NOC-SL scribe; Joseph Nyande, Patrick Coker-NOC-SL President and Thomas Bach-IOC President  

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) continues its work with the National Olympic Committees in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia as they mobilize using sports and the athletes in the fight against Ebola Virus in the three countries.

Working with the IOC, the NOCs of Guinea and Liberia have both implemented projects aimed at making use of the reach and influence of the sports community, and particularly local athletes, to help raise awareness among the populations concerned and offer concrete assistance with Sierra Leone designing similar one.

According to a release from the IOC, the Liberian NOC has opted for a multiple approach. It is training 100 ambassadors from the sports world (athletes and leaders) in each of the country’s 15 regions. These ambassadors’ task will be to raise awareness among people about the preventive measures taken by the Liberian government.

Preview: WSB Regular Season Week 7 (27 February)

The Russian Boxing Team have enjoyed superb recent form in the World Series of Boxing, and have won their past three home fixtures 5-0.

This week they host Morocco Atlas Lions, fresh off an excellent derby win over rivals Algeria Desert Hawks, and who have already beaten Ukraine Otamans away from home this season.

Platonov Sports Palace, St. Petersburg, is the venue for this Group A clash, where on Friday 27th February fans across the world can watch the action free, live and on demand from 20:00 (GMT +3) at AIBABoxingTV.com.

Preview: WSB Regular Season Week 7 (27 February)

A tremendous Group A match takes place this week in the World Series of Boxing (WSB) as  second placed Ukraine Otamans host the group leaders Cuba Domadores.

The Cuban Franchise have won all six of their matches so far in Season V, while Ukraine have lost two of their last three fixtures.

Sports Palace, Kiev, is the venue for this Group A clash, where on Friday 27th February fans across the world can watch the action free, live and on demand from 21:30 (GMT +2) at AIBABoxingTV.com.

A world class Light flyweight (49 kg) contest opens proceedings, as the number two ranked 3-0 Hasanboy Dusmatov takes on the number four ranked Cuban Joahnys Oscar Argilagos Perez.

26 February will mark 100 days “To a Greater Goal™” at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™, with celebrations from coast to coast in the six Host Cities of Vancouver, British Columbia; Edmonton, Alberta; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Ottawa, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec; and Moncton, New Brunswick.

To celebrate this milestone, a range of facts, clips, interviews and documents have been put together to give fans a taste of what they can look forward to in the lead-up to and during the event.

A selection of 100 fantastic goals from the previous six FIFA Women’s World Cups can be viewed via FIFA on YouTube. Fans can also follow all the build-up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup on Facebook and on Twitter @FIFAWWC, and FIFA will also be sharing the very best photos during the tournament on Instagram. 

Amajimbos marched into Sunday's final of the 2015 CAF U17 championships after a 1-0 victory over the Golden Eaglets, Khanyisa Eric Mayo's low cracker inside the box on 26minutes proving decisive in this exhilarating first semi-final at the Seyni Kountche.

 

Reigning world U17 champions Nigeria rallied in the second half, hitting the wood-work twice and drawing at least two good saves from South African goalkeeper Mondli Mpoto. 

 

But the Amajimbos held on to reach their first final at this junior level. Reeve Peter Frosler was in excellent form at the back and combining well with skipper Keanu Gregory, kept the menacing eaglets at bay throughout the match. In moments when the eaglets breached the backline, goalie Mpoto was in superb form, thwarting everything Nigeria threw at him. 

25 February 2015 – The South African National Under-17 (Amajimbos) sailed into the final of the 2015 CAF U/17 African Youth Championships with a vintage 1-0 win over nemesis Nigeria on a sweltering afternoon in the Niger capital of Niamey on Wednesday.

 

It was a performance of high quality from the South Africans who are now 90 minutes away from being crowned African junior champions.

 

A goal from mercurial goal-poacher Khanyisa Mayo was all Amajimbos needed to overcome probably their biggest obstacle of being crowned African champions.

 

Both teams had already sealed their place at the World Cup in Chile and started the match at a high tempo. It was the South Africans though who looked hungrier and the purpose to win the match.

