Author: News Room

Barcelona could be banned from the UEFA Champions League over a payment they made to companies linked to a Spanish refereeing official. UEFA on Thursday, opened their own investigation into the matter, which is already being pursued by prosecutors in Spain. The governing body’s regulations, which have been in effect since 2007, give the organisation power to ban clubs from the Champions League for one season if they are found to be involved in match fixing. Court documents show Barcelona… Read the full article here

Tunisia is looking ahead for the qualification match on Friday against Libya in Group J for 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. Jalel Kadri’s side currently sit top of the group on four points after two matches with Libya a point behind, and the teams will also meet again in Benghazi next Tuesday. ”Every match against any team is important. But this is a contest between two African teams. If we secure a good result against Libya, we will be in… Read the full article here

While there are those who place flowers upon graves to honour the dead, others dust off the archives to reissue the music of an artist lost to time. Pianist Gideon Nxumalo, who died in 1970, was unable to defend his 1968 album Gideon Plays, whose original tapes are nowhere to be found. Fortunately, there are copies – with imperfect sound – that Matsuli Music has obtained. One reissue later and the album was released as new in 2021, accompanied by cover art. It is… Read the full article here

The Chief Spokesman for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko, has described the allegations in the petition sent to the Department of State Services by his counterpart in the All Progressives Congress PCC, Festus Keyamo, as “baseless.” Tanko’s reaction is coming hours after Keyamo wrote to the DSS accusing the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, of making incendiary comments that… Read the full article here

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Thursday, arrested 28 persons including a cleric suspected to be “Yahoo-Yahoo boys” in Ilorin, the Kwara State Capital. The arrest, which was effected at Mandate Area, Ilorin, by operatives of the EFCC Ilorin Zonal Command, followed intelligence on the activities of fraudsters operating in the area. The anti-graft agency said preliminary investigation revealed the identity of the suspects to include a cleric, twin… Read the full article here

One week after the last batch of elections in the 2023 cycle, the shame that attended the election is evident to all. From local to international observers, verdicts of disappointment about the much anticipated election since 1999, abound. Late arrival of materials and officials, failure of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, voter intimidation, electoral clientelism, ethnic profiling, violence, ballot snatching, and widespread allegations of manipulation of… Read the full article here

The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party in Ogun State, Anthony Ojeshina, has rejected the result of Saturday’s election, describing the outcome as ‘a rape of democracy’. Ojeshina who stepped down for the PDP governorship candidate in the state, Oladipupo Adebutu, a few days to the election, said the facts on the ground were enough for the Independent National Electoral Commission to declare the election inconclusive. The INEC returning officer… Read the full article here

The Independent Petrol Marketers Association of Nigeria has faulted the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, over his assurance on the completion date of the Port Harcourt refinery. Sylva had at a seminar by defence correspondents recently in Abuja said the refinery would be ready before the end of the second quarter of the year. But the IPMAN Chairman in Rivers State, Dr. Joseph Obel,  said the assurances of the minister were one too many without… Read the full article here

  …300 health facilities flooded The devastation by Tropical Cyclone Freddy is exposing major health risks in the hardest-hit southern Africa countries where emergency response efforts are being ramped up to provide relief to affected communities, the World Health Organisation said. The World Health Organisation said more than 300 health facilities have been destroyed or flooded in Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique following the devastation by Cyclone Freddy, leaving communities without… Read the full article here

Manchester United owners were Thursday awaiting fresh bids from a Qatari banker and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe after the deadline passed for revised offers to buy the Premier League giants. Reports said bidders were initially told they had until 2100 GMT on Wednesday to submit new bids, but that has now been extended. It is unclear when the new cut-off will be. Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank, and Ratcliffe, the founder of… Read the full article here