Kashimawo Laloko, 76, died on Sunday in Abeokuta. He was former technical director of the Nigeria Football Association (now Nigeria Football Federation).
 
He was a former coach of the Gambia national team and played a key role in Nigeria’s most successful football academy, Pepsi Football Academy which he founded.

Former Black Stars defender, Emmanuel Asare has congratulated the Ghana national team for qualifying to the next African Cup of nations after drawing with South Africa today.

Asare who played for Okwawu United in Ghana and pro soccer in Belgium is currently unearthing talents with his academy called Asarit Football Academy which he co-founded with his wife.

In a chat with Sammy Okine, he confessed that the Black Stars have done well and need to be encouraged.

Rising golf star, Chris Mdii from Tafo Golf Club won the 2021 first quarter MTN Invitational Sterling Edition Men’s Silver trophy on Saturday at the Achimota Club.

The banker who wishes to play at the Pro Am level and also in the Pro tournaments strike handicap two and scored 41 points.

Church Ansah was second in the event with handicap four scoring 41 points as Mawuli Ababio played handicap 10 scoring 40 points.

Alberta Lomofio won the Ladies Event. She was followed by Jiang  Yang and Rita Pellegrino placed third. Max Prah won the Men’s Bronze, Gustav Godonou was second and Masina Pacal was third.

Closest to the pin (Men) was taken by Edward Annobil, with R. Amponsah Mensah winning the Ladies Felix Akakpo took the longest drive prize for men, while Vivian Dick won the ladies.

The Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) has congratulated the impressive performances of sprinter Benjamin Azamati; the national amateur boxing team, the Black Bombers; the senior national team the Black Stars, for qualifying to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

Benjamin Azamati on Friday broke Leo Myles-Mills' 22-year old national 100m record with 9.97s clocking at Texas Relays, Austin USA.

Azamati is the first man to break 10 secs barrier this season with 9.97sec and thus becomes the World Leader, National Record Holder and gains qualification to the Tokyo Olympic Games joining compatriots Joseph Paul Amoah and Nadia Eke who already have booked their tickets.

“SWAG acknowledges the performances of the athletics team and salutes your great feat”.

Prince Patel from the United Kingdom on Saturday night put up a good performance dropping Julius Kisarawe from Tanzania twice in the ninth  round to win via TKO to claim the WBO Africa, WBO Global, Commonwealth and IBF Intercontinental titles.

He did it in style at the Cahaya Lounge at East Legon in Accra under the SOAQ Empire Promotions.
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WBO Africa Super Bantamweight champion, Isaac Sackey also defeated Gabriel Odoi Laryea on points over 12 rounds of action with all judges scoring 120-108, 120-108 and 120-108  to hand him a unanimous decision.

Female boxers Lucy Wildheart and Flora Machela on Saturday night thrilled boxing fans as they promised.

Ever confident Lucy won on split points decision over Flora from Tanzania. The judges scored 77 - 78, 80 -74, 80 -72 for the UK based female boxer. She thanked the fans for the massive support.

They both said the bout was to encourage more Ghanaian ladies to do sports.
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​Flames of Malawi and Cranes of Uganda go against each other on Monday afternoon at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre for a crucial decider of the other Group B qualifier for the African of Nations Cup in Cameroon.

Both sides have the mathematical chance to sail to harbour with Uganda on second (8 points from five games) and Malawi following closely behind, one point adrift (7 from 5).

Malawi got a boost for qualification when it edged South Sudan 1-0 last week while Uganda was held to goalless draw by Burkina Faso who have already booked a ticket to Cameroon. The results threw the group open for either sides prospective qualification.

