Author: Kayode Akinwumi

Arsenal and England winger Bukayo Saka is set to undergo medical assessment ahead of the Three Lions’ trip to Finland. Saka limped off during England’s 2-1 home defeat to Greece at Wembley. The winger is Arsenal’s latest injury scare as he’s in doubt for England’s next fixture against Finland.The Three Lions are in dire need of a win against Finland after their disappointing defeat to Greece in front of their home fans. Saka, a crucial part of the team will have to be cleared ahead of the all-important game.The Arsenal forward was replaced by Noni Madueke in the second half…

The English Football Association has slapped a £750,000 fine on Nottingham Forest. The fine is part of the FA’s sanction on the club for bringing the game into disrepute with their action complaining over refereeing decisions in the game against Everton in April.The sanction is coming after an investigation into a controversial statement made by the club in April. Confirming the sanction, the FA put out a statement on Friday which reads, “Nottingham Forest have been fined £750,000 and warned for misconduct in relation to comments posted on social media after their Premier League game against Everton on Sunday 21…

European football governing body UEFA has passed sanctions on Italian side Lazio and their Spanish counterpart Atletico Madrid for their fans’ racist behaviour in European competitions. UEFA said this on Friday, confirming that two sectors of the Curva Nord in Lazio’s Stadio Olimpico would be closed for their next home fixture in the Europa League. Lazio will face Porto at home on November 7 when this sanction is to be carried out for the behaviour of their fans when they won 4-1 against French side Nice last week.Furthermore, the Roman team are also fined €45,000 for the behaviour, along with…

Former England manager Gareth Southgate has been tagged as a leading candidate to replace Erik ten Hag who is under fire as Manchester United manager. The two-time Euro Championship finalist has finally spoken on the prospect of taking over from the Dutchman at Old Trafford.Ten Hag has come under severe fire after seeing United to their poorest start to a Premier League season ever and the former England manager is one of the several names being thrown around as a potential replacement.However, the sense of uncertainty surrounding ten Hag’s job persists as the club ownership have not offered any definite…

Liverpool first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker will be out with a hamstring injury until late November, the club has confirmed. The Brazilian got injured in Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday, leaving the game on a stretcher in the 79th minute and replaced by Vitezslav Jaros. The Reds will be counting on second-choice goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher to fill in for Alisson at the end of the international break.Liverpool are off to a good start this season after the managerial change that occurred over the summer with Arne Slot taking over from Jurgen Klopp. Alisson, who has continued as Liverpool’s…

Italy striker Mario Balotelli is reportedly close to sealing a return to Serie A. Balotelli, 34, has played in 11 different clubs in what has been an illustrious career, including top teams in Italian and English football including Milan, Inter, Manchester City and Liverpool. The former prodigy has moved around quite a bit since 2016, playing last for Turkish side Adana Demirspor where he scored seven goals in 16 Super Lig appearances.The former Italian champion became a free agent in the summer and has not found a definite deal with any side. That might change soon, however, according to reports.…

Former Barcelona striker Sergio Aguero has set a €3 million payout from the former Spanish champions. The Argentine, who was forced to an early retirement from football in 2021 due to a heart ailment shortly after moving to Barca, is now demanding compensation from the Catalan Giants.The former Manchester City star completed a move to Barca in the summer of 2021 on a free transfer after running out his contract with the English champions. He announced his retirement at the age of 33 after just five appearances and one goal for the Spanish side. The former Argentina international appeared last…

Super Eagles star Victor Osimhen has been ruled out of Nigeria’s upcoming AFCON qualifier against Libya. The striker’s absence was conspicuous on the 23-man roster released by the NFF technical director Austin Eguavoen ahead of the important fixtures.Orlando Pirates’ Olisa Ndah is another important absence for the Eagles in this round of international fixtures. With both players’ absence, the Nigerian national team will be headlined by in-form stars, Ademola Lookman and and Victor Boniface.Osimhen picked up a muscle injury on September 28 during Galatasaray’s league fixture against Kasimpasa and is expected to be out of action for some weeks. The…

Manchester City has obtained an important legal ruling against the Premier League in a case involving the Associated Party Transactions regulations of the league. An Arbitral Panel of three judges ruled that aspects of the regulations are illegal and contravene the Competition Act.The regulations were introduced by the league management following the Saudi takeover of Newcastle to avoid situations where rich club owners use companies they have an interest in to arrange inflated sponsorship deals, which in turn increases their teams’ earnings that can then be spent without running foul of the financial fair play rules.The Premier League has deployed…

World football governing body FIFA has imposed a 10-match ban on Italian player Marco Curto for racially abusing Wolves forward Hee-chan Hwang. Curto played for newly promoted Serie A side Como in a pre-season friendly against Wolves. However, he has since been sent on loan to Serie B side Cesena. The Italian was found guilty of racially abusing Hwang during the pre-season friendly in July.A FIFA spokesperson confirmed the sanction, saying, “The player Marco Curto was found responsible for discriminatory behaviour and sanctioned with a 10-match suspension.”The South Korean FA petitioned FIFA in July to complain about the incident. While…