ONE WORD

They allegedly extorted N40,000 from the woman after initially demanding N75,000 from her in Lagos.   Abayomi Some officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) are being investigated for allegedly collecting N40,000 bribe, NewTelegraph has revealed. The officers were arrested for reportedly demanding money from a lady, who contravened the traffic laws of the state. A source said the officers demanded N75,000 and even went with the lady to the nearest Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) gallery, where she withdrew some money and later gave them N40,000. It was only after she had given them the money that they allowed her to go. This was even as officials the Lagos State Task Force yesterday arraigned 13 staff of ‘Seven-Up Bottling Company,’ for allegedly assaulting LASTMA officers. The source said:  “Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s attention was drawn to the incident by a relative of the lady, who narrated how the LASTMA officers ferri...

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) today approved a request from FIFA for a temporary dispensation relating to Kicks from the Penalty Mark (KFPM) in Law 10 – Determining the Outcome of a Match at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019. The Law currently states that “if the goalkeeper commits an offence and, as a result, the kick is retaken, the goalkeeper must be cautioned”. The purpose of the caution (yellow card) is to act as a deterrent to the goalkeeper to not infringe the Laws of the Game, in particular by not encroaching from the goal line before the kick is taken. However, in matches where Video Assistant Referees (VARs) are being used, the presence of the VARs acts as an even greater deterrent to goalkeepers as they know that any encroachment will be detected by the VARs if it is not detected by the on-field match officials. The IFAB fully supports goalkeepers being penalised for not conforming with the Laws of the Game and gaining an unfair advantage. However,...

According to Spanish newspaper ‘Sport’, PSG and Barcelona have already started negotiating over Neymar’s potential return to Spain ahead of next season. The Catalan press are reporting that Barcelona have opened talks with PSG as they look to re-sign Neymar. The Brazilian has reportedly been dreaming of a return to Barça for a while, but in the last few days it seems as if now a potential move could really be on the cards. The French champions are not an easy club to deal with – far from it, in fact. However, it seems on this occasion, they have not completely closed the door on Neymar’s exit. In addition to the player’s desire to leave, Barcelona and club president Josep María Bartomeu are also willing to cut a deal. Despite PSG’s president suggesting that Neymar’s departure could be a possibility, it certainly won’t be an easy transfer to complete. The Parisian club are believed to want a staggering 300 million Euros for the forward, although it seems they are willing to nego...

The Acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Mary Uduak, has identified derivatives as some of the investable products capable of boosting liquidity in the Nigerian capital market. Uduk made the observation at the final reporting workshop of the Knowledge Sharing Programme (KSP) in Lagos, yesterday, according to a statement by SEC. The KSP is centred on “Capacity Building on Operation and Development of Financial Derivatives Markets in Nigeria,” aimed at tapping from Korea’s expertise and excellence towards developing the derivatives market in Nigeria. According to Uduak, KSP has undoubtedly presented a good opportunity for addressing some of the market’s challenges in setting up a strong and functioning derivatives market, especially in terms of having the required market infrastructure, regulatory framework and surveillance system for the derivatives market in Nigeria which are the target areas of research. “I am optimistic about our cha...

After several months of documentation processes, Chairman of Forte Oil, Mr. Femi Otedola, yesterday said the sale of Forte oil has been completed. The sale is coming more than three years after the firm sold 17 per cent of its equity to a Swiss oil trading firm. In a message on his twitter handle, the Forte Oil boss said the process had been completed and he is now prepared to focus on his investment in the power sector. Last year, Otedola, who was chairman of the oil firm, had announced plans to sell off his 75 percent stake in the company to “maximise opportunities in refining”. “A few years ago, my team and I embarked on an arduous task of transforming a moribund petroleum marketing business, African Petroleum Plc (formerly British Petroleum) into Forte Oil Plc; a leading integrated solutions provider with solid footprints in downstream petroleum marketing, upstream services and power generation and one in which we built intrinsic value to the benefits of our shareholders...

USA have been scoring for fun so far, but their harshest critics have pointed out the fact that they hadn't been tested at all during their opening two matches. That was set to change against Sweden, who managed to record a surprise victory when these two came up against one another at the 2016 Olympics. Sweden's chances of recording another upset were dashed after just three minutes as USA netted the fastest goal of the tournament so far. Megan Rapinoe whipped in a dangerous cross to the front post which caused chaos amongst the Swedish defence, and Lindsey Horan was on hand to tap the ball into the empty net. USA predictably dominated possession, but they struggled to find a cutting edge in the final third and were almost caught out by Sweden on a couple of occasions, who remained a threat on the counter. We can't seem to go a day without a controversial VAR decision and it was USA who seemed to profit from a debatable decision. Tobin Heath netted her ...

