Four Teams Will Be Selected Among 12 Cities for Expansion Clubs 25-28 
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NEW YORK, NY (Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017) – Major League Soccer today announced that 12 ownership groups and markets have submitted official applications for the League’s next round of expansion. MLS will add four expansion teams in the coming years, growing to 28 clubs.

Christian Amoah, a member of the National Weightlifting Team and Olympian has left Accra for a four-months training programme in the United States of America (USA).
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The trip which is been funded by the Executive Board of the Ghana Weightlifting Federation (GWF) and initiated by Black Cranes’ Head Coach, Prof. Kyle Pierce will have Christian Amoah attached to the Kinesiology and Health Science Department of the Louisiana State University (LSUS) in Shreveport.

ICC Women’s Committee Chair Clare Connor: “The tournament represents the culmination of a hugely exciting few years for the international women’s game” 
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A chance to qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, places in the next ICC Women’s Championship and ODI status for the next four-year cycle – there’s a lot at stake in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017 to be held in Colombo from 7-21 February.

​Al Bangura loosening up…photo credit: Nuneaton Town website
 
Sierra Leone midfielder, Alhassan Bangura aka Al Bangura was part of the Nuneaton Town squad that was trashed 4-0 away by Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday in the English National League.
 
The 29-year-old midfielder who was making his second appearance since joining the Nuneaton Town squad earlier last week was introduced in the 79th minute of play replacing David Morgan. 

​30 January 2016 – The friendly match between the Burger King-sponsored South African National U20 team (Amajita) and Zambia which was initially scheduled for 8 February, will now take place on 12 February 2017 at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.
 
Zambia informed their South African counterparts that due to other commitments, they would want the international friendly match to be moved to the 12 of February at the same venue.

​Sierra Leone national team, Leone Stars and newly appointed Liberty Professionals coach, Sellas Tetteh is leading the race to succeed Polish-Israeli Coach, Avram Grant as head coach of Ghana’s Senior national team, Black Stars.
 
Per reports from Ghana’s local media the Ghana Football Association have begun the search for Grant’s replacement, to be announced after the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

Cote d'Ivoire v Cape Verde, Afrobasket 2015 , Radès (Tunisia), Group Phase, 20 August 2015
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SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda’s African Message) - In a surprising move, Cape Verde’s new Basketball Federation (FCBB) board has pulled out this year’s FIBA AfroBasket qualifiers.

And by the sound of their reactions, some Cape Verde internationals seem somehow disappointed with the decision.

Proteas captain Bongi Msomi has made it clear that they won’t put themselves under pressure to play “catch up”, when they take part in the SANZEA netball quad series here.
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Netball SA will be hosting the quad series for the first time at the ICC Conventional Centre, with top three ranked sides Australia, New Zealand and England all in Durban to take part in the third leg of the series.

USA - Wintersports - Red Bull Crashed Ice - World Championship -


SAINT PAUL, Minnesota (USA) – The Ice Cross Downhill World Championship returns to Saint Paul for the sixth straight year with two Minnesotans, Maxwell Dunne and defending champion Cameron Naasz, at the top of the standings, leading the world championship at the midway point of the 2016/17 season. 
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Ace Sports Journalist and President of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) Kwabena Yeboah has predicted a Grand final between Ghana and Egypt at the 2017 Africa Nations Cup Tournament in Gabon
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The main host of the African Cup on GTV and which other TV Stations are picking said he foresees a grand finale between the two giants on the continent with the Black stars carrying the day after a hard work of dismantling the hard defence of the Pharaohs who have also had a wonderful tournament. 

 Listen 
Dennis Lawrence has been appointed as the head coach of Trinidad and Tobago. The former Swansea City player and Everton first-team development coach was officially unveiled as the country's new head coach at a press conference at Hasely Crawford Stadium.
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Former England defender Sol Campbell was also announced as Lawrence's assistant. Campbell has completed his UEFA Pro License coaching badges. 

© LOC
 Listen 
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There is not long to go now. In 500 days' time, football fans from all over the world can put an end to the anticipation and once again enjoy an entire month of the best national teams on the planet going head to head. 

The Black Stars of Ghana who have been tipped by experts of African Football to win the ongoing 31st Africa Cup of Nations which is in the 60th year on the formation of the African Football Confederation (CAF).
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Significantly, Ghana which is the first nation to attain independence 60 years ago, and it would be an icing on the cake if the Black Stars win their fifth Cup under President Nana Akufo Addo. It would be historic that after a change of government Andre Ayew can take Ghana to a height in football glory, like he did in 2009 with the junior national team.

FIBA Central Board meeting - 27-28 January
MIES, Switzerland - FIBA's Central Board held its first meeting of 2017 on Friday-Saturday 27-28 January at the House of Basketball and it proved an extremely productive two days with a number of major decisions taken as well as a wealth of information shared.
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New Competition System
The Board was brought up to speed on the most recent developments leading up to the launch of the New Competition System in November, which will open a new era for basketball worldwide.