The Cranes are strong on the paper having clobbered the Flames 2-0 in their first encounter in Kampala and will just need to salvage a draw to go seal the deal while needs a win if they are going to qualify.
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MIES (Switzerland) - FIBA's Central Board convened by video conference today for their first meeting of 2021. The following key topics were discussed during the meeting:

Successful FIBA Continental Cup Qualifiers
The Central Board received a comprehensive report on the impressive operational efforts from the FIBA Continental Cup Qualifiers recently played in February, with national team basketball taking place on all five continents, across 14 different cities, despite the ongoing pandemic. A concerted effort by FIBA's Headquarters as well as Regional Offices in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania demonstrated once again FIBA's capacity to organize operations safely on such a large scale during difficult times. The vast majority of all initially scheduled qualification games have been played in the meantime and, two continents, Europe and the Americas managed to have all teams qualified for the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 and the FIBA AmeriCup 2022. The few remaining games to qualify teams for the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 will be played between June 4 and 20 and for the FIBA AfroBasket 2021between June 15 and July 5, 2021.

DOHA (Qatar) - Amsterdam Talent&Pro (NED) won their first-ever FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters after defeating 4-time World Tour winners Novi Sad (SRB) (21-19) in the final of the Doha Masters on March 27, 2021.

With the game tied at 19 with a few seconds to go in the game, new recruit Maksim Kovacevic swished an amazing shot off the handoff from outside the arc to give Amsterdam Talent&Pro their first-ever title on the World Tour. He scored a whopping 13 points in the championship game. 
His teammate Arvin Slagter topped all scorers at the event with 35 points and was named MVP. 
The number one 3x3 player in the world Dusan Bulut did not win this time but he still led a new-look Novi Sad team all the way to the final. New addition Strahinja Milosevic led his squad in scoring in Doha with 31 points.
In the individual contests, Piotr 'Grabo' Grabowski  (POL) won the Elite Air Dunk Contest while Darius Tarvydas (Sakiai Gulbele, LTU) dominated the McDonalds Shoot-out Contest

Wout Van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) won the 83rd edition of Gent-Wevelgem with Giacomo Nizzolo (Team Qhubeka ASSOS) taking 2nd and Matteo Trentin (UAE-Emirates) rounding out the podium.
The 247km Gent-Wevelgem got off to a blustery start, with strong winds blowing from the gun in Ypres. Initially 4 riders rode clear of the peloton, building a lead of over 9 minutes in the first 40km. However, with a change in route direction, there was a big attack in the peloton, in the crosswinds.
25 riders went clear with more than 180km to go! Giacomo Nizzolo was attentive as ever and made the front split for Team Qhubeka ASSOS. The early escapees were caught in no time at all and the lead group pressed on ahead of the chasing peloton.

Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku broke Ghana's 100m record which has stood for 22 years, at the Texas Relays. 
 
His first outdoor appearance this season following an impressive indoor campaign where he was named NCAADII Indoor Athlete of the Year for a 60m dash record at the Lone Star Championships.
 

Following the Presidential directive putting a halt to all sporting activity as part of a wider COVID19 mitigation strategy, the Kenya Rugby Union has announced the suspension of the Kenya Cup league until further notice.

The KRU Chairman announced the suspension in his statement.

The Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) has announced a strong team of 10 wrestlers that will fly Nigeria’s flag at the Africa/Oceania Olympic Games qualifiers in Hammamet, Tunisia, which is scheduled to run from 2nd to 4th April, 2021.

The team, which is comprised of five male and female wrestlers apiece, is headlined by former World No. 2 and reigning Commonwealth champion Blessing Oborududu (68kg).

In the Women Wrestling style, the 10-time African champion will be joined by fellow Commonwealth gold medalist Aminat Adeniyi (62kg), Beach Wrestling world champion Blessing Onyebuchi (76kg), 2018 African Championship gold-medalist Bose Samuel (53kg) and youngster Adijat Idris (50kg).

• World Rugby to provide financial, high performance and administrative support for two potential Pacific Island Super Rugby franchises
• Programme objective is to boost the performances of the Pacific Islands on the world stage and provide a genuine pathway for the best talent
• Players will have the opportunity to stay local, play professionally and optimise their preparation for playing international rugby 

Subject to New Zealand Rugby (NZR) Board approval and key conditions being met, the international federation’s Executive Committee has approved a £1.2m annual funding package for an initial three-year period to support the two franchises, Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika. Both franchises will also be supported by their respective unions and private equity funding. 

