CHICAGO (Friday, January 11, 2019) – Major League Soccer announced today it has renamed its Coach of the Year award after coaching icon Sigi Schmid who recently passed away. The Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award honors the league’s all-time leader in victories who served as the head coach of the LA Galaxy, Columbus Crew SC and Seattle Sounders during his 20 years in MLS.
 
The announcement was made today at the annual MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas and United Soccer Coaches Convention in Chicago. Since 1996, the Coach of the Year award has been presented annually to the league’s top coach as voted upon by players, club technical staffs, and media.
 
“Sigi was an important part of our league from the very early years in our history, and he had a significant impact on everyone he touched throughout his life and coaching career,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber.  “While he will be remembered by many in the soccer community for his success on the field, it was his kindness and his great qualities as a father, husband and mentor that made him such as special person.”

• New sporting complex being constructed by Egyptian Football Federation
• Facilities to include hotel and headquarters, partly-funded by FIFA Forward
• Learn more about the FIFA Forward Programme

Football in Egypt is more than a passion, it runs through the veins of millions of fans who pack the stadium and cheer for the Pharaohs at every single match.
To keep this ardour alive, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) works tirelessly to ensure that all children in Egypt continue to dream about football and follow in the footsteps of their idol Mohammed Salah. To help achieve this goal, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) and FIFA have started to upgrade the Egyptian’s member association “El Hadaf” National Technical Centre. The aim is to provide the facility with a fresher look and turn it into one of the most advanced and innovative ones in the region, right at the heart of a strategic neighbourhood in Cairo with the CAF headquarters only a short distance away.  

Kent Cricket Club has unveiled its new playing kit ahead of their first match in the Sierra Leone Youth Cricket League 2019. Their opening fixture of the season is against arch-rivals Regent Olympics Cricket Club this weekend, on Saturday 12th January, 2019, at the Kingtom Oval, which is known as the home of cricket in Sierra Leone.
The Kent Men's team, Kent Women's team and Kent Youth teams (Boys and Girls) will be seen in their new striking kits when they take the field in all leagues and formats this season. 
The kits (cap, shirt and trousers) have been designed in the UK by Malik Umer of Stallionz Clothing with a unique design featuring blue, black, white and red colours, with the Kent logo on the left side of the kit, the Twenty20 Community Cricket logo on the right side across the chest, the Onlime logo on the middle across the chest, and the Tilfold Cricket Club logo on both the sleeves.

© Getty Images
Leading international athletes have welcomed the addition of two exciting new events to the programme for the IAAF World Relays Yokohama 2019.
A mixed 2x2x400m relay and mixed shuttle hurdles relay have been added to the programme of events. Joining the men's and women's 4x100m, 4x200m and 4x400m and the mixed 4x400m, it means there will now be three men's events, three women's events and three mixed events being contested on the weekend of 11-12 May.
The mixed shuttle hurdles event is a completely new addition to the World Relays programme. Usually held as a single-sex race, the event in Yokohama will feature two men and two women on each team.
The men will run 110m hurdles in one direction and will then hand over to the first woman on the team, who will run back up the straight to hand over to the second man, and so on. To account for the extra distance, women will run out an extra 10 metres at the end of their leg.

Yesterday, following a visit to the Republic of Benin, the FIFA President, CAF Vice President Constant Omari, FIFA Secretary General, Development Director for Africa and the Caribbean regions Véron Mosengo-Omba, Regional Office Development Manager El Hadj Wack Diop and members of the FIFA administration travelled to Burkina Faso.
Upon arrival, the delegation travelled to the Kosyam Palace, the official residence of the President of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré. At the Palace a meeting took place between the FIFA delegation and President Kaboré, facilitated by Burkinabe Minister of Sport and Recreation Daouda Azoupiou, in a relaxed atmosphere.
Presidents speak
Taking the floor, the President of Burkina Faso welcomed the high-level delegation from FIFA led by Infantino. President Kaboré said: “As far as I know this is the first-ever visit of a FIFA President to Burkina Faso and we take great pride in it, as it is testimony to the trust that Infantino has in the football governance of my country.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today received Candidature Files from Stockholm-Are (Sweden) and Milan-Cortina (Italy)* for the Olympic Winter Games 2026.The Chair of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the Olympic Winter Games 2026, Octavian Morariu, said: “With these two traditional sports countries as candidates, we see the very positive impact of the Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms. Both countries have vast experience in organising World Cups and World Championships, with existing infrastructure and experienced operators. This has allowed the candidates to reduce the investment needed and increase the sustainability of their projects.”
These are the first Candidature Files produced since Olympic Agenda 2020/The New Norm was approved by the IOC Session in February 2018, and its recommendations are already delivering substantial benefits to the Cities and their projects.

