Month: August 2023

Africa’s football governing body, the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF), has received a formal complaint from stakeholders of Cameroonian football over the conduct of FECAFOOT President Samuel Eto’o.

According to CAF, the group has requested the confederation to investigate the activities of the former Barcelona star.

Eto’o’s reign as boss of the Cameroonian Football Federation has been marred with controversies, with some members of the association calling for his resignation.

“CAF has received written statements from several Cameroonian football stakeholders to look into and investigate certain alleged improper conduct by Mr. Samuel Eto’o who is President of the Fédération Camerounaise de Football (“FECAFOOT”),” a statement from CAF read.

“CAF is looking into these requests based on and in accordance with the CAF Statutes and Regulations. Whilst the allegations are prima facie serious, Mr. Samuel Eto’o is presumed to be innocent until an appropriate judicial body concludes otherwise.

“CAF will make no further announcement while the investigations are ongoing and will only make public statements when the proceedings have come to an end.”

Rwandan foreign minister Vincent Biruta is on a two-day official visit to Jourdan. On Wednesday (Aug. 09) he met with his counterpart Ayman al-Safadi in Amman.

Biruta announced that Rwanda decided to establish a diplomatic presence in the Jordanian capital as the two nations seek to bolster cooperation.

“This is an important step to carry our cooperation forward for further collaboration in areas of mutual interest,” he added.

Following a on visa exemptions for diplomats signed last February, the two countries decided to waiver visas for the entry of citizens into the two countries.

“The signing of this agreement will help boost people to people exchange between our two countries and enhance tourism activities as well as trade and investment,” Biruta anticipated.

“The ongoing visit of a high-level delegation between our two countries are the result of the commitment by our heads of state to strengthen the relations between Rwanda and the Kingdom of Jordan, at both the bilateral and multilateral levels,” he said.

Common goal

Both officials discussed common goals to play a constructive role in bringing peace focused on a number of sectors, including fertilizers, pharma, trade and tourism, in addition to defense cooperation.

“We discussed our common goal to play a constructive role in bringing peace, security and stability to our respective regions and beyond,” Biruta said during a joint statement with Safadi.

Ayman al-Safadi detailed the signing of new deals during a presser: “we signed one agreement and two MOUs (memoranda of understanding). One has to do with urban development and housing, another announces that the two countries have decided to waiver visas for the entry of citizens into the two countries. And a third one about cooperation in the diplomatic training and diplomatic field. In total, we have ten agreements and MOUs signed between the two countries now.”

The Jordanian foreign minister praised the role of Rwanda in the Aqaba Process, which aims at pooling resources together to fight terrorism.

The east African nation could host a new round of the process either by the end of this year or early next year, Safadi said.

Rwanda’s chief diplomat also met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

Senegalese striker Sadio Mane is delighted to have joined Al Nassr in the Saudi league.

Mane in an interview revealed that he turned down the advances of former Liverpool team-mates Roberto Firmino and Fabinho when deciding on which Saudi Premier League club to join.

“I spoke with (Roberto) Firmino for sure. He wanted me to come to the wrong club! I’m joking! He called me two or three times to convince me to come to Al Ahli because I had contact with them from the beginning. But, in this time when Al Nassr come then I chose Al Nassr,” said Sadio Mane, Al Nassr forward.

Mane admitted that Al Ahli’s Firmino and Al-Ittihad’s Fabinho both attempted to convince him to join their respective sides but the lure of teaming up with Cristiano Ronaldo proved to be too tempting for the former Liverpool attacker.

“Of course, (Jordan) Henderson is also here. He sent me a message two days ago to wish me good luck with my team and I’m really, really excited to meet all of these great guys and also out on the pitch to face each other for the first time and hopefully I am going to win against you guys!” Mane said.

The 31-year-old Mané left Bayern Munich after a single season with the German champion in which he struggled for goals, was ruled out of the World Cup with injury, and was briefly suspended by the club.

“Really, really happy to be part of this project and to make sure this league becomes one of the best, for sure. I think if you see how they work on it and how they are doing their best to bring all these great players, I think you can see how ambitious they are,” mane said

Besides Ronaldo, his new Al-Nassr teammates include former Manchester United defender Alex Telles, midfielder Marcelo Brozović, who captained runner-up Inter Milan in this year’s Champions League final, and the Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina.

The Senegal forward scored 12 times in 38 games for Bayern, but only one of those goals came after a leg injury in November which ruled him out of the World Cup. Mané was also suspended for one game by Bayern for “misconduct” in April after German media reported he had struck teammate Leroy Sané in the locker room after a Champions League loss to Manchester City.

