Author: Chief Editor

Brighton owner Tony Bloom believes that relegation should be scrapped if the Premier League season cannot be completed, claiming it would be “unfathomable” that a club could be doomed by “0.2 points”. The Premier League, in common with leagues throughout Europe and beyond, has been suspended for over a month due to the coronavirus outbreak. Most teams in the top flight still have nine games to play while June 30 has been mentioned as a potential cut-off date for the season to end. “I don’t foresee a situation if the season’s not played out, that teams will get relegated on…

Wayne Rooney may be Manchester United and England’s record goalscorer but he still believes he should have found the back of the net more often during his career, even though he was not a natural finisher. Rooney, a teenage sensation at Everton, joined United in 2004 and went on to score 253 goals in 559 appearances during a 13-year spell for the Old Trafford club that saw the Red Devils pile up the trophies. Rooney surpassed 1966 World Cup-winner Bobby Charlton as United’s all-time leading scorer, just as he did for England with a tally of 53 goals from 120…

Football leagues across Europe have been suspended since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic which has claimed over 100,000 lives throughout the continent. Lockdown restrictions are in effect worldwide although some countries are cautiously beginning to ease stay-at-home orders. AFP Sport looks at what we know about possible restart plans for Europe’s top leagues: ENGLAND The Premier League said that wrapping up the remaining 92 fixtures remains their goal, but the ongoing COVID-19 crisis means no fixed schedule can be drawn up yet. With most clubs having nine games left, it was reported that Friday’s meeting of the 20 clubs…

West Ham chief executive Karren Brady claims the Premier League’s return date is still unclear despite hopes the top-flight season can restart in June. The Premier League said on Friday that wrapping up the remaining 92 fixtures remains their goal, but the on-going coronavirus crisis means no fixed schedule can be drawn up yet. Brady’s West Ham were perilously placed in the English top flight when football was suspended, sitting above the relegation zone on only goal difference with nine games remaining. “Players will have been able to retain some physical fitness at home,” Brady wrote in her column in…

“The pride of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be abased; And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day…” – Isaiah 2: 17-18 “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished…” – Proverbs 16: 5 Fellow Nigerians, please permit me to take you on a virtual flight to the United States of America. In this era of virtual meetings, parties and even dates by Skype, Google Hangout, BlueJeans, Zoom and the like, we might as well travel virtually too. That is…

•New strategy, community infections, responsible for rising cases, says FG •With record 51 new cases yesterday, total confirmed now 493 •Private sector relief fund hits N25.9bn •Edo, Lagos, Kaduna, Enugu, Ogun discharge 20 patients •Masari locks down Dutsinma •Soyinka, others ask Africa to reduce dependence •FG ready to evacuate Nigerians from China •China raises Wuhan death figure by 50%, denies cover-up The ravaging COVID-19 pandemic claimed its biggest victim in Nigeria late yesterday, with the death of Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. He died of complications from the virus at a Lagos hospital. Presidential…

Congressional Republicans on Thursday urged President Donald Trump to condition US funding for the World Health Organization on the resignation of its chief over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Seventeen Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said they had “lost faith” in Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s WHO leadership, even as they stressed the organization is vital to tackling the world’s health problems. “Director-General Tedros has failed in his mandate to objectively respond to the largest global health crisis since the HIV/AIDS pandemic,” the lawmakers, led by Republican Michael McCaul, wrote Trump in a letter. Trump announced Tuesday that Washington…

Niran Adedokun The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha’s confession about being unaware of the decay in Nigeria’s health infrastructure is uncomplimentary of his otherwise towering image. But there is something that does more damage. What is worse is the audacity to say that to Nigerians. True, the confession may present as a standard for the sort of candour that Nigerians desire of people in government, but that is a confusion we should avoid. There is candidness borne out of accountability, one which states the situation in juxtaposition with efforts that government has already put into making…

Godwin Emefiele As many people are now aware, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease in China has rapidly permeated and profoundly changed the world. While this crisis is first and foremost a public health issue, which has claimed the lives of over 123,600 people worldwide, and counting, the economic damages are unprecedented on several fronts: crude oil prices have declined dramatically to as low as $17 per barrel by the end of March, even before applying the discounts many oil exporters are offering; stock valuations for the NSE ASI, Nikkei, Dow Jones and FTSE-100 have declined by an average…

Abimbola Adelakun When Nigeria announced a lockdown of parts of the country in late March, people rightly questioned the possibility of surviving a lockdown in a country where the most basic infrastructure was missing. How do you remain indoors without a guaranteed supply of electricity, food, security, and even WI-FI? At least in the countries where the scientific concepts of “shelter at home,” “social distancing,” and “flatten the curve” emanated from, there are amusements to keep people from going crazy from the tedium of remaining within their homes. The Nigeria realities are not as glossy, and that is why many…