Paul Atchoe. Vice President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) has commended the President of the Ghana Taekwondo Federation, Mr. Fred Otu Lartey for his vision and great service to Ghana Sports.
Speaking at the Conference Room of the GOC on Friday when he welcomed three coaches and an interpreter from the World Taekwondo Peace Corps in Korea, he said Taekwondo has been one of the sports that has gained roots not only in Accra, the capital of Ghana, but has been spread to many regions and many children are now practicing the Korean Sport.
According to Paul Atchoe, there are many sports disciplines but Taekwondo always shows difference with their programmes and activities which often goes to the grassroots.
He noted that Taekwondo has been established and has firm foundation in Ghana, and it is good that the Federation is taking the sport to the schools with the children as the main focus to build in them the skills in sparring, posing and demonstration.

Gros Islet, St Lucia. 11 January 2019
The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) have agreed a window for the 2019 edition of the tournament. This year’s event will take place between 21 August and 27 September. The opening round of matches will take place in Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana before returning to these two countries for the playoffs and finals once again. 
For the second successive year the very best of the cricketing talent in the Caribbean will be taking part in the tournament with WINDIES centrally contracted players available for the majority of the tournament. 
As well as the very best Caribbean cricketers, fans can look forward to the top international players the sport has to offer descending on the region for 34 matches of high intensity cricket. The Biggest Party in Sport is coming back, and the plan is for it to be even bigger. 

MTN Ghana Foundation has announced they will be closing submission of entries for MTN Heroes of Change Season 5 on the 18th January 2019. 
Members of the public are being reminded to nominate individuals who are making positive difference in their communities through various projects or exceptional social work for MTN Heroes of Change Season 5. 
After the close of submission, all projects received will be reviewed and shortlisted. Shortlisted projects will be pruned to 100 and thereafter to 40 and finally to 10. A Team will then be dispatched into the communities to authenticate the stories of nominees. The stories of the top 10 finalists will be filmed and featured in a 13-week television show/series after which a grand finale event will be held to announce the winners of the various categories. The ultimate winner will receive a cash price of GHC100, 000 and category winners would be awarded with GHC30,000 each to be invested in their projects for wider impact, while the rest of the six heroes will each be given GHC10, 000 to support their projects.

For the sports federations that are members of the International World Games Association, 2019 is going to be a key year. The sports that have been invited to take part in the next edition of The World Games in Birmingham, Alabama in 2021 will be starting to plan in detail how best to showcase their sport. For some of the athletes their road to Birmingham starts now. Beach Handball has already confirmed their initial qualifying places when their World Championship ended in July. There will be other qualifying spots available this year in Orienteering, Korfball and Muaythai. The latter sport is returning home to Thailand, where the martial art originated. Other members of The World Games family will have their eyes on the biggest stage of all and will be striving to secure their place at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Unsurprisingly, Japan will be staging major competitions in Baseball, Surfing, Sport Climbing and Karate which will all be awarding Olympic medals in two year’s time, together with Skateboarding.

Following their visit to Togo, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, CAF Vice President Constant Omari, FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura, FIFA Member Associations and Development Director for Africa and the Caribbean Region Véron Mosengo‑Omba, Development Manager at the FIFA Regional Office for West and Central Africa El Hadj Wack Diop and members of the FIFA administration travelled to Benin.
Upon landing in the capital of Porto Novo, the delegation was greeted by Benin Football Association (FBF) President Mathurin de Chacus, Benin’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Aurélien Agbénonci and Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Oswald Homeky. A number of football fans, who had painted themselves in the colours of the Beninese flag, also turned out to enthusiastically welcome the FIFA President.
The official agenda kicked off with a visit to the Presidential Palace for an audience with Beninese President Patrice Talon.

