Algeria vs Nigeria: Iwobi reveals who to blame for Super Eagles’ 2-1 defeat

Published

2 years ago

September 28, 2022

Nigeria midfielder, Alex Iwobi, has blamed centre referee Mehrez Malki and his assistants Y. Malloulchi and F. Jridi, all from Tunisia, for their 2-1 defeat to Algeria in Tuesday’s friendly game.

Malki was at the centre of controversy after he ruled out a goal scored by Ademola Lookman in the first half.

If the goal had stood, the Super Eagles would have gone 2-0 up, following Terem Moffi’s opener.

But shortly before halftime, the referee awarded Algeria a controversial penalty, which Riyad Mahrez converted to make it 1-1.

Youcef Atal’s long-range finish proved to be the winner for the Desert Foxes.

Iwobi is not convinced that the Super Eagles should have lost the game.

He tweeted on Wednesday: “I understand refereeing isn’t easy at all & all referees should be treated with respect… But yesterday was surely questionable sha?”

Juventus releases statement after order to pay Cristiano Ronaldo’s unpaid wages

Published

5 hours ago

April 18, 2024

NewsDirect

Italian giants Juventus have released a statement after being ordered to pay their former player, Cristiano Ronaldo his unpaid wages.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS, ordered the Serie A giants to pay Cristiano Ronaldo his unpaid wages.

The court gave the verdict following a dispute arising from pay reductions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ronaldo, who now laces his boots for Saudi Super League side, Al-Nassr, told the court he was owed €19.5 million ($20.81 million) by the Turin giants in unpaid wages.

The Court ruling will see Juventus pay Ronaldo around half that amount, with a €9.8 million settlement reached.

The Italian giants quickly moved to make a statement after the ruling, stating, “The arbitration tribunal ruled Juve had to pay half of the sum requested by the 39-year-old Portugal striker.

“They partially granted the request made by [Ronaldo]… ascertaining Juventus’ pre-contractual liability resulting from the failure of negotiations and ordered the defendant to pay an amount of approximately Euro 9.8 million.”

Juventus have also hinted at their desire to contest the ruling in their statement, saying:
“The Company, also with the support of its legal counsel, is reviewing the decision made by the arbitration board, reserving all assessments and initiatives to preserve its rights.”

Sports

Real Madrid knock Man City out of Champions League on penalty shootout

Published

13 hours ago

April 18, 2024

NewsDirect

Real Madrid have progressed to the semi finals of the UEFA Champions League after knocking out Man City 4-3 on penalty shootouts on Wednesday.

The Premier League and La Liga giants played out an entertaining 3-3 draw at the Bernabeu last week and continued to inflict blows on each other at the Etihad.

Rodrygo put Real Madrid ahead on 12 minutes and for a long time it appeared as though his goal would be enough, but Kevin de Bruyne scored with 15 minutes remaining to send the tie to extra-time.

Neither side found a winner in the extra 30 minutes and Real emerged triumphant from a tense penalty shootout.

Real Madrid will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals after the German giants knocked out Arsenal.

Sports

Aruna lose to Freitas, exit ITTF World Cup

Published

1 day ago

April 17, 2024

NewsDirect

Quadri Aruna, Nigeria’s top table tennis player, has exited the International Table Tennis (ITTF) World Cup after losing by 1-3 (12-10, 11-9, 11-9, 3-11) to Portuguese Marcos Freitas in the group stage.

The Men’s singles game on Wednesday at the Galaxy Arena, Macao, China, saw the Portuguese claim the first three sets but a comeback from the Nigerian in the last set was not enough to scale over the line.

Aruna had started his campaign at the World Cup on a good note with a 4-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-6, 11-6) convincing win over Puerto Rico’s Daniel Gonzalez to set the final group 15 tie against Freitas.

Aruna occupied the top spot in the group as Freitas had earlier beaten Gonzalez 4-0 (17-15, 11-7, 11-7, 11-1), but the Nigerian had more points than the Portuguese and was rated number one in the group.

The tie between Aruna and Freitas decides the winner of the group and who will then advance to the knockout of the competition.

With Aruna falling short, Freitas will face Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan in the Round of 16 on Thursday.

The tournament which began on Monday will end on April 21.