Sports
Rooney sacked by Birmingham City after disastrous 15-game spell
Birmingham City FC, the English Championship side, on Tuesday, sacked Wayne Rooney, its manager.
The 38-year-old English international’s sacking comes in the aftermath of Birmingham’s 3-0 loss against Leeds United on New Year’s Day.
The former Derby County boss’ reign lasted only three months after joining in October.
He was at the helm for only 15 matches, winning just twice in his short spell at the club.
A statement released by the club announced the sack of Rooney alongside Carl Robinson, the club’s first team coach.
The club said the expectations had not been met by the Rooney-led crew, necessitating a change in management.
“Birmingham City has today parted company with Manager, Wayne Rooney, and First Team Coach, Carl Robinson,” the statement reads.
“Despite their best efforts, results have not met the expectations that were made clear at the outset.
“Therefore, the Board feels that a change in management is in the best interests of the Football Club.
“The Board would like to place on record their sincere thanks to Wayne and Carl for all of their efforts.”
The former Manchester United player retired as a footballer in January 2021 to begin his managerial career.
He also formerly worked at Derby County and DC United before his latest stint with Birmingham.
Sports
Iheanacho, Ndidi promoted back to EPL with Leicester City
Leicester City gained promotion back to the English Premier League (EPL) on Friday night.
The 2016 EPL champions were relegated last season. The Foxes’ promotion was confirmed following Queens Park Rangers’ 4-0 win over promotion-chasing, second-placed Leeds United.
Leeds United’s defeat means Leicester have an unassailable points haul that ensured they have picked up one of the two automatic promotion tickets.
Straight back up, Leicester City! 🦊 pic.twitter.com/j89S1qiuqB
— Leicester City (@LCFC) April 26, 2024
The Midlands club earlier put their foot at the door with a 5-0 win over Southampton on Tuesday night in a match where Wilfred Ndidi, the Super Eagles of Nigeria midfielder, scored a goal.
Ndidi, who will return to the EPL with Kelechi Iheanacho, his international teammate, also congratulated the club via a post on X.
“Congratulations to me, the boys, the staff the club and the amazing fans.. 2 more to go!!! We back!! 😁,” the 27-year-old midfielder wrote.
Congratulations to me, the boys, the staff the club and the amazing fans.. 2 more to go!!!
— Ndidi Wilfred (@Ndidi25) April 26, 2024
We back!! 😁
Enzo Maresca’s team tops the championship table with 94 points and is well-placed to win an eighth championship title.
The King Power side have a four-point lead with two matches left in the 44-game season.
Leicester can now claim the championship title on Monday with a victory at Preston if third-placed Ipswich fail to beat Hull City on Saturday.
Sports
No talks with Peseiro over Eagles return, says sports minister
John Enoh, minister of sports development, says there is no ongoing negotiation to return Jose Peseiro as Super Eagles head coach.
On Thursday, there were reports that the minister had contacted Peseiro and was negotiating a potential return of the Portuguese to the helm of Nigeria’s men’s national team.
Reacting to the claims in a statement signed by Diana Mary-Nsan, his media aide, the minister described the reports as “entirely false” and “fabricated to create sensation”.
The statement added that Enoh “does not interfere or influence critical decisions of the federations” and “ensures that the federations meet the required expectations and standards in the discharge of their duties”.
Peseiro exited the Eagles role in February after leading the team to a silver medal-winning campaign at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is yet to announce a permanent replacement for the Portuguese since then.
The federation had called for public applications from interested and qualified candidates to fill the role, but little has been let out after.
On April 19, Enoh announced that a new coach would be named within the next two weeks.
Finidi George was the Eagles’ interim head coach for two international friendlies against Ghana and Mali in March.
Finidi led the Eagles to a 2-1 victory over Ghana in his first game at the helm but lost 2-0 to Mali in the second game.
Sports
Juventus ordered to pay Ronaldo €9.7m unpaid salaries
Juventus must pay Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo 9.7 million euros ($10.4 million) in back wages for the 2020-21 season, the Italian courts announced on Wednesday.
The Court of Arbitration, to which Ronaldo appealed, “orders Juventus Turin to pay the sum of 9,774,166.66 euros”, plus interest and procedural costs, it stated in its decision.
The sum equates to the difference between the salary actually received by Ronaldo and that which he should have received after tax and other deductions.
Ronaldo, who spent three seasons in Italy with Juventus (2018-21) before joining Manchester United (2021-22) and then the Saudi club Al Nassr, was claiming 19.5 million euros but the arbitration panel reduced that by 50 per cent.
Contacted by AFP, Juventus declined to comment, but said it would be issuing a statement “shortly”.
According to the rankings drawn up by the American business magazine Forbes, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was the world’s highest-paid sportsman in 2023, with $136 million, including $46 million in wages.
Juventus, who are listed on the stock exchange, recorded losses of 123.7 million euros in the 2022-23 financial year, which ran to the end of June, it announced in October.
No provision has been made in the accounts of Italian football’s most successful club, currently third in Serie A, for the payment of this wages backlog.
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