Governing Bodies
Abramovich stripped of Chelsea football club directorship
The Premier League board has disqualified Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich as a director at the English top-flight soccer club after he was sanctioned by the British government over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the league said in a statement on Saturday.
Abramovich, who had been under scrutiny after Russia’s invasion, said last week he was selling the London club. But the sale is now on hold, with Chelsea operating under a special government licence.
“The Board’s decision does not impact on the club’s ability to train and play its fixtures, as set out under the terms of a licence issued by the Government which expires on 31 May 2022,” the league said.
Chelsea did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.
The government welcomed the move and said it was not opposed to the sale of the club. It added that it had amended the special licence so the club could spend 900,000 pounds ($1.17 million) to stage each of the team’s matches.
“We welcome the Premier League’s action to disqualify Roman Abramovich as a Director of the football club. The Government has made clear that we need to hold to account those who have enabled the Putin regime,” a spokesman for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport said.
“We are open to a sale of the club and would consider an application for a licence to allow that to happen,” he added.
The team can continue playing games and pay players and staff but cannot transfer players in or out, as the government tries to prevent Abramovich from benefiting in any way from such moves.
SUCCESSFUL ERA
Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 for a reported 140 million pounds and his investment resulted in the most successful era in their history, with the club winning five Premier League titles, five FA Cups and the Champions League twice.
On Saturday, Chelsea’s shirt sleeve sponsor, South Korean Hyundai car company, said they were suspending their deal with the club.
“Through our partnership with Chelsea FC, we are proud supporters of the players, the fans and grassroots football,” Hyundai said.
“However, in the current circumstances, we have taken the decision to suspend our marketing and communication activities with the Club until further notice.”
Chelsea’s main shirt sponsor, mobile network Three, has suspended ties, while another sponsor, Trivago, said it would stick with the club.
Russia says its actions in Ukraine are a “special military operation” designed not to occupy territory but to destroy its neighbour’s military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.
The entry on the British sanctions list described Abramovich as “a prominent Russian businessman and pro-Kremlin oligarch” who enjoyed “a close relationship for decades” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Abramovich has denied having such ties.
Chelsea, who are third in the league with 56 points from 27 matches, host Newcastle United on Sunday.
($1 = 0.7671 pounds)
-Reuters
Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
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