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Barcelona appoint Hansi Flick as new manager

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FC Barcelona have appointed Hansi Flick as the club’s new manager.

The Spanish La Liga side announced Flick’s arrival in a statement on the club’s website on Wednesday.

The German coach signed a two-year deal to manage the club for two seasons.

“FC Barcelona and Hansi Flick have reached an agreement for the German to become men’s first team football coach until 30 June 2026,” the statement read.

“The new coach has signed a contract at the Club’s offices accompanied by FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta; first vice president responsible for the sporting area, Rafa Yuste and the Club’s sporting director, Anderson Luís de Souza, Deco.”

Flick’s appointment comes a few days after Barcelona sacked Xavi Hernandez from the role.

Xavi’s relationship with the club hierarchy broke down after his recent public criticism of Joan Laporta, Barcelona FC president.

The club severed ties with Xavi despite convincing him to reverse his decision to exit the Camp Nou just a few weeks prior.

Speaking on his new role, Flick said he was honoured to coach Barcelona and expressed his readiness to repeat the winning record he amassed at Bayern.

“It’s a big honour, a dream for me to sign my contract here. We won some titles with Bayern Munich and my hunger is really big for titles.

“I would like to stay on this path with Barcelona, and I think we can achieve a lot together, and this is an important thing.

“Their philosophy is similar to mine, with lots of possession and really attacking football and these other things I love.”

Flick, who won six trophies in a calendar year as Bayern Munich manager in 2020, is also the third Barcelona manager of German nationality.

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CAF fines Eto’o $200k over ambassadorship deal with betting company

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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has sanctioned Samuel Eto’o, president of the Cameroon Football Association, for ethics violations.

In a statement on Thursday, CAF announced Eto’o was facing “charges of alleged manipulation of football matches and violating the principles of ethics and integrity.”

The continental football governing body added that “there is insufficient proof” to corroborate Eto’o’s involvement in match-fixing alongside Valentin Nkwain.

However, CAF ruled that the four-time African Footballer of the Year “seriously violated the principles of ethics, integrity and sportsmanship” by “signing a brand ambassador contract with the company 1XBET in exchange for remuneration”.

The statement said Eto’o breached “Article 2 paragraph 3 of the CAF Statutes,” which reads: “any person or organisation involved in football in Africa has to respect at all times and unreservedly the principles of ethics and fair play enacted by CAF, the principles of integrity and sportsmanship as well as the Statutes, regulations, decisions, and directives of CAF and FIFA.”

Eto’o was penalised with $200,000 fine for the violation.

The former Barcelona striker has been embroiled in controversy since he was elected president of Cameroon FA in 2021.

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Finidi appointed Rivers United technical manager — weeks after Super Eagles exit

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Finidi George, former Super Eagles head coach, has been unveiled as the new manager of Rivers United.

The club announced the arrival of the 52-year-old in a post on its X account on Wednesday.

Finidi accepted the new role a few weeks after resigning as head coach of the men’s national team.

The resignation came after managing only two competitive games as the Eagle coach following his appointment in April.

He led the team to a 1-1 home draw against South Africa in his first game and a 2-1 loss to the Benin Republic in the second game. Both matches were 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The latest string of performances condemned Nigeria to fifth in the qualification group, having previously drawn against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

The uninspiring results stirred adverse reactions from Nigerians, particularly on social media.

John Enoh, minister of sports development, then summoned the NFF bosses over the losses to “give cause why there mustn’t be consequences for the disappointment caused both government and the generality of Nigerians”.

Following the backlash, NFF announced it would appoint a foreign technical adviser for the team.

Rivers United is the second Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) that Finidi will be managing. He led Enyimba to 2022/23 NPFL title.

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Tobi Amusan cleared of doping charge as CAS dismisses AIU’s appeal

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The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) has dismissed Athletics Integrity Unity’s (AIU) appeal against the clearance of Tobi Amusan’s anti-doping rule violation.

The court announced the decision in a statement published on its website on Friday.

In July 2023, AIU handed Amusan a provisional suspension for allegedly “missing three tests in 12 months”.

The case was transferred to a disciplinary tribunal. A month later, a “majority decision” of the tribunal ruled that the 27-year-old “has not committed an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) of three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period.”

Amusan was cleared of the charge by the disciplinary tribunal.

Later that year, AIU announced that it had filed an appeal against the tribunal’s decision before CAS.

In its ruling on the case, CAS judged that although Amusan “committed two filing failures,” the appellant “did not confirm the existence” of a third missed test “which would have been the third whereabouts failure committed within a 12-month period”.

The court ruled that the athlete did not violate any Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) rule and that the “challenged decision should be confirmed.”

“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeals filed by World Athletics (WA) and by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against the decision issued on 17 August 2023 (the Challenged Decision) by the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal (WADT) in relation to the hurdler Oluwatobiloba (Tobi) Amusan (Nigeria),” the statement reads.

“In their respective appeal to CAS, WA and WADA had sought the imposition of a two-year period of ineligibility. The CAS Panel held a hearing on 19 January 2024. Having deliberated, the CAS Panel has issued its decision today dismissing both appeals. The CAS Panel unanimously acknowledged that the athlete committed two filing failures but did not confirm the existence of a missed test, alleged by WA and WADA, which would have been the third Whereabouts Failure committed within a 12-month period. Accordingly, the CAS Panel concluded that the athlete did not commit an ADRV and that the Challenged Decision should be confirmed.”

With the latest decision, Amusan is cleared and is expected to represent Nigeria at the Paris Olympics next month.

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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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