The return of British Lionhearts to the World Series of Boxing (WSB) was met with much excitement within the boxing community, but they have struggled to gain momentum in the competition after losing all four of their away matches.

Despite their lack of success on the road, they have won both of their fixtures at London’s legendary York Hall, and will hope to make it a trio of victories at home to Mexico Guerreros.

Mexico won their last WSB match against China Dragons, and sit above the Lionhearts in the table, but they have lost both of their Season V away fixtures  in Ukraine and Russia, and need a victory here to move up the table.

This Group A match takes place on Thursday 26th February, and fans across the world can watch the action free, live and on demand from 20:00 GMT at AIBABoxingTV.com.

The action begins at Light flyweight (49 kg) and Harvey Horn makes his Lionhearts debut, replacing Ashley Williams who has lost all three of his matches this season.

The Qatar 2022 Local Organising Committee (LOC) held their first board meeting with representatives from FIFA in Doha today, marking another major milestone in the preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™.

LOC CEO Hassan Al Thawadi, Deputy CEO Nasser Al Khater and COO Sakis Batsilas outlined Qatar’s vision for the 22nd edition of football’s flagship event, to be staged in the Middle East for the first time. The main focus of the meeting was to present the Tournament Operation Master Plan (TOMP) to FIFA, which proposes Qatar’s unique hosting concept based on the compact World Cup.

The TOMP also included a presentation from the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) on stadium development, while highlighting progress on extensive transportation network links which will connect stadiums and other venues across the country. 

Bastian Schweinsteiger, Javi Martinez, Philipp Lahm und David Alabaare talking about their motivation, injuries, comebacks, support and about the new and old generation of players

 Interview 1: Bastian Schweinsteiger und Javi Martinez

Bastian Schweinsteiger is back on the pitch. Javi Martinez still has to work for his comeback. Especially in hard times for example when you are injured but also the whole career you need the motivation to keep your and other's heads up. Never give up and keep going. In this interview Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez are talking abour their biggest motivation that brought them to where they are now.

Sudanese giants, Al Hilal have parted ways with Belgian trainer Patrick Aussems ahead of their Orange CAF Champions League second leg clash with KMKM of Zanzibar at the weekend.

 

The 50-year was given the sack last Friday after Hilal were held to a barren draw by debutants, Hilal Obayed in their Sudanese Premier League encounter 24-hours earlier.

 

The Board of Directors of the club made the decision last Friday citing poor results in domestic and international competitions. The unfamiliar performances of the ‘Saeed al-Balad this season has led to severe criticisms from a section of the fans.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission saw solid progress being made during its eighth visit (23 to 25 February) to the 2016 host city of Rio de Janeiro. Sports venues are taking shape and numerous engagement initiatives like ticketing, volunteering and the Olympic Torch Relay are up and running. These positive developments come at a time when the Rio organisers are entering the operational phase of the project. This stage of preparations will see Rio 2016 and its partners increase their activity significantly, as they reach a new level of detail in their Games planning, while simultaneously delivering 21 test events.

The Commission was also joined for part of its visit by IOC President Thomas Bach, who led a delegation, including Commission Chair Nawal El Moutawakel, to meet Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who again pledged full support for the Games from “every level and ministry of [her] government as well as from State and City authorities.” Bach also participated in a meeting with Rio State Governor Luiz Fernando Pezão, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes, and Brazilian Minister of Sports George Hilton, and joined the Commission on a tour of the Barra Olympic Park. 

Nairobi, Kenya, February 25: Senior Kenyan footballers have spoken out on feud involving Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and the country topflight league administrative body Kenya Premier League (KPL) calling both sides to immediately find a solution to the row.

FKF wanted to expand the top flight league in the 2015 season from current sixteen to eighteen teams but KPL with support from fourteen prominent clubs have turned down the proposal, resulting in the formation of two rival parallel leagues.

The players drawn from all 14 clubs whose owners have sworn their loyalty to KPL league told journalists that they fear that the row would prompt companies bankrolling the game to consider pulling out sponsorship.

“Once the sponsors pull out, as they are likely to, pulling out we as footballers will suffer the consequences of a problem we did not start,” Standard Digital quoted one of the players as saying. 