The decision was made following a detailed financial, performance and commercial feasibility study in partnership with New Zealand Rugby and the respective unions. The funding is conditional on these franchises satisfying the necessary financial criteria for entry. 

The decision is aligned to core objectives of World Rugby’s strategic plan to increase the competitiveness of the global game and ultimately the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups. It supports the ambition to develop locally-based players into test players for the three nations, giving each union the best opportunity to perform to their full potential on the world stage. 

The announcement completes a journey that began when the international federation’s Rugby Committee met in Suva in 2016 to consider opportunities to further support Pacific Islands rugby on and off the field. If accepted into Super Rugby, the teams would complete World Rugby supported high performance journey from the Pacific Challenge competition and resulting annual Pacific Combine to the test arena. World Rugby in partnership with Fiji Rugby and the Fijian Government has underwritten the Fijian Drua’s participation in Australia’s National Rugby Championship, which it won at the second attempt in 2018.
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The Kenya Rugby Union will continue achieving one of its strategic plans of growing the game this weekend as the Development and Training and Education departments host a Get Into Rugby course on Saturday, 20th March, at the Impala Grounds from 9:00 am.

A total of 40 men and women have confirmed attendance of this course that will see Ronnald Okoth, KRU’s Development Officer, Malik Ndemi, KRU’s Training, and Education Coordinator, and JohnBosco Muamba, Rugby Africa’s Development Officer be the Educators on duty. These 40 members have been selected from within the Nairobi Metropolitan and once they’re done with the course, they’ll be expected to introduce rugby in their various Estates.

The Springbok Women could be in line to qualify for WVX2 as one of the top teams from Oceana, Asia and Africa, or WXV3 as the winner of a play-off match between an African and South American team

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, March 17, 2021/ -- World Rugby’s announcement on Tuesday of a global women’s season was met with great excitement by the Springbok Women at their base in Stellenbosch, where the training squad were increased to 40 players as their preparations moved up a gear.

And with the local interprovincial competition due to return to the calendar this year, after it fell away last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Springbok Women’s coach Stanley Raubenheimer had reason to smile, especially with World Rugby’s new global schedule from 2023 set to super charge the women’s game.

The global season, which is set to comprise three competitions – WXV1, WVX2 and WXV3 – has been introduced with the objective to increase competition, commercial and fan engagement opportunities, while simultaneously raising the competitiveness of the women’s game.

The Springbok Women could be in line to qualify for WVX2 as one of the top teams from Oceana, Asia and Africa, or WXV3 as the winner of a play-off match between an African and South American team.

India captain Virat Kohli has moved back into the top five and England’s Jos Buttler has re-entered the top 20 of the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings after blistering performances in their ongoing five-match series in Ahmedabad which England lead 2-1.
​Kohli, a formerly top-ranked batsman in the format and currently number one in ODIs, has gained one slot and a massive 47 rating points after unbeaten knocks of 73 and 77 in the second and third matches while Buttler’s match-winning 83 not out in the third match has helped him advance five places to 19th position, just two shy of his career-best 17th position attained in October 2018.

his amazing opportunity qualifies two women from Africa to join the remaining ten women from around the world, who will each receive a £10,000 scholarship for leadership development support

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, March 17, 2021/ -- As more and more leading women spearhead through the sports industry, Rugby Africa (www.RugbyAfrique.com) has positioned itself to continue boosting women’s involvement in the game, including leadership, by announcing on International Women’s Day, Africa’s first two recipients of the 2021 Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarships.

This amazing opportunity qualifies two women from Africa to join the remaining ten women from around the world, who will each receive a £10,000 scholarship for leadership development support for formal or informal education, conferences, forums, mentoring and best practice study tours. Each scholarship will be tailored to meet the professional development needs of the successful applicants.

