SPORTS

Germany on Thursday won the race to host the 2024 European Championship as UEFA backed a bid seen as safer than the rival Turkish proposal. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin announced the winner following a campaign that saw politics and concerns over human rights in Turkey play a central role. Germany hasn’t hosted a major international football tournament since the 2006 ...

After Luka Modric was confirmed as FIFA player of the year, the votes of top stars including Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been revealed. The award was decided by a collection of votes, coming from the captains of each international team, their managers, and designated media officials from each country. Modric took the top honour with 29.05 per cent ...

Gabon’s football federation (Fegafoot) has hired a trio of former national team skippers to rescue the country’s aspirations of qualifying for the continental football showpiece scheduled for next year in Cameroon. A Thursday statement from Fegafoot announced that Pierre Aubame and Daniel Cousin have been named as co-coaches of Gabon after the dismissal last week of Spaniard Jose Antonio Camacho. ...

Ghana assistant coach Ibrahim Tanko says he sides with Schalke 04 left-back Baba Rahman who has asked for some time away from international duty to regain full fitness after a long-term injury. The 24-year-old only played his first competitive game in May due to a terrible knee injury picked up while on duty the Black Stars at the Africa Cup ...

Aduana Stars midfielder Elvis Opoku has questioned the decision of the club’s top hierarchy to sack former coach of Yussif Abuabakar. The midfielder vented his frustrations at the club, insisting the decision to sack Abubakar made no sense and went ahead to criticize the appointment of Keinechi Yatuhashi. “What was the point in the sacking of Yusif.” Elvis quizzed speaking ...

The Ghana Football Association is now a reptile breeding ground after 3 months inactivity at the Secretariat. The FIFA Normalisation Committee (NC) has tasked staff of the Ghana Football Association, GFA, to find a cleaner to clear the offices before work begins. The Government of Ghana, through the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID), handed over the secretariat to the Normalisation ...

Football in the West African nation has been beset by conflict in recent years. A four-man Fifa unit is due to arrive in Sierra Leone shortly to investigate match-fixing claims involving the national team. Football’s world governing body is also overseeing a roadmap which concerns, in addition to the match-fixing investigation, delays to FA elections and agreeing the conduct of ...

Emre Can reacted with stunned amazement after seeing a replay of Cristiano Ronaldo’s red card against Valencia and risked a huge backlash in the process. Juventus’ opening Champions League match of the season was locked scoreless midway through the first half when the five-time Ballon d’Or winner clashed with Jeison Murillo off the ball at the edge of the home ...

World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has described a return to London’s Wembley Stadium for the latest defence of his title belts in front of a home crowd on Saturday as “a blessing”. The 28-year-old Londoner will put his World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organisation titles on the line against Russia’s Alexander Povetkin. “Coming back is a ...

THIS is the moment Cristiano Ronaldo was dismissed for Juventus against Valencia on his Champions League debut. Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Juventus from Real Madrid this summer and was making his Champions League debut against La Liga victims Valencia tonight. However, the 33-year-old has endured a torrid evening with the Portugal international receiving a straight red card following a collision ...