End Lions Football Club Chairman Sanusi Kargbo


Chairman of the East End Lions Football Club, Sanusie Kargbo has reacted angrily over the decision of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) to suspend his club from all football activities for withdrawing from this year’s CAF Champions League.


Chairman Kargbo described the decision taken by Isha Johansen led executive as “stupid and unfortunate”.  

 
He said:  “The FA’s action was fake, baseless and totally not in place. It is a deliberate action and a real witch-hunt from the FA President who continues to create bad blood and division among stakeholders. We are no push-overs, East End Lions is not only a great club but one of the oldest in Africa and we are going to fight until our last breath.”

Ceremony to take place during New Zealand v Australia match in Auckland 

New Zealand great Martin Crowe, one of the most stylish and elegant batsmen of his generation, will be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 match between New Zealand and Australia at Eden Park in Auckland on 28 February, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced today.

When Crowe receives his commemorative cap from ICC Director and Chairman of Cricket Australia, Mr Wally Edwards, during the innings break, he will become the 79th inductee into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and third New Zealand player after Sir Richard Hadlee and Debbie Hockley.

Crowe made his international debut against Australia in Wellington in February 1982 at the age of 19. He retired 13 years later after playing 77 Tests, he had scored 5,444 at an average of 45.36. This included 17 centuries, the most by a New Zealand cricketer, while his 299 against Sri Lanka in Wellington in January 1991 stood as a national record until Brendon McCullum scored 302 against India in Wellington last year in February.

Sky Sports to broadcast at least two regular season matches every week and air AT&T All-Star Game, MLS Cup Playoffs and MLS Cup

 

NEW YORK (February 25, 2015) – Major League Soccer (MLS) announced today that it has partnered with British sports broadcaster Sky Sports to televise league matches live in the United Kingdom, marking the first time Sky Sports will own MLS broadcast rights. The four-year multimedia deal begins this March with the kickoff of MLS’ landmark 20th season.

 

As part of this new agreement, Sky Sports will broadcast at least two MLS regular season matches per week, as well as the AT&T MLS All-Star Game, all MLS Cup Playoff games and MLS Cup on the Sky family of networks.  The UK-based broadcaster will also carry weekly MLS highlights across its various platforms, including Sky Sports News and SkySports.com.  

Ports winger, Nathaniel Tongovula aka Anderson (in Photo)

Sierra Leone Premier league club, Ports Authority FC have authorised one Charles Dean to act as their representative on all issues relating to the trials of their winger, Nathaniel Tongovula aka Anderson with any clubs in the Major League Soccer (MLS) USA.  

 

The 18 year-old is presently undergoing trials with Seattle Sounders FC’s second tier team but Ports Authority officials has revealed they are unaware of the player’s current trials arrangement with the MLS club.

 

In a letter dated February 17th 2015 that was addressed to the General Secretary of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA), the Ports Authority FC scribe, Idrissa Mago Tarawallie called-on the SLFA to intervene in addressing the irregularity created by their Head Coach, Ken Tabi regarding the player’s on-going trials with the said club in the United States of America.

German trainer Gernot Rohr has been named coach of the Burkina Faso national football team.

 

He replaces Belgian Paul Put, who parted ways with ‘Les Etalons’ after the Orange Africa Cup of Nations Equatorial Guinae 2015, where the Burkinabes, losing finalists at the previous edition crashed out at the group phase.

 

A statement Federation Burkinabe de Football (FBF) released on Tuesday (24 February 2015) night said the federation has settled on the 61-year old as the best option.

The membership of the Sports Writers Association of Sierra Leone (SWASAL) on Tuesday February 24th 2015 resolved to extend their news blackout on the activities of the Sierra Leone Football Associations (SLFA) until further notice. 

 

Decision to extend the sanction was unanimously agreed on, in a well-attended general meeting at the Sierra Leone Association of Journalist (SLAJ) Secretariat, Campbell Street in Freetown.

 

However, the decision could be reverted immediately if the SLFA tenders an apology to SWASAL for their refusal to include three Sports journalists in the official list of Sierra Leone national team, Leone Stars delegation that travelled to Cameroon for their AFCON 2015 qualifiers.  

