercial strategy for the World Cup, up to four packages were being offered for regional sponsors in each of the five regions.

It listed the regions as Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa, and Asia.

It said there was a growing interest in the approach.

Fifa was thrown into turmoil last year after criminal investigations were launched into the sport in the U. S., where several dozen former soccer officials have been indicted, and Switzerland.

It was also forced to reform its bidding process after a December 2010 vote awarded the 2018 and 2022 tournaments to Russia and Qatar respectively.

Gianni Infantino was elected to the Fifa presidency in February after promising greater funding for Fifa’s 211 member associations during his campaign.

He said increasing sponsorship revenue would be a priority for his presidency.

Fifa sources have said the federation faces a shortfall of about 500 dollars million in its predictions if it fails to reach sponsorship revenue targets.

South African athlete dies while climbing Kilimanjaro

A South African trying to summit Kenya’s Mount Kilimanjaro to mark Mandela Day has died.

A statement from the Nelson Mandela Foundation said details are “sketchy” but that it appeared Gugu Zulu had problems breathing early Monday as his group tried to reach Africa’s highest peak.

“We are informed that the medical teams tried everything possible to save his life” as they tried to descend, the statement said.

The foundation said the athlete was part of a Trek4Mandela team hoping to summit to mark Mandela’s birthday, a day of volunteer service in South Africa. Authorities said they were climbing in support of girls from disadvantaged communities.

In his last Facebook post, Gugu Zulu on Saturday said, “Am having flu like symptoms and struggling with the mountain but taking it step by step!! Today we managed to see our destination and our camp is literary above the clouds!!”

He was hiking with his wife, Letshego, who descended the 5,895-meter (19,340-foot) mountain with him, the foundation said.

South Africa’s sports ministry called Gugu Zulu a “great talented motorsport athlete who excelled on the race course.”

MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE.

Per Mertesacker set to be named new Arsenal captain

Per Mertesacker is set to be named Arsenal captain ahead of the new season, according to reports.

The 31-year-old German international, one of the most experienced players at the club, will be rewarded for his loyalty by being handed the armband after Mikel Arteta retired from football to take up a coaching role at Manchester City.

Mertesacker’s central defensive partner Laurent Koscielny will be given the vice-captaincy, while Petr Cech and Theo Walcott are alternate options if the former two aren’t on the pitch.

Despite being out of contract at the end of next season, Mertesacker is a trusted member of the squad and is the ‘chief fine collector’ at Arsenal’s London Colney training ground for players who commit misdemeanours including being late to training.

See full transcript of Kanye West and Taylor Swift’s conversation before ‘Famous’ was released

The controversy over Kanye West‘s song, ‘Famous’ reached its peak last night when the rapper’s wife, Kim Kardashian shut down the blogosphere with a release of his conversation with Taylor Swift before the song was released.

A full transcript of the conversation between ‘Ye and Swift as released by Kim on her Snapchat and it shows the singer’s approval of the song.

Read below;

Kanye West on the phone with Taylor Swift: ‘You still got the Nashville number?’

Taylor Swift: ‘I still have the Nashville umm area code, but I had to change it.’

Kanye West reads the ‘Famous’ lyric: ‘To all my southside n—-s that know me best, I feel likeme and Taylor might still have sex.’

Taylor Swift: ‘I’m like this close to overexposure.’

Kanye West: ‘Oh, well this I think this a really cool thing to have.’

Taylor Swift: ‘I know, I mean it’s like a compliment, kind of.’

Kanye West: ‘All I give a f–k about is you as a person and as a friend, I want things that make you feel good.’

Taylor Swift: ‘That’s sweet.’

Kanye West: ‘I don’t want to do rap that makes people feel bad.’Taylor Swift: ‘Umm, yeah I mean go with whatever line you think is better. It’s obviously very tongue in cheek either way. And I really appreciate you telling me about it, that’s really nice.’

Kanye West: ‘Oh yeah, I just had a responsibility to you as a friend you know, and I mean thanks for being so cool about it.’

Taylor Swift: ‘Aw thanks. Um yeah I really appreciate it, like the heads up is so nice. [inaudible] Even asking or seeing if I would be okay with it and I just really appreciate it. Like I would never expect you to like tell me about a line in one of your songs.’

Kanye West: “It’s pretty crazy.”

Taylor Swift: ‘And then the flowers that you sent me, I like Instagrammed a picture of them and it’s like the most Instagram likes I’ve ever gotten. It was like 2.7’

Kanye West: ‘Relationships are more important than punch lines, ya know?’

Taylor Swift: ‘I don’t think anyone would listen to that and be like that’s a real diss she must be crying. You’ve gotta tell the story the way that it happened to you and the way that you experienced it. You honestly didn’t know who I was before that. It doesn’t matter that I sold 7 million of that album before you did that which is what happened, you didn’t know who I was before that. It’s fine.’

Taylor Swift: ‘I might be in debt, but I can make these things happen. I have the ideas to do it and I create these things and concepts. I’m always going to respect you. I’m really glad that you have the respect to call me and tell me that as a friend about the song. It’s a really cool thing to do and a really good show of friendship so thank you.’

Kanye West: ‘Thank you, too.’

Taylor Swift: ‘And you know, if people ask me about it I think it would be great for me to be like, ‘Look, he called me and told me the line before it came out. Jokes on you guys, We’re fine.’
You guys want to call this a feud; you want to call this throwing shade but right after the song comes out I’m going to be on a Grammys red carpet and they’re going to ask me about it and I’ll be like, ‘He called me.’ It’s awesome that you’re so outspoken about this and be like, ‘Yeah, she does. It made her famous.’ Its more provocative to say ‘might still have sex…’ It’s doesn’t matter to me. There’s not like one [line] that hurts my feelings and one that doesn’t.

Source E!

Ubi Franklin and wife welcome baby!

MMMG boss, Ubi Franklin and wife, Lilian Esoro who were married in November 2015 are the latest celebrities to welcome a baby .

Lilian was delivered of a baby boy in the United States today, July 18.

Congrats to the couple!

TAYLOR SWIFT THREATENED KANYE WITH CRIMINAL PROSECUTION

Taylor Swift threatened Kanye West with criminal prosecution months ago for secretly recording her phone conversation with him
copy of a letter Taylor's lawyer sent to Kanye's attorney back in February. The lawyer made it clear, under California law, anyone who secretly records a telephone conversation with someone in the state commits a criminal offense ... and it's a felony.

The letter threatens ... "Demand is hereby made that you immediately destroy all such recordings, provide us of assurance that this has been done, and also assurance that these recordings have not been previously disseminated."

Finally, Taylor also has the right to file a lawsuit against Kim and Kanye for violating the law.

source TMZ