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Full Match Fixtures For 2018 Russia World Cup

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The long awaited FIFA 2018 World Cup will take place in Russia and will be hosted by the same country. The world’s largest football competition will begin on June 14, 2018 and will last till July 15, 2018.

Below are Dates, kick-off times and stadiums for the 2018 World Cup in Russia as released by FIFA.

Group stages

Thu June 14: Russia v Saudi Arabia (Group A) – Moscow (Luzhniki), 4pm

Fri June 15: Egypt v Uruguay (Group A) – Ekaterinburg, 1pm

Fri June 15: Morocco v Iran (Group B) – St Petersburg, 4pm

Fri June 15: Portugal v Spain (Group B) – Sochi, 7pm

Sat June 16: France v Australia (Group C) – Kazan, 11am

Sat June 16: Argentina v Iceland (Group D) – Moscow (Spartak), 2pm

Sat June 16: Peru v Denmark (Group C) – Saransk, 5pm

Sat June 16: Croatia v Nigeria (Group D) – Kaliningrad, 8pm

Sun June 17: Costa Rica v Serbia (Group E) – Samara, 1pm

Sun June 17: Germany v Mexico (Group F) – Moscow (Luzhniki), 4pm

Sun June 17: Brazil v Switzerland (Group E) – Rostov-on-Don, 7pm

Mon June 18: Sweden v South Korea (Group F) – Nizhny Novgorod, 1pm

Mon June 18: Belgium v Panama (Group G) – Sochi, 4pm

Mon June 18: Tunisia v England (Group G) – Volgograd, 7pm

Tues June 19: Colombia v Japan (Group H) – Saransk, 1pm

Tues June 19: Poland v Senegal (Group H) – Moscow (Spartak), 4pm

Tues June 19: Russia v Egypt (Group A) – St Petersburg, 7pm

Wed June 20: Portugal v Morocco (Group B) – Moscow (Luzhniki), 1pm

Wed June 20: Uruguay v Saudi Arabia (Group A) – Rostov-on-Don, 4pm

Wed June 20: Iran v Spain (Group B) – Kazan, 7pm

Thu June 21: Denmark v Australia (Group C) – Samara, 1pm

Thu June 21: France v Peru (Group C) – Ekaterinburg, 4pm

Thu June 21: Argentina v Croatia (Group D) – Nizhny Novgorod, 7pm

Fri June 22: Brazil v Costa Rica (Group E) – St Petersburg, 1pm

Fri June 22: Nigeria v Iceland (Group D) – Volgograd, 4pm

Fri June 22: Serbia v Switzerland (Group E) – Kaliningrad, 7pm

Sat June 23: Belgium v Tunisia (Group G) – Moscow (Spartak), 1pm

Sat June 23: South Korea v Mexico (Group F) – Rostov-on-Don, 4pm

Sat June 23: Germany v Sweden (Group F) – Sochi, 7pm

Sun June 24: England v Panama (Group G) – Nizhny Novgorod, 1pm

Sun June 24: Japan v Senegal (Group H) – Ekaterinburg, 4pm

Sun June 24: Poland v Colombia (Group H) – Kazan, 7pm

Mon June 25: Uruguay v Russia (Group A) – Samara, 3pm

Mon June 25: Saudi Arabia v Egypt (Group A) – Volgograd, 3pm

Mon June 25: Spain v Morocco (Group B) – Kaliningrad, 7pm

Mon June 25: Iran v Portugal (Group B) – Saransk, 7pm

Tues June 26: Denmark v France (Group C) – Moscow (Luzhniki), 3pm

Tues June 26: Australia v Peru (Group C) – Sochi, 3pm

Tues June 26: Nigeria v Argentina (Group D) – St Petersburg, 7pm

Tues June 26: Iceland v Croatia (Group D) – Rostov-on-Don, 7pm

Wed June 27: South Korea v Germany (Group F) – Kazan, 3pm

Wed June 27: Mexico v Sweden (Group F) – Ekaterinburg, 3pm

Wed June 27: Serbia v Brazil (Group E) – Moscow (Spartak), 7pm

Wed June 27: Switzerland v Costa Rica (Group E) – Nizhny Novgorod, 7pm

Thu June 28: Japan v Poland (Group H) – Volgograd, 3pm

Thu June 28: Senegal v Colombia (Group H) – Samara, 3pm

Thu June 28: England v Belgium (Group G) – Kaliningrad, 7pm

Thu June 28: Panama v Tunisia (Group G) – Saransk, 7pm

Last 16

Sat June 30: 1C v 2D – Kazan, 3pm (Match 50)

Sat June 30: 1A v 2B – Sochi, 7pm (Match 49)

Sun July 1: 1B v 2A – Moscow (Luzhniki), 3pm (Match 51)

Sun July 1: 1D v 2C – Nizhny Novgorod, 7pm (Match 52)

Mon July 2: 1E v 2F – Samara, 3pm (Match 53)

Mon July 2: 1G v 2H – Rostov-on-Don, 7pm (Match 54)

Tues July 3: 1F v 2E – St Petersburg 3pm (Match 55)

Tues July 3: 1H v 2G – Moscow (Spartak), 7pm (Match 56)

Quarter-finals

Fri July 6: Winner match 49 v Winner match 50 – Nizhny Novgorod, 3pm (Match
57)

Fri July 6: Winner match 53 v Winner match 54 – Kazan, 7pm (Match 58)

Sat July 7: Winner match 55 v Winner match 56 – Samara, 3pm (Match 60)

Sat July 7: Winner match 51 v Winner match 52 – Sochi, 7pm (Match 59)

Semi-finals

Tues July 10: Winner match 57 v Winner match 58 – St Petersburg, 7pm

Wed July 11: Winner match 59 v Winner match 60 – Moscow (Luzhniki), 7pm

Third-place play-off

Sat July 14: St Petersburg, 3pm

Final

Sun July 15: Moscow (Luzhniki), 4pm

All times listed are BST (British Summer Time).