Sierra Leone cross-country athletes

Sierra Leone will join other African countries that will compete against others world class athletes in next month’s International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Cross country championship that is schedule for Guiyang, China.

The international federation has already revealed that they are expecting two athletes from Sierra Leone, five from Tanzania, four from Sudan; three from Uganda and two apiece from Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, and Swaziland for the start of the qualifying.

Secretary General for the Sierra Leone Athletics Association (SLAA), Dauda Sundufu Sowa confirmed the country’s participation but revealed they are yet to decide on the athletes that would be going to the competition. 

Morocco's women's team are among the favourites to win the CAVB Continental Cup after qualifying for the second round

Cairo, Egypt, February 25, 2015 - After just six Sub Zonal phase tournaments, twelve countries have confirmed their participation in the second phase of both the men's and women's CAVB Continental Cup events.

The champions of the second edition of the CAVB Continental Cup will earn a direct ticket to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

Twelve teams in each gender have confirmed their places in the second zonal phase of the Continental Cup. In the men's competition, Tunisia, Morocco (Pool 1), Senegal, Gambia (Pool 2), Burundi, Kenya (Pool 8), South Africa, Mozambique (Pool 10), Angola, Zimbabwe (Pool 11), Mauritius and Seychelles (Pool 12) have confirmed their qualification.

Dennis Hefter was playing for CV Mitteldeutschland this season

Frankfurt, Germany, February 25, 2015 - The volleyball family mourns the death of 21-year-old Dennis Hefter, one of Germany’s most promising young players. Hefter died in a train accident on Monday evening.

A multi-talented and fun-loving young man, Hefter was playing for German first division team CV Mitteldeutschland this season.

Hefter began his career as an outside spiker, but later adopted the libero position. He attended the German Volleyball Federation’s volleyball school in Frankfurt and also played for VC Olympia Berlin.

Bangura arriving at the Poland International Airport 

Polish premier league club, Wisła Kraków will offer Sierra Leonean attacking midfielder cum striker, Mustapha ‘Haji’ Bangura another opportunity to sign a contract with the club pending trails.

The Polish club recently turned down the opportunity to sign the former Old Edwardians forward after he completed a week's trials with them during their training camp in Turkey on the pretext that the player’s physical ability was lacking.

However, the club’s technical team was impressed with Bangura’s technical ability which has convinced them to offer the player the chance to prove his physical fitness again to them. 

In the context of investigation proceedings against individuals in relation to the bid process for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups™, the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee can today confirm its decision in the proceedings involving FIFA official Dr Michel D’Hooghe.

Following the analysis of the final report and investigative files received from the investigatory chamber, and in line with the recommendation expressed therein, the adjudicatory chamber composed of three (3) members has decided that there is insufficient evidence to suggest that Dr D’Hooghe violated any provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics.

Equally, the adjudicatory chamber is satisfied that no further investigation is needed in this case.

Mauritius and Tanzania have reached the final round of the qualifiers for the 1st African Beach Soccer Championship Seychelles 2015.

 

Mauritius overturned the tables with a 5-2 win over Mozambique in the second leg clash at the weekend to march on 7-6 on aggregate. Stephen Nabar was the hero for the Islanders scoring four goals whilst Kelly Mariva fired in the crucial fifth goal. Silvestre Matusse and Matlombe Betinho were the scorers for Mozambique who won the first leg 4-2.

 

The Islanders, seeking to qualify for a major continental championship since the 1974 Africa Cup of Nations will face Cote d’Ivoire at the final round.

Nigeria and Mali finished as group winners at the CAF U-17 Championship 2015 played in Niger to secure their spots at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015 where they will be joined by fellow semi-finalists Guinea and South Africa.

The Golden Eaglets, who beat Zambia 3-1 on Saturday, topped Group A with two wins and one draw. Meanwhile, Guinea, despite being beaten by Niger 2-1 in their last match, finished second in the section with one win, one draw and one defeat.

Mali took Group B honours after beating Côte d'Ivoire 1-0 on Sunday in addition to their earlier win against Cameroon and a draw with South Africa. The Amajimbos gladly took second place after seeing off Cameroon 3-1 in their final group game, after their earlier draws with the group winners and Côte d'Ivoire.