ONE WORD

Cristiano Ronaldo is reported to have held talks with new Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri over his role in the Old Lady's side going forward, with Italian media reporting that he is set to be deployed as the Italian's false nine. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner joined Juventus from Real Madrid last summer, but after being converted into a central striker to much success in his later years under Zinedine Zidane, he has found himself playing on the left of a front three for much of his time in Turin. He still managed to net an impressive 28 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions, but the general feeling is that the 34-year-old didn't play to the best of his abilities in his first season in Italy. In an effort to amend that, the incoming Sarri is reported by ​Football Italia to be keen on moving him into a more central role on a permanent basis. The speculation has led to outlets such as La Stampa, Corriere della Sera and Gazzetta dello Sport nicknaming hi

Former Nigeria captain, Joseph Yobo, has said that Ahmed Musa and Odion Ighalo, should have been included in the starting XI against Burundi on Saturday. The introduction of the two players by Gernot Rohr in the second half proved to be a masterstroke, as the Super Eagles went on to win 1-0 in Alexandria. With the score tied at 0-0, Musa was introduced for captain John Obi Mikel in the 58th minute, while Ighalo replaced Paul Onuachu in the 73rd minute. Four minutes after his introduction, Ighalo netted the winner. In his reaction to the result, Yobo identified Musa and Ighalo as important players in Gernot Rohr’s squad, who would have given the team a strong start in the first half. “The two players who came on [in the second half] should have started the game because they have the experience, Ighalo and Musa. Ighalo with his experience at the World Cup and everything. “These are new players coming in, sometimes they don’t have the structure. The structure that is there whe

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 ferried the wo

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