Sports
SEE FULL LIST: Lookman, Ekong, Oshoala shortlisted for 2024 FIFA Best awards
Four Nigerians have been nominated in multiple categories of the 2024 FIFA Best awards.
Ademola Lookman, Wiliam Troost-Ekong, Paul Onuachu and Asisat Oshoala were among the nominees announced by FIFA on Friday.
Lookman, who ranked 14th in the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony, was shortlisted in the Best Attacker category alongside Vinicius Junior, Lamine Yamal, Bukayo Saka, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, among others.
Troost-Ekong will compete in the Best Defender category against Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rüdiger, William Saliba, Achraf Hakimi, Manuel Akanji, Jonathan Tah and many more.
Onuachu was named among the best goals up for the Puskas Award for his sumptuous bicycle-kick strike in the colours of Trabzonspor against Konyaspor in the Turkish Super League in November 2023.
Oshoala was nominated for the newly introduced Marta Award for the best goal in women’s football. The 30-year-old’s acrobatic strike for Barcelona Femeni against Benfica in the women’s Champions League in November 2023 got the nod.
Rodri and Vinicius will again go against each other for the men’s best player award. The duo were nominated alongside nine other players, including Jude Bellingham, Mbappe, Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde.
Rodri was crowned the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner in October, a decision that was met with mixed excitement and criticism from fans and footballers alike.
Votes for the 2024 FIFA Best awards will be weighted equally between fans and an expert panel. Fans can cast their votes on the FIFA website until 10 December 2024.
FULL LIST
The Best FIFA Women’s Player nominees
Aitana Bonmati (Spain), Barcelona
Barbra Banda (Zambia), Shanghai Shengli/Orlando Pride
Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway), Barcelona
Keira Walsh (England), Barcelona
Khadija Shaw (Jamaica), Manchester City
Lauren Hemp (England), Manchester City
Lindsey Horan (USA), Olympique Lyonnais
Lucy Bronze (England), Barcelona/Chelsea
Mallory Swanson (USA), Chicago Red Stars
Mariona Caldentey (Spain), Barcelona/Arsenal
Naomi Girma (USA), San Diego Wave
Ona Batlle (Spain), Barcelona
Salma Paralluelo (Spain), Barcelona
Sophia Smith (USA), Portland Thorns
Tabitha Chawinga (Malawi), Paris Saint-Germain/Olympique Lyonnais
Trinity Rodman (USA), Washington Spirit
The Best FIFA Men’s Player nominees
Dani Carvajal (Spain), Real Madrid
Erling Haaland (Norway), Manchester City
Federico Valverde (Uruguay), Real Madrid
Florian Wirtz (Germany), Bayer Leverkusen
Jude Bellingham (England), Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappe (France), Paris Saint-Germain/Real Madrid
Lamine Yamal (Spain), Barcelona
Lionel Messi (Argentina), Inter Miami
Rodri (Spain), Manchester City
Toni Kroos (Germany), Real Madrid (now retired)
Vinicius Jr (Brazil), Real Madrid
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach nominees
Arthur Elias (Brazil), Brazil
Elena Sadiku (Sweden), Celtic
Emma Hayes (England), Chelsea/USA
Futoshi Ikeda (Japan), Japan
Gareth Taylor (England), Manchester City
Jonatan Giraldez (Spain), Barcelona/Washington Spirit
Sandrine Soubeyrand (France), Paris FC
Sonia Bompastor (France), Olympique Lyonnais/Chelsea
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach nominees
Carlo Ancelotti (Italy), Real Madrid
Lionel Scaloni (Argentina), Argentina
Luis de la Fuente (Spain), Spain
Pep Guardiola (Spain), Manchester City
Xabi Alonso (Spain), Bayer Leverkusen
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper nominees
Alyssa Naeher (USA), Chicago Red Stars
Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany), Chelsea/NJ/NY Gotham
Ayaka Yamashita (Japan), INAC Kobe Leonessa/Manchester City
Cata Coll (Spain), Barcelona
Mary Earps (England), Manchester United/Paris Saint-Germain
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper nominees
Andriy Lunin (Ukraine), Real Madrid
David Raya (Spain), Arsenal
Ederson (Brazil), Manchester City
Emiliano Martinez (Argentina), Aston Villa
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy), Paris Saint-Germain
Mike Maignan (France), AC Milan
Unai Simon (Spain), Athletic Club
Sports
Haaland signs new 10-year deal with City — longest contract extension in EPL
Erling Haaland has agreed to a new 10-year deal as a Manchester City player.