Kaliningrad is one hour ahead of BST. Kazan, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, St Petersburg, Saransk, Sochi and Volgograd are two hours ahead of BST. Samara is three hours ahead of BST. Ekaterinburg is four hours ahead of BST.

 

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Mbappe left out of France squad for November internationals

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Mbappe left out of France squad for November internationals

Kylian Mbappe has been left out of the France squad for their upcoming UEFA Nations League matches against Israel and Italy after coach Didier Deschamps omitted the Real Madrid superstar from his list of players named on Thursday.

It is the second successive France squad from which the national team captain has been absent after he also missed the October double-header against Israel and Belgium.

The 25-year-old was rested for last month’s matches in order to help him recover from a minor thigh injury suffered playing for Real.

However, that quickly became a source of controversy when he returned to action for Real days later, before France had even played.

Mbappe was absent for France’s 4-1 win over Israel in Budapest and a 2-1 win in Belgium, and instead travelled to Stockholm for a short break with members of his entourage.

It was following that trip that Swedish media reported he was being investigated for an alleged rape.

Mbappe himself said those reports were “fake news” while his lawyer said the player would take action for libel.

A Swedish prosecutor confirmed that an investigation had been opened, without naming Mbappe.

Since then, the ex-Paris Saint-Germain forward has made four appearances for his club, scoring one goal.

However, he remains short of his explosive best form.

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Paris Olympics: FG panel reveals officials responsible for non-registration of Ofili

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An investigative committee set up by the federal government has identified the officials of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) whose inactions led to Favour Ofili‘s non-registration for the women’s 100 meters at the Paris Olympics.

The panel was inaugurated by John Enoh, the recently departed minister of sports development, in September. The committee was tasked with probing Nigeria’s negative exposure at the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics in Paris.

Team Nigeria had a poor outing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning zero medals. In addition to the abysmal performance, the country also dealt with a handful of controversies at the Games.

The most prominent was the exclusion of Ofili from the women’s 100 meters race despite the athlete qualifying. Another was the revelation by Ese Ukpeseraye that she had to borrow a track bike from the German team to perform in the Keirin cycling event.

In a report released to journalists on Monday, Mumini Alao, the committee chairman, highlighted the panel’s findings and recommendations after its investigations.

The document said “conflicting evidence” showed that the omission of Ofili’s name “is traceable to any one of the following organisations: Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), World Athletics (WA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC)”.

The committee added that Rita Mosindi, the secretary general of AFN, was “negligent in her duty of communicating to the Ministry of Sports Development and the Nigeria Olympic Committee information about Favour Ofili’s event status in a reliable and timely manner”.

The panel also faulted Samuel Onikeku, AFN technical director, for demonstrating “poor judgement” by not acting on information about Ofili’s non-registration “when he first got a ‘hint’ of the ‘rumour’.”

The committee added that Ofili’s situation might have been rescued had Onikeku reported or acted immediately on the information he received.

The report then recommended that the officials be penalised by the appropriate authority.

The committee said AFN should pay Ofili N8 million “for the disappointment and depression that she suffered on account of her omission”.

“The cyclist, Ese Ukpeseraye, should write a formal apology to the Nigeria Cycling Federation (NCF) for the embarrassment that she caused the Federation and the Nigerian contingent to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on account of the unauthorised that she made on social media X (Formerly Twitter) about the bicycle that she used for the Cycling track event at the Olympics,” the report reads.

The committee presented its findings to ministry of sports on October 22, a day before President Bola Tinubu scrapped the ministry and transferred its functions to the resuscitated National Sports Commission (NSC).

Enoh then handed over the report to Shehu Dikko, the newly appointed chair of NSC, on October 30.

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Man United appoint 39-year-old Ruben Amorim as new manager

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Manchester United have appointed Ruben Amorim, Portuguese coach, as the club’s new manager.

The Red Devils announced Amorim’s arrival in a statement on the club’s website on Friday.

The manager joined United from Sporting Lisbon and penned a three-year deal to manage the club with an option of an additional year.

However, the Portuguese coach is not expected to join United immediately due to work visa requirements. He is billed to resume at Old Trafford on November 11.

Ruud van Nistelrooy will continue as United’s interim manager until Amorim’s arrival.

United sacked Erik Ten Hag as the club’s manager on October 28 following a 2-1 loss to West Ham.

The defeat was the United’s fourth in the English Premier League (EPL) this season, and they slipped to 14th place on the log.

The team also remain winless in the Europa League with three draws from as many games. They are rooted in the 21st position of 36 teams in the Europa League log.

Amorim is saddled with the responsibility of rejigging and correcting the wrongs in the team that made Ten Hag’s tenure unimpressive.

The 39-year-old is considered one of Europe’s most promising managers. He won the Primeira Liga twice in Portugal with Sporting Lisbon — the first of which was the club’s first title in 19 years.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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