Forty-one migrants have died in a shipwreck off the Italian island of Lampedusa Island, survivors told local media in a report on Wednesday citing accounts from survivors.

Some survivors told rescuers that they were on a boat that had set off from Sfax in Tunisia and sank on its way to Italy.

The four survivors, originally from the Ivory Coast and Guinea, reportedly reached Lampedusa on Wednesday.

They told the Coast Guard that 45 of them left Sfax, including three children, at 10am on Thursday, ANSA reports.

In their reports, they said the boat capsized due to a large wave and all migrants on board ended up in the sea.

According to the four, even the only 15 that wore a life jacket, also died ANSA reported.

It follows two other shipwrecks off the Italian island on Saturday that left a woman and her infant dead while more than 100 migrants had to be rescued from the water.

The waters in the Strait of Sicily have been extremely rough in recent days, making it hard for Italian Coast Guard boats to reach stranded migrants.

More than 2,000 people have arrived in Lampedusa in the last few days after being rescued at sea by Italian patrol boats and NGO groups.

Italy is experiencing a sharp surge in sea migration, with almost 92,000 arrivals recorded so far this year, according to interior ministry data last updated on Friday, compared with more than 42,600 in the same period in 2022.

According to reports, more than 1,800 people have lost their lives so far this year in the crossing from North Africa to Europe.

In recent days, Italian patrol boats and charity groups have rescued another 2,000 people who have arrived on Lampedusa.

Serious and diligent, the French women’s team mastered Morocco (4-0) without being caught up in the emotional context of the meeting on Tuesday in Adelaide, making an appointment for an exciting quarter-final against Australia on Saturday. at the World.

Nothing disturbed the Blue, Tuesday evening in the cozy atmosphere of Hindmarsh Stadium . Nor the cold of South Australia, with a dozen degrees on the thermometer; nor the Moroccan opposition, much less eye-catching than feared; nor the emotion of a particular match for several players in the match, closely or remotely linked to Morocco.

With Kadidiatou Diani still impressive and involved on three goals (1 goal, 2 assists) and Eugénie Le Sommer credited with a double, France has already equaled its course in the 2019 edition at home, a World Cup which was over against the future American champions (2-1).

Saturday in Brisbane, another piece and a completely different atmosphere await coach Hervé Renard and his Tricolores against the Australians, co-organizers of the tournament and very ambitious.

The “Matildas” , who have just recovered their offensive star Sam Kerr from injury, will be supported by nearly 50,000 supporters, almost four times more than Tuesday’s crowd in Adelaide in the smallest stadium of the tournament (13,500 people ).

Morocco outdated

Les Bleues know their future opponents very well, having faced them on July 14 at the end of their preparations, with a 1-0 defeat after a rather lackluster performance in Melbourne.

It will be necessary to restart the machine, very clearly, because the French have just chained two one-sided oppositions. This was the case against Panama (6-3) at the end of the group stage with a revamped team, then on Tuesday evening against a Moroccan selection that was outdated in all sectors and caught up in its inexperience at this level – the Atlas Lionesses . were playing their first World Cup -.

Hervé Renard, who put on the jacket again at half-time after having held the shock in a white shirt for 45 minutes, will be satisfied with such an unfolding, while France has long thought it necessary to face Germany in the eighth. He even allowed himself to bring in the last two outfield players not used until then, Aïssatou Tounkara and Naomie Feller.

The technician, appointed in the spring, is now one step away from fulfilling his first objective: to qualify Les Bleues for the semi-finals for the second time in their history after 2011. If Les Bleues pass the Australian obstacle, they will find themselves in the Final Four Colombia or England, reigning European champion.

On the Moroccan side, coach Reynald Pedros , former coach of six French women in Lyon, could not work miracles. But his World Cup was already successful before kick-off.

Karchaoui measured

In this duel between French coaches, Hervé Renard was able, for his part, to master the emotional aspect of the meeting, he who keeps “wonderful memories” of the Moroccan men’s selection led between 2016 and 2019.

A serenity transmitted to Sakina Karchaoui, who also lived a match apart because of her Moroccan origins. A decisive passer for Diani on the first goal (15th), the Paris SG player remained on the sidelines of her partners during the goal celebrations, without overdoing it.

Before the clash in Brisbane, the French attackers were full of confidence. Diani scored again after his hat-trick against Panama and Le Sommer scored twice (24th, 70th). Even midfielder Kenza Dali took part in the celebration by scoring after a superb movement (20th).

The defense cannot say the same after the reassuring performance of Elisa De Almeida, who had replaced Maëlle Lakrar, hit in the thigh. Against Australia, Les Bleues will need the return of their central defender.