• New sporting complex being constructed by Turkish Football Federation
• State-of-the-art facilities partly-funded by FIFA Forward
• Learn more about the FIFA Forward Programme

Football is the most popular sport in Turkey, where the first football league was established in 1904. Nowadays, with the support of the FIFA Forward programme, sustainable football development is becoming a reality in this huge country covering approximately 780,000 km2 and straddling two continents.
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) is constructing a brand new sporting complex near the vibrant city of Istanbul, in the coastal village Riva in the district of Beykoz,.
This project was approved by the FIFA Development Committee in 2017,and is funded partially by FIFA with an amount of USD 2,250,000. This project aims to erect an innovative high-end sporting complex comprising housing, an administrative building, office and a mosque. Located in a strategic area, near the vibrant city of Istanbul, the new construction site incorporates an area of more than 20,000 m2 planned to be used for green space, structural landscaping among many other uses.

NEW YORK – Major League Soccer announced today the winners of year-end awards that recognize individuals and clubs for outstanding contributions off the playing field.The club and executive award winners were highlighted by Atlanta United President Darren Eales being recognized as the Doug Hamilton Executive of the Year for the second consecutive year. Under Eales’ leadership, Atlanta United had one of the most successful seasons in MLS history. Atlanta became the first MLS club to draw more than 1 million fans, averaging a league-record 53,000 fans per game – including eight crowds of more than 70,000, including a record crowd of 73,019 for the MLS Cup Championship game.
Atlanta United led all clubs with seven total awards on the evening followed by the Los Angeles Football Club winning four in its debut season. Sporting Kansas City also took home a notable three awards including Peter Vermes being recognized with the newly minted Sporting Executive of the Year.

Keen rivalry between Nigerian and South African teams would yet come to the fore on Friday at the Nnamdi Azikwe Stadium in Enugu where Lobi Stars of Makurdi entertain Mamelodi Sundowns in the Round of 1/16th Total CAF Champions’ League Match Day 1 Group A tie. 


Incidentally,  Mamelodi Sundowns  have won all but one of  their four previous CAF Champions League confrontations against Nigerian sides including victories over two legs recorded against Enyimba en route to being crowned the continental champions in 2016.


Earlier in 2001, Sundowns lost 2-0 away to Julius Berger in Lagos but rallied to a 1-0 home win in Johannesburg as such,  Lobi Stars’ defender Solomon Kwambe admitted the self-styled Brazilians of South Africa can’t be handled with kid’s gloves.    


“Of course, we know so much about Mamelodi Sundowns and they are a team that we can’t take for granted because of their reputation,” the 25-year-old Kwambe told CAFOnline.com


“ Just on Saturday, we saw their  game when they beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 in their domestic league match and that means we must prepare very well playing against them; especially since this is our first game in the group stage.

2019 MLS expansion club FC Cincinnati to build roster with seven picks in first two rounds
Official SuperDraft player list features seven Generation adidas players

 
CHICAGO (January 10, 2019) – The 2019 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas will take center stage at McCormick Place West in Chicago this Friday, January 11 (12 p.m. CT), as top young, international, and Generation adidas players hope to fulfill their dreams of embarking on a professional soccer career. Expansion club FC Cincinnati has the robust opportunity to boost its inaugural season roster with seven selections over the course of the first two rounds.
  
The annual player selection event launched the MLS careers of 2018 MLS Cup participants Jeremy Ebobisse (Portland Timbers) and Julian Gressel (Atlanta United) – each first round selections in the 2017 SuperDraft. Gressel, an immediate impact player and reigning league champion, won the 2017 MLS Rookie of the Year award in his opening campaign.
 
The 2019 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas will feature the first and second rounds taking place live from the Skyline Ballroom on the third floor of the McCormick Place West convention center. Rounds 3 and 4 will follow via conference call on Monday, Jan. 14.

Mr. Theophilus Wilson Edzie, President of the Ghana Swimming Association (GSA) believes the past year, 2018 was a good one for the young Ghanaian swimmers who had the opportunity to travel to compete in major international competitions like the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, All African Games in Algeria, Youth Olympic Games in Argentina and the World Championship in China.
According to the President who was suspended for some time, but freed after investigations vindicated him, the Ghanaian media look one side to football, or the other side of negative reporting, than the positives such as the waves and strides made by young swimmers like Abeiku Jackson, Arthur Jason and the Forson sisters.
Theo Edzie said Ghana’s swimmers are now the target of the best on the continent as Abeiku Jackson who now has an African record could perform better and faster with a little inspiration and motivation.
He appealed to individuals and companies who love swimmers and wish the young swimmers to excel or expose their talent and skill to the world to come to their aid.
He said in 2018, Abeiku Jackson set a new national record in the 50m freestyle on April 9, 2018 at the Commonwealth Games with a time of 23.47secs.
Before, on April 5, 2018 in Australia, USA based Jason Arthur set a new national record in the 50m backstroke with a time of 27.26secs, 100m backstroke with a time of 56.52secs and on April 8, 2018 he set a new 200m backstroke record in a time of 2:03.91secs.

