Sports
FIFA bans Argentina goalkeeper Martinez
Argentina’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has been banned for two matches by FIFA for “offensive behaviour”, the Argentine Football Association announced on Saturday.
The 32-year-old Aston Villa star was also found guilty of “violating principles of fair play” in two separate episodes.
Martinez was found to have violated FIFA’s code of conduct when holding a replica of the Copa America trophy to his groin after the World Cup qualifier win over Chile on September 5.
It is not the first time Martinez has performed such an action, having also done it with the Golden Glove trophy for best goalkeeper after Argentina beat France on penalties in the 2022 World Cup final.
FIFA also sanctioned him for hitting a TV cameraman’s camera with his gloves after their 2-1 defeat to Colombia on September 10.
The AFA expressed their dissatisfaction with the FIFA ruling.
“It should be noted that the Argentine Football Association expresses its absolute disagreement with the decision taken by the FIFA disciplinary committee,” they said in a statement.
As a result of the decision, Martinez – also a key member of the Argentina side that won the Copa America in July, as well as the 2021 edition – will miss the World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela on October 10 and Bolivia on October 15.
Argentina are top of the South American qualifying table with 18 points after eight matches. Colombia are just two points behind.
Sports
You can’t have it all – Pundit slams Iwobi’s Fulham teammate for Man City failure
Alex Iwobi’s colleague has been blamed for the Cottagers’ loss at the Etihad Stadium.
Alex Iwobi played commendably in Fulham’s 3-2 defeat by Manchester City on Saturday, but his colleague has been on the receiving end of fierce criticism from ESPN’s Alejandro Moreno.
Despite scoring twice — and having gone ahead — through Andreas Pereira and Rodrigo Muniz, a Mameo Kovacic brace and Jeremy Doku strike sealed a nervy victory for Pep Guardiola’s men, who returned to winning ways after consecutive Premier League draws against Arsenal and Newcastle United.
Success for City means they stay level with Arsenal on 17 points with Liverpool one clear atop the standings.
However, Saturday’s match could have gone differently had Adama Traore converted his multiple chances, failing to put away three opportunities categorised as clear-cut.
According to FBref, Marco Silva’s men edged the Expected Goals (xG) 2-4-1.5 and Traore failed to take opportunities adding up to xG of 1.0.
This prompted Moreno’s remarks about the Spain international’s showing in Manchester, with the former striker focusing on the 28-year-old’s lack of composure in front of goal.
“Adama Traore is proof to the rest of the world that you just can’t have it all,” said Moreno on ESPN. “You can have the pace and you can have the strength, but when it comes to finishing…that’s the story of his career and it’s not just today (Saturday).
“This is something we have seen from Adama Traore that the final product is just not there. His ceiling is so much lower than it should be.
“If you just take the physical aspects of the game, Adama Traore is at the top of the world but when it comes to that final product, he goes all the way down to the very bottom.”
Sports
US court orders Mayweather to pay Nigerian firm $2.4m over contract breach
A US court has upheld the ruling that Floyd Mayweather Jr., the former world boxing champion, must pay Zinni Media Concept Limited, a Nigerian company, $2.4 million in damages for breach of contract.
According to a statement from Alex Nwankwo, the company’s media executive, Zinni Media reached an agreement with Mayweather to make various appearances in Africa, including one in Nigeria, in June 2017.
However, the former boxer unilaterally terminated the deal without cause and refused to reimburse the company for the advance payment paid for the service.
Nwankwo claimed that Mayweather’s legal representatives implied that because the company was not based in the US, the boxer could not make any refund.
“After several unsuccessful attempts to recover the appearance fees from the American boxer, the company instituted a legal action against Mayweather in 2018 where it alleged breach of contract, unjust enrichment and fraud against the former champion. We are grateful that two courts have granted a prayer by Zinni Media Ltd to impose terminating sanctions against Mayweather,” the statement reads.
In October 2023, a lower court in California ruled that Mayweather should pay Zinni $1,638,542 in damages, $721,881.32 in prejudgment interest, $16,270 in sanctioned attorney fees, and $285 in costs. The total compensation amount ordered was $2,376,978.
The boxer, however, appealed the judgment before the California court of appeals.
In the latest ruling, dated August 27, 2024, Eva McClintock, clerk of the appellant court, affirmed the lower court’s verdict.
Nwankwo added that despite the court of appeal’s ruling and the case’s finality, Mayweather had still refused to pay the judgment money, which continues to grow at 10 percent per annum.
He said the court had instructed USA attorneys to enforce the judgment by targeting Mayweather’s 2015 Bugatti GSV or his 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta, both valued over the damages.
Sports
Manchester City midfielder, Matheus Nunes, arrested for alleged phone theft
Manchester City midfielder Matheus Nunes has reportedly been arrested on suspicion of stealing a mobile phone at a nightclub in Madrid.
The 26-year-old Portuguese international was allegedly detained in the early hours of September 8 at La Riviera, a popular disco, and taken to a local police station for questioning, Dailymails reports.
His arrest occurred around 5:30 a.m. after Nunes was accused of taking a phone from a 58-year-old man who had attempted to photograph him in the nightclub’s restroom without his consent, according to Spanish daily El Mundo.
Born in Brazil, Nunes is said to have taken the phone in a moment of anger and refused to return it.
El Mundo stated that the police reportedly arrested him after being called to the scene and found the phone in his possession.
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