The scholarships are open to women who:

• Are currently involved in Rugby at a governance level (Union/Region Board Member) or,
• Are currently involved in Rugby at a senior leadership level (reporting to CEO at third tier and above)

or

Johannesburg, 16 march - Germany’s Max Walscheid will look to take advantage of his own opportunity to lead Team Qhubeka ASSOS’ challenge at Danilith Nokere Koerse (195km) in Belgium on Wednesday.Walscheid (27) has been in strong form already this season as part of the team’s group of fast men, and will be licking his lips at getting the chance to fight for a result.
He will have plenty of horsepower in support too, through the likes of South Africa’s Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, Denmark’s Lasse Norman Hansen and the piloting skills of Matteo Pelucchi.
Three of the team’s younger men will be tasked with assisting throughout in the positioning the team at crucial points. Australia’s Dylan Sunderland and Denmark’s Andreas Stokbro continue to grow in these roles while it will be an exciting day for our Team Qhubeka Continental rider Antonio Puppio.

Both the UAE players have been banned from all cricket for eight years under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.United Arab Emirates (UAE) players Mohammad Naveed and Shaiman Anwar Butt have been banned from all cricket for eight years each after the ICC Anti-Corruption Tribunal found them guilty of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
The bans are backdated to 16 October 2019, when they were provisionally suspended for attempting to corrupt matches of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 in the UAE.
Following a full hearing and presentation of written and oral argument, the Tribunal found both Naveed and Shaiman guilty of:
Article 2.1.1 – for being party to an agreement or effort to fix or contrive or otherwise influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or other aspect(s) of a match or matches at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019.

South Africa opener Lizelle Lee has shot up seven spots to become the top-ranked batter in the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings after a fabulous run in the ongoing five-match series against India in which her side has taken a winning 3-1 lead.

• Raut pushes into top 20; Kaur, Khaka, Gayakwad and Goodall among others to advance in weekly women’s rankings update

Lee, who displaced Tammy Beaumont within two weeks of the England batter seizing the top spot, had scores of four, 132 not out and 69 in the three matches during the past week after having already moved from 11th to eighth the previous week with an unbeaten 83 in the series opener. 
This is the second time that Lee has topped the ODI batting charts, having earlier taken the number one position in June 2018 when she had slammed 117 against England at Hove. Her reign that time only lasted for three days as she was overtaken by Australia’s Ellyse Perry. Lee remains the only South African to top the women’s ODI batting rankings.

Following a dominant run in the Middle East, Garbiñe Muguruza jumps to the No.2 spot on the Porsche Race to Shenzhen Leaderboard. The Qatar Total Open (Doha) runner-up and Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships winner now owns a Tour-leading 18 match wins this season as she looks to make her fourth appearance at the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen.

Dubai semifinalist Elise Mertens, who also lifted one title this season at the Gippsland Trophy and reached the final 16 at the Australian Open, enters the Top 8 on the Leaderboard at No.4. 

Alexa Guarachi and Darija Jurak hold the No.7 position on the Doubles Leaderboard after capturing the biggest title of their careers at Dubai.

In what promises to be a grand event, a special golf tournament would be held to tee-off the Chairman of the TYB IGRCC, Lt. Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, the former Director of Operations, Policy and Plans at the Army Headquarters to mark his reassignment from the Army Headquarters.

On Wednesday, the Chairman of the NFF Referees Committee and Member of the NFF Executive Committee Member, Sharif Rabiu Inuwa, was honoured with an award for Excellence in Football Administration by a support group.

​Group leader, Yunusa Awwal said they were enamoured by the good and great work that Inuwa, who is also Chairman of the Kano State Football Association, has been doing since assuming office as Chairman of the Referees Committee.

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the Qatar Football Association (QFA) have signed a five-year cooperation agreement.

The partnership which takes immediate effect covers technical and professional exchanges, General Management, Study and research and assistance in sport facilities.

Others include, Sports science, Sports medicine, Futsal, Women’s Football, Youth Football, promotional and Marketing.
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