The Ghana Rugby Football Union (Ghana Rugby) has announced the fixtures for its 2019 Ghana Rugby Club Championship (GRCC) that is scheduled to kick off on 19 January 2019 (Cape Coast) and 20 January 2019 (Accra).

The ten-team Club Championship is annually played in two Pools in Accra and Cape Coast.

The Accra Pool will again feature Accra Rugby Club, Conquerors, Cosmos Buffalos, Dansoman Hurricanes and Lions.

In Cape Coast Dennis Foundation, Griffons, Stallions, UCC Spartans and Western Cheetahs will battle for a spot in the Semi-Finals that will be played in Cape Coast on 23 February 2019, hosted by the CentWest Rugby Association. CentWest will be hosting two of the matches involving Western Cheetahs in Takoradi to give exposure to the game in the Sekondi-Takoradi area.

The Finals will be hosted by the Greater Accra Rugby Association (GARA) in Accra on 2 March 2019.

According to Mr Herbert Mensah, President and Board Chairman of Ghana Rugby, the Club Championship is a very important part of the overall development framework for Rugby in Ghana.

“Unfortunately not every Rugby player can represent the country at a national level, but Rugby is played and loved by millions globally because of the passion for the sport and the enormous personal values that comes with it. The Club Championship and Club structure is where it all happens,” Mensah says.

Mensah also announced that a new milestone has been reached whereby the Union has been given permission by the St. Thomas Aquinas SHS to play the Accra leg of the Pool A matches on the school’s pitch.

ATLANTA & MEXICO CITY – The Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF), Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United, Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Soccer United Marketing (SUM) today announced that on Wednesday, June 5, the popular Mexican National Team will make its first-ever visit to Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the reigning MLS Champions and the 2019 NFL Super Bowl.
 
The match will mark the return of former Atlanta United Head Coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino, who this week was named Mexico’s new manager. The Atlanta match will take place days before the previously announced game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX on June 9th, presented by Allstate.  Both games will serve as preparation for this summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup.   
 
Tickets for the Atlanta match will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, January 17 at 10 a.m. (local time) via MexTour.org, ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000. Tickets for the Arlington game are already on sale via SeatGeek.com.
 
The opponent, kickoff time, as well as additional matches for the 2019 Mexican National Team U.S. Tour, will be announced at a later date.

Chaniev (13-1, 6 KOs), stated that the only results that could satisfy him was victory and believed he was ready to demonstrate his skills against the Ghanaian after hard preparation.
Speaking to ESPN, Chaniev described Commey as an excellent fighter who he respects but expressed his preparedness to ensure he carries the night when they slug it out.
"I have the biggest motivation ever to win, and there is no other result that will satisfy me," Chaniev said.
"In February, I will demonstrate all my skills and hard preparation. Some people don't think I will win, but they will be shocked on February 2. No bad words or any disrespect to Commey. He is an excellent fighter," he added.
Both Chaniev and Commey are promoted by the Lou DiBella Entertainment and the promotional firm had a deal with Top Rank to have the winner of the bout to be an eventual opponent in a lightweight title unification fight with WBA and WBO titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko.

• Senegal are Africa’s number one side in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking
• A fine 2018 has them thinking big for 2019
• Aliou Cisse the coach, Sadio Mane the star

Twenty-fourth in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking in August, Senegal ended the year as Africa’s top-ranked team, moving up to 23rd in November and holding on to that position in December to close out 2018 ahead of Tunisia in 26th.
The Lions of Teranga’s new-found status comes as reward for the work undertaken by coach Aliou Cisse since his appointment in 2015. Within three years, the former Senegal captain had put his country back in the global spotlight, masterminding their return to the FIFA World Cup™.

Unbeaten in the 2018/2019 Total CAF Confederation Cup, FC San  Pedro of  Cote d'Ivoire hope to move one step closer to their debut league round qualification when they visit Zambian giants  Nkana  this  Saturday at Nkana Stadium in Kitwe.
 
The Ivoirian upstarts head into the pre- group stage, first leg date with two wins and as many draws from their last four matches in this season’s competition.
 