​© AFP
The first two times Paulo Duarte was in charge of Burkina Faso at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations was in 2010 and 2012 and his record read: Played five, drawn one, lost four. After losing all three groups games in 2012, he was sacked.
 
Fast forward five years and two teams later, the Portuguese coach is back at the helm and again in charge of Les Etalons at the Africa Cup of Nations. But this time around, things are looking very different for the former defender, who played close to 250 league games in the Portuguese top flight. On Saturday, Burkina Faso became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the competition after beating Tunisia 2-0 in Libreville.

​Lausanne, 27 January 2017 – The Korean football club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors has filed an urgent request for provisional measures at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Entry Control Body (ECB) decision of 18 January 2017 in which the Korean club was excluded from the AFC Champions League 2017 following alleged match-fixing activities of one of his former scouts which took place in 2013.
 

Black Stars scout and former Cameroon assistant Coach Ibrahim Tanko wants to help Ghana deploy tactics ahead of Thursday’s semi-final clash against the Indomitable Lions.

Tanko has got a wide knowledge about the Cameroonian team having worked as the deputy Coach for side.
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The former Ghana international is expected to give out information about the Cameroonian team ahead of the big game on Thursday.

Coach of the Bronx Gym in Accra, Carl Lokko has hailed the performance of Ghana’s Israeli coach Avram Grant for guiding the Black Stars to the best four of the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.
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Speaking to Yours Truly in an exclusive interview on preparations towards big World Boxing Council International fights and the way to bring more sponsors on board of the game, he said the Black Stars coach came to their gym for spiritual guidance and the peace to win every difficult game.

Cote d'Ivoire v Burkina Faso, Day 7 of the 2013 FIBA Africa Championship in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, 26 August, Eight Final Round

OUAGADOUGOU (FIBA AfroBasket 2017) - Burkina Faso’s international Mamadou "Mike" Savadogo is looking to make a second appearance at FIBA AfroBasket.
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And, Brazzaville, the site of this year's FIBA Africa's flagship tournament, is the place to be in August.

From left to right: Vladimir Grbic, Gilberto "Giba" Amauri de Godoy Filho, Xue Chen, FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F°, Kim Yeon-Koung, Emanuel Rego and Elizaveta Bracht-Tishchenko from the FIVB Commercial & Sales Department
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Lausanne, Switzerland, January 30, 2017 - FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° welcomed a "very important day for volleyball" as he opened the first meeting of the international federation's new Athletes' Commission at the FIVB headquarters on Monday.

Nonina (in photo)

Xolisani “Nomeva” Ndongeni and Bukiwe “Anaconda” Nonina walked tall on Friday night when they were declared the country’s best Male and Female Boxer of the Year respectively at the Boxing SA (BSA) awards ceremony.

Andre Ayew Black Stars deputy skipper believes the team is making history at the Cup of Nations in Gabon and they are very focused on winning the title for the first time in 34 years.

Ghana is chasing a fifth Cup of Nations trophy since 1982. The Black Stars have been left disappointed on three occasions since then when they lost to Ivory Coast and Egypt in the finals.
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The four-time Champions are closing in making yet another final as they prepare to take on Cameroon in the semi-finals on Thursday.

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When Egypt won the last of an unprecedented hat-trick of straight CAF Africa Cup of Nations titles in 2010, fans back home boasted about an attacking flair that characterised the hugely successful reign of coach Hassan Shehata. A free fall in the following years, however, lowered expectations among football enthusiasts in the country until Hector Cuper took the reins to gradually drag the team out of the doldrums, albeit without re-instilling the sense of beautiful football which was a hallmark of Shehata’s era. 

​Record seven times champions Egypt needed a late goal to defeat Morocco 1-0 in Port-Gentil and reach the semifinal, to mark their return to the continent's mastrrpiece after seven years of absence in grand style.
 
Substitute Mahmoud Abdel Menaem "Kahraba" scored the winner two minutes from full time to guide Hector Cuper's side to yet another lone goal victory; a trademark achieved twice before by The Pharaohs in the 2017 AFCON.

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A Uruguayan in France, a Frenchman in the USA and a Bosnian in Italy feature in FIFA.com’s latest stats review, along with role reversals in Africa and Saintly shutouts in England.
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109 goals is what makes Edinson Cavani the joint-second-highest marksman in Paris Saint-Germain’s history. The 29-year-old Uruguayan’s double earned a 2-0 win at Nantes on Saturday. It left him having netted 20 goals in 19 Ligue 1 games this season – staggeringly, six more than mid-table Nantes. Cavani then bagged another brace in Tuesday’s 4-1 win away to Bordeaux in the Coupe de la Ligue to tie Pauleta on PSG’s list of record scorers, trailing only his former strike partner Zlatan Ibrahimovic (156). Dominique Rocheteau is the only other player to have registered a century of goals for PSG.