Author: David Great

The 31st Premier League season begins earlier than usual – Crystal Palace face Arsenal on Friday – as football tries to fit in a winter World Cup. What is new this season, who are the new faces and how does the winter break work? New rules The biggest change is that each team can make five substitutions a game, up from three. The Premier League brought the rule in for the remainder of the 2019-20 season when football returned after the first Covid lockdown in 2020. While most of Europe’s other leagues – and Uefa competitions – kept five subs,…

Twenty Ghanaian fishermen, were on Thursday, convicted by a Lagos Federal High Court, for conspiracy and unlawful transportation of 13.670 kilograms of marijuana, popularly called cannabis sativa, from Ghana to Nigeria. The convicted Ghanaian fishermen are: Francis Teye, Kweke Komel, Gad Adjah, Theophilus Tetteh, Kwesi Aboagye, Ekon Fynn, Kwamena Baah, Male, Adult, Kwabina Adjei, Micheal Okutu, Male, Adult, Isaac Kofi, Male, Adult, Kweku Moko; Kwezi Adzi and Kweku Mensah. Others include Micheal Kofi, Ekon Bentum, Kwesi Amissah, Joshua Huago, Otu Otipeseku, Isaac Yorsson and Nana Kodwo. The convicted Ghanaian fishermen were arrested with the banned substance on Nigeria territorial waters,…

Chelsea have had an initial £60m bid for Leicester City’s 21-year-old French defender Wesley Fofana rejected. (Mail) The Blues are now considering an improved offer of £70m for Fofana. (Times – subscription required) Barcelona are willing to offload 33-year-old Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Chelsea. (Mirror) Nottingham Forest have opened talks with Southampton over signing their Scotland striker Che Adams, 26. (Football Insider) Forest are also interested in Wolves’ 22-year-old English midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White. (Sky Sports) Tottenham are closing in on a £21m deal for Udinese’s 19-year-old Italian left-back Destiny Udogie. (Telegraph) Burnley’s Maxwel Cornet, 25, is set to have…

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has appointed Dino Melaye and Daniel Bwala as his spokespersons for 2023 presidential campaign. Abubakar in a statement issued by his special adviser on media, Paul Ibe in Abuja on Thursday, said that the appointment took immediate effect. Malaye was a member of the 8th Senate representing Kogi West at the National Assembly. He hails from Ayetoro Gbede in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi. Tajudeen defeats Dino Melaye in PDP runoff election While Bwala, hails from Abubakar’s own state, Adamawa. He is a legal practitioner and public affairs analyst, who…

Captain Cesar Azpilicueta has signed a new Chelsea contract that will keep him at the London club until 2024. The Spain right-back, 32, had a year left on his existing deal and had been in talks with Barcelona over a possible transfer this summer. He joined Chelsea from Marseille in 2012 and has now made 476 appearances for the club, scoring 17 goals. “I really feel the love and I am really excited for the new project we have in our hands,” said Azpilicueta. To you, from Azpi! ???? pic.twitter.com/GrBaP2EuMo — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 4, 2022 “I am really…

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state has told Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that if the All Progressives Congress (APC) had picked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as its presidential candidate he would have declared support for the Vice President after he lost out in the PDP primaries. A source close to the meeting which held at Namadi Sambo’s residence in Abuja told Chronicle NG that Wike gave Atiku some conditions, if they must work together and he made it clear that if Atiku doesn’t meet the conditions, he might be forced to work with Peter Obi. The Rivers…

*VP receives report of National Defence College Course 30 participants Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says Nigeria’s current security challenges and emerging threats require the country’s military and other relevant stakeholders to be several steps ahead of perpetrators while also stepping up local production of armaments. This was one of the highlights of the response of Prof. Osinbajo after receiving a presentation on “Defence Transformation and National Security: Strategic Options for Nigeria of the Future”, by the National Defence College Course 30 participants, late Wednesday during a virtual interaction. According to Prof. Osinbajo, “if you look at the challenges that we…

The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal on Thursday, August 4, 2022, set aside the judgment of a Federal High Court, Abuja which discharged and acquitted a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar of money laundering charge to the tune of N66 million. The former Air Chief was prosecuted on one count of money laundering involving N66 million allegedly stolen from the account of the Nigerian Air Force during his tenure between 2010 and 2012. Justice Nnamdi Dimgba had in the judgment ruled that the prosecution failed to provide any evidence that Umar gave the…

The All Progressives Congress on Thursday named Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau state as the Director General of Bola Tinubu presidential campaign council. The ruling party also named the Minister of State, Labour and Employment Festus Keyamo (SAN) as campaign spokesperson. The announcement of the duo and others were made by the national chairman of APC, Abdullahi Adamu after the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu and his deputy, Senator Kashim Shettima briefed President Muhammadu Buhari. Adamu also disclosed that Hannatu Musawa, a lawyer will serve as deputy campaign spokesperson. Yahoo Boys behind increased ritual killings – Lalong “We are to…

Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira says “it is important to keep taking the knee” to tackle discrimination. The pre-match anti-racism gesture will be scaled back this season to certain rounds of Premier League games plus the FA and League Cup finals. Premier League captains took the decision to limit taking the knee after consulting with players. “We can’t stop straight away because there are statements to make,” said Vieira. “It is important to keep taking the knee because we are all against discrimination. There will be a few occasions where we will keep doing it. “It will be a long…