Sports
NFF confirms Waldrum’s exit, appoints Madugu as Falcons interim coach
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed Randy Waldrum’s resignation as the Super Falcons head coach.
The federation confirmed the American’s exit in a statement on Thursday.
There were reports that Waldrum submitted a resignation letter to NFF earlier this month.
In the viral letter, the 67-year-old cited his wife’s “health issues” as the primary reason for his exit.
NFF failed to say anything in public concerning the development until now.
“The Executive Committee also approved the Technical and Development Sub-Committee recommendation for Coach Justin Madugu to lead the remaining technical crew and take charge of the Senior Women National Team, Super Falcons, pending the appointment of a substantive Head Coach,” the statement reads.
Waldrum took charge of the Super Falcons in 2020. Three years earlier, he had turned down the job to manage the team.
The coach combined the Falcons’ role with the Pittsburgh Panthers.
During his four-year reign at the helm, Waldrum led the team to the 2022 African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) and finished fourth.
He also managed the team to the 2023 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia. Nigeria drew Canada, defeated Australia, and held Ireland in the group stage to progress to the second round, where they lost to England on penalties.
Waldrum also helped the Falcons qualify for the team’s first Olympics since 2008. However, the ladies failed to win a match in a group that included Spain, Japan, and Brazil at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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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