Governing Bodies
BALLON D’OR 2019: LIVERPOOL BOSS, KLOPP FAULTS MESSI’S CHOICE
Virgil van Dijk deserved to win the Ballon d’Or instead of losing out to Lionel Messi, Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said on Tuesday.
Liverpool’s Dutch defender was second in the voting for soccer’s most prestigious individual trophy, won by Barcelona’s Argentina forward for a record sixth time in Paris on Monday.
“The decision is made by journalists, and that’s how people see it. It’s absolutely no problem,” Klopp told reporters ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League home game against Everton on Wednesday.
“I see it slightly different, I think it’s normal and a lot of people see it slightly differently.”
Klopp said Messi was probably the best player he had seen in his lifetime and deserved to be a six-times winner.
“But the last season, if you really go for only that season, then I cannot remember a more impressive season for a defender ever, honestly,” said the German.
“So it would have been right as well if Virgil would have won it.”
Italian Fabio Cannavaro was the last defender to win the Ballon d’Or, in 2006, after helping Italy in the World Cup.
The award has been dominated by forwards, with Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo a five-times winner and third on Monday.
Van Dijk transformed Liverpool’s defence on the way to winning last season’s Champions League and helped the Netherlands reach the Nations League final in Portugal.
He became in August the first defender to win UEFA’s Men’s Player of the Year and was runner-up in September, to Messi again, in the FIFA Men’s Player award.
Wednesday will revive good memories for the 28-year-old, who scored the winner on his debut in the Merseyside derby last year after joining from Southampton in a reported world record fee for a defender.
While Liverpool are eight points clear of Leicester City at the top of the standings, Everton are just above the drop zone in 17th and the pressure is on their manager Marco Silva.
“I have sympathy for him,” Klopp said.
“I know how hard being a manager can be. But I think the last thing Marco needs right now is for me to feel sorry for him. I’m really on his side because I know about the job.”
Everton will also play Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup in January.
-AFP
The president of the Confédération of African Football, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, has announced five new CAF Vice Presidents. They are:
- CAF First Vice President: Mr Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco)
- CAF Second Vice President: Mr Kurt Okraku (Ghana)
- CAF Third Vice President: Mr Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
- CAF Fourth Vice President: Ms Bestine Kazadi Ditabala (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- CAF Fifth Vice President: Mr Feizal Sidat (Mozambique)
In addition, the CAF President has co-opted Yacine Idriss Diallo, President of Fédération Ivoirienne de football, into the CAF Executive Committee.
The CAF Executive Committee also approved the names to fill vacant positions on several CAF Committees.
Organising Committee for the African Nations Championship (CHAN)
- President: Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
CAF Technical and Development Committee
- President: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
- Vice President: Malouche Belhassen (Tunisia)
CAF Medical Committee:
- President: Dr. Mohammed Bouya (Mauritania)
- Vice President: Dr. Thulani Ngwenya (South Africa)
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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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