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.

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.

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.