Author: Chief Editor

After a rapturous reception and raucous unveiling from the fans on Wednesday Lionel Messi got to know his new teammates at Paris Saint-Germain’s Camp des Loges training facility on Thursday. Much has been made of Messi lining up with Brazil’s Neymar and France striker Kylian Mbappe in what will be a fearsome attack for PSG in their quest to win a maiden Champions League. World Cup winner Mbappe was one of the first to extend his welcome to Messi after his official arrival and the 22-year-old posted his best wishes to the newcomer on social media. Mbappe has been linked…

The new Bundesliga season kicks off on Friday when defending champions Bayern Munich play at Borussia Moenchengladbach. Bayern’s new head coach Julian Nagelsmann, 34, is under pressure to deliver a tenth straight German league title at the end of his first season in charge. AFP sports looks at which clubs can prevent Bayern completing a decade of Bundesliga domination: Borussia Dortmund England winger Jadon Sancho may have left to join Manchester United, but Dortmund will be a force to be reckoned with under new head coach Marco Rose. Dutch forward Donyell Malen has been signed from PSV Eindhoven, to play…

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said on Thursday it is the club’s job to make the fans excited for the new Premier League season despite not having the spending power of the favourites to win the title. The Gunners have failed to qualify for the Champions League for the past five seasons, finishing down in eighth in both of Arteta’s campaigns in charge. That has been reflected in the transfer market with Arsenal unable to match the £100 million ($117 million) splurges made by Manchester City and Manchester United, while Chelsea look set to add Romelu Lukaku for a club record…

A group of Northern Nigerian lawyers have volunteered to render free legal services to the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari. The group in a statement issued Wednesday in Abuja and signed by its coordinator, Barrister Sunusi Salisu, said the lawyers were drawn from across all the 19 northern states and all religions and tribes to render free legal services for the preservation of Kyari’s fundamental rights that may be potentially jeopardized by his alleged indictment by a court in the United States of America. The lawyers said they would critically review the procedures adopted by the Federal Bureau…

Lionel Messi has set his sights on more Champions League glory after being unveiled as a Paris Saint-Germain player on Wednesday as hundreds of fans gathered outside the club’s stadium hoping to see their new idol. The 34-year-old Argentinian superstar was presented to media from all over the world at a news conference at the Parc des Princes after arriving in the French capital the previous day and penning a two-year contract with the option of a third season. PSG quickly emerged as the favourites to sign Messi following the shock of his departure last week from Barcelona and he…

Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser al-Khelaifi said on Wednesday forward Kylian Mbappe has “no reason” to leave the club after Lionel Messi signed a two-year deal with the French side. Mbappe is in the final year of his contract and has been linked with a move away from PSG with Real Madrid interested in the 2018 World Cup winner. “Kylian is a Parisian, he’s very competitive. He said he wanted a competitive team,” Al-Khelaifi said. “Now there’s no-one more competitive than us. He has no reason to do anything else,” other than stay, he added. In May the 22-year-old told broadcaster…

Former world football chief Sepp Blatter remains “optimistic” Wednesday, his spokesman said, as he faces a fourth day of questioning by a Swiss prosecutor investigating a suspect FIFA payment to Michel Platini. FIFA’s ex-president Blatter is being investigated over a two million Swiss franc ($2.2 million, 1.85 million euro) payment in 2011 to Platini, who was then in charge of European football’s governing body UEFA. In final hearings in the investigation, Blatter has met with a federal prosecutor from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Switzerland for three consecutive days in Zurich, where FIFA has its headquarters. Due…

The World Health Organization on Wednesday announced major international trials of three drugs to see if they improve the condition of hospitalised Covid-19 patients. Artesunate, imatinib and infliximab will be tested on patients in more than 600 hospitals in 52 countries. “Finding more effective and accessible therapeutics for Covid-19 patients remains a critical need,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Artesunate is a treatment for severe malaria; imatinib a drug used for certain cancers and infliximab a treatment for immune system disorders such as Crohn’s and rheumatoid arthritis. They were donated for the trial by their manufacturers and are already…

Campaigning was winding up Wednesday on the eve of Zambia’s tightly fought presidential and legislative elections dominated by economic hardships. President Edgar Lungu, 64, who is seeking re-election after six years in office, was out and about in Lusaka distributing face masks ahead of a final rally slated for late afternoon at a sprawling government complex. His supporters gathered in a small park outside the complex. Punching fists in the air, hundreds of Lungu supporters have been marching across central Lusaka, sporting the bright green regalia of his Patriotic Front (PF) colours. Minivan taxis joined the parade, beeping their horns…

The 22 years old man, Joshua Adeyinka Kayode, who allegedly defrauded 170 people of the sum of N10.8 billion under fake investment scheme was Wednesday admitted to bail by Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in the sum of N2 billion with two sureties in like sum. Justice Oweibo also ordered that each of the sureties must own a landed property within the court’s jurisdiction and must depose to an affidavit of means. The judge also ordered that the two sureties and the defendant must deposit two passport photographs with the Court’s Registrar and that the defendant…