San Pedro especially made a big statement in the second round when they eliminated 1994 CAF Winners’ Cup Champions and 2011 CAF Confederation Cup group stage campaigners DC Motema Pembe of DR Congo whom they held 1-1 away in Kinshasa and later beat 2-0 in Abidjan on December 22.
 
"Motema Pembe and Nkana are both big teams but this our first experience in the Confederation Cup. But we will try and make sure we have a good match.  I know it will be a difficult match and Nkana is a very good team but we will try our very best," a modest sounding San Pedro coach Jani Tarek said on arrival in Zambia.
 
But the pressure is on Nkana who were relegated to the CAF Confederation Cup following their 2018/2019 Total CAF Champions League pre-group stage exit at the hands of Simba SC of Tanzania in December.

Tunisians Esperance begin their CAF Champions League title defence away to Guineans Horoya Friday in a match-up both clubs hoped to avoid.


"Horoya will be hard to beat in west Africa," admitted Esperance coach Moine Chaabani ahead of the matchday 1 clash at the national stadium in Conakry. The Guineans staged a heroic comeback to beat Libyans Al Nasr 6-2 there last month in the final qualifying round after trailing by three goals from the first leg. "We were hoping to avoid the defending champions, but the other clubs in the group also have to face them," said France-born Horoya coach Patrice Neveu.

AFP Sport previews the four groups as the 16 survivors from two rounds of qualifying set their sights on the $2.5 million (about 2.19 million euros) first prize.

Group A
Moroccans Wydad Casablanca, South Africans Mamelodi Sundowns and Ivorians ASEC Mimosas are all former champions and Nigerians Lobi Stars will not be pushovers, especially at home. Wydad, whose title defence last season ended in the quarter-finals, are coached by astute Tunisian veteran Faouzi Benzarti and should defeat 1998 champions ASEC in Rabat.

Following an earlier visit to Mauritania, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, CAF Vice President Constant Omari, FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura, FIFA Director of Member Associations and Development for CAF and the Caribbean Region Véron Mosengo-Omba, Development Manager at the FIFA Regional Office for West and Central Africa El Hadj Wack Diop and members of the FIFA administration yesterday travelled to the Togolese Republic.
Upon landing at Lomé-Tokoin International Airport, Infantino was bestowed with a traditional honour and rank on behalf of President Faure Gnassingbé and presented with traditional Togolese robes to mark the occasion.
Speaking about his elevation to this rank, the FIFA President said: “I am hugely humbled to be considered worthy of being a traditional authority of Togo. The warmth, passion and joie de vivre of the Togolese people is contagious and I am immensely honoured that President Gnassingbé has bestowed this prestigious rank upon me.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, CAF Vice President Constant Omari, FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura, Development Director for Africa and the Caribbean region Véron Mosengo-Omba, regional office Development Manager El Hadj Wack Diop and members of the FIFA administration travelled to Mauritania from Dakar, Senegal, where they had attended last night’s CAF African Football Awards.
Upon arrival in Nouakchott, Mauritania’s capital city, the delegation headed to the Presidential Palace to meet with the President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. The meeting focused on the important unifying role that football plays in a multi-ethnic society, especially in light of Mauritania’s qualification for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2019, the first time that the country has qualified for the competition. The meeting also provided a great platform to discuss the expanded FIFA World Cup™ as of 2026 and the ongoing consultations and discussions on its potential expansion as early as 2022.

A number of popular African clubs who have not won a continental competition for a long time will be in CAF Confederation Cup play-offs first-leg action this weekend.  

It is 42 years since Nigerians Enugu Rangers won the now defunct African Cup Winners Cup and Ghanaians Asante Kotoko lifted the African Cup of Champions Clubs trophy 36 years ago. 

Kenyans Gor Mahia and South Africans Kaizer Chiefs raised the African Cup Winners Cup 32 and 18 years ago respectively.

Egyptians Zamalek can boast of nine CAF titles, but their last success was in 2003 when they won the CAF Super Cup.

Kotoko
Kotoko, who have the unwanted CAF record of losing seven of nine finals, struggled to get past Kenyans Kariobangi Sharks after receiving a preliminary round walkover. They now face the 2008 Champions League runners-up, Cameroonians Coton Sport, with the first leg in Yaounde. Coton are likely to prove stronger opponents than Sharks and Kotoko will do well to leave central Africa level on aggregate.