The club announced the deal in a statement on its website on Friday.
“Erling Haaland has signed a new 10-year Manchester City contract, keeping him at the Club until the summer of 2034,” the statement reads.
The length of the 24-year-old’s new deal is the longest contract extension in the English Premier League (EPL), surpassing Cole Palmer’s nine-year agreement with Chelsea.
Haaland moved to the Etihad in 2022 from Borussia Dortmund. The Norwegian scored 52 goals in all competitions in his debut season, including 36 in the EPL to win the league’s Golden Boot prize. He also broke the league record of goals scored by a player in a single season.
His goals led Man City to an impressive treble of trophies: EPL, FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
The striker has scored 111 goals in 126 games in his two-and-a-half season at the club.
Sports
Benue audits Lobi’s finances, asks three former vice-chairmen to refund N2.4bn
The Benue state government has asked three former Lobi Stars vice-chairmen to return N2.4 billion into the club’s coffer.
In a statement on Friday, Tersoo Kula, the press secretary to Hyacinth Alia, governor of Benue, said the revelation was included in a white paper report of a forensic audit investigation into Lobi’s finances inaugurated by the state government.
Alia launched a probe into the club’s funds in October 2024. The investigative committee studied the handover notes submitted by the outgoing board of the club and Lobi’s income.
The investigation report covers Lobi’s financial details from January 2020 to September 2024.
Kula said the audit report, released to the state government in November 2024, revealed that Lobi Stars generated N3,759,820,269 during the period under review.
However, he added that only N1,314,807,672 of the generated sum could be accounted for.
The statement then demanded the three immediate past vice-chairmen of Lobi Stars refund the deficit to the club’s account.
“The breakdown indicates that Mr Mike Idoko and others who worked with him are to refund the sum of two hundred and forty-three million, nine hundred and fifty-five thousand, and eighty-one naira, forty-four kobo (₦243,955,081.44) for the period of 2020-2021,” the statement reads.
“Mr. Emmanuel Taman and others who worked under him are to refund four hundred and thirty-four million, three hundred and eighteen thousand, nine hundred and sixty-four naira, twelve kobo (₦434,318,964.12) for 2021-2022.
“Mr. Dominic Iorfa and others are to refund the sum of six hundred and ninety-two million, four hundred and fifty-three thousand, nine hundred and twenty-seven naira, sixty kobo (₦692,453,927.60) for 2022-2023, and seven hundred and two million, eight hundred and seventy-five thousand naira (₦702,875,000) for 2023-2024, as well as three hundred and seventy-one million, four hundred and nine thousand, six hundred and twenty-three naira, seventy-six kobo (₦371,409,623.76) for 2024-2025.”
The committee also recommended that Lobi Stars be registered as a revenue-generating company and that funds from the club’s sponsors be deposited directly into the club’s account.
The panel also advocated for the club’s independence, stating that Benue’s sports ministry should no longer control or interfere in its day-to-day operations.
Sports
Everton sack Sean Dyche, name club captain as interim player-manager
Everton have sacked Sean Dyche as the club’s manager.
The Merseyside club announced the dismissal of the 53-year-old English manager in a statement on Thursday.
Everton also dismissed Ian Woan, Steve Stone, Mark Howard and Billy Mercer — members of Dyche’s crew.
The club said Seamus Coleman, the team’s captain, will temporarily take charge of first-team affairs alongside Leighton Baines, Everton’s U-18 head coach.
“The process to appoint a new manager is under way and an update will be provided in due course,” the statement reads.
Dyche leaves his post a few hours before Everton played Peterborough in the third round of the FA Cup.
On Saturday, Everton suffered their eighth league defeat of the season following a 1-0 league loss to Bournemouth. The result left the Toffees in 16th position, just one point from relegation places as Everton fights against the drop in consecutive seasons.
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