A passenger jet was stopped from taking off in South Africa after a foetus was found blocking a toilet. Cleaners found the abandoned foetus in the toilet of the plane today at around 6.15am on the domestic FlySafair airline. The discovery prompted the offloading of all passengers and a police investigation was launched. The foetus was discovered by cleaning staff as the plane was being prepared and passengers boarded for an early morning flight from the coastal city of Durban to Johannesburg. Passengers were offloaded from the plane after the cleaners discovered the foetus blocking the toilet (file image) FlySafair said the 'tragic finding' forced them to evacuate the plane while procedures started to investigate the findings. In a statement the South African budget airline added: 'Upon final preparations of the waste management system for the departure of flight, our technical crew discovered what appeared to be an abandoned foetus.' Police confirmed th...

Cameroon scored a 95th minute winner against New Zealand to secure their place in the World Cup knockout stages, while Chile missed a 88th minute penalty in their match against Thailand to narrowly miss out. Elsewhere, the Netherlands secured a decent 2-1 win over Canada, while the USA rounded off a perfect group stage campaign with a relatively comfortable 2-0 win over Sweden. Cameroon and New Zealand both lost their opening two matches of the tournament, but both sides harboured hopes of reaching the last 16 ahead as one of the four best third-place finishers. The first-half was particularly uneventful, with neither side able to have make much of an impact, but the game exploded into life after 57 minutes. Ajara Nchout performed a wonderful piece of skill to create some space in the box before coolly slotting the ball home beyond the on-rushing Erin Naylor. Cameroon continued to dominate thereafter, but the game took an unexpected twist with ten minutes left on the clock...

Chelsea have announced Petr Cech as their new technical and performance advisor. Cech, who retired as a player in May, returns to Stamford Bridge four years after leaving for Arsenal in 2015. The former Czech Republic international will work closely alongside with director Marina Granovskaia. Petr Cech returns to Chelsea after being appointed as new technical and performance advisor Cech is now back at Stamford Bridge where he spent 11 years as their No 1 goalkeeper 'I feel very privileged to have this opportunity to join Chelsea again,' Cech insisted this week Cech will also work with the men's first team coaching and backroom staff and will have an 'emphasis on strategy and performance'. The 37-year-old said: 'I feel very privileged to have this opportunity to join Chelsea again and help create the best possible high level performance environment to continue the success the club has had over the past 15 years. 'I'm looking forward to...

© Twitter: @FCBarcelona Dutch full-back Mike van Beijnen Barcelona signed Dutch full-back Mike van Beijnen on a two-year deal, the LaLiga champions announced on Thursday. Van Beijnen's contract runs through to 2021, with the 20-year-old's deal including a €100million buyout clause. He arrives on a free transfer from NAC Breda and will link up with Barcelona B for the 2019-20 season. Van Beijnen, who also spent time with Eredivisie giants PSV and Willem II, is reportedly the son of Frenkie de Jong's agent Ali Dursun. Netherlands star De Jong agreed a €75m move to Barcelona from Dutch champions Ajax in January. The 22-year-old midfielder is preparing for his first pre-season with Ernesto Valverde's side.

© FRANCK FIFE Nigeria players protest to the referee during their defeat against France after the hosts were allowed to retake the match-winning penalty While FIFA rejoice at global television viewing figures for the women's World Cup, there have been too many empty seats inside stadiums and on the field VAR is stealing headlines. The latest came in the wake of the retaken penalty for Argentina that knocked out Scotland on Wednesday. That followed similar controversy in Nigeria's loss to France, another retaken penalty preventing the Super Falcons from securing qualification for the knockout phase. Scotland and Nigeria were undone by a change to the law on penalty kicks, which means a goalkeeper must now have "at least part of one foot on... the goal line when the kick is taken". The VAR found that Scotland goalkeeper Lee Alexander, like Nigeria's Chiamaka Nnadozie, had strayed fractionally in front of the line, and penalties either missed or saved were r...

Super Falcons Nigerians fans all over the world were  anxiously waiting  to know the fate of the Super Falcons at the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup in France is now over as the Nigeria Ladies have snatched the last ticket into the Round of 16 at the tournament. The Super Falcons will have to thank the Thailand Women’s team for their qualification as the Asians did well enough to lose just 2-0 to Chile. That was not enough to give the South Americans passage into the knockout phase. They need three unreplied goals. Congrats, @NGSuper_Falcons! 🇳🇬 See you in the Round of 16! #FIFAWWCpic.twitter.com/OEONhzRapY — FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) June 20, 2019 Thailand before Thursday’s game against Chile had lost 13-0 against USA and 4-1 against the Swedes but their resolve not to stomach another heavy loss helped the Super Falcons to pull through. With Cameroon qualifying earlier in the day after their last-gap 2-1 win over New Zealand, Africa will for the first t...