Sports Briefs
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EMMANUEL Adebayor, Tottenham striker and former Togolese football captain, said he contemplated committing suicide over continued problems with his family. Adebayor revealed this in Facebook posts, where he had also disclosed his problems with his immediate family.
In his previous two posts, Adebayor hit out at his family following allegations that he had failed to support them financially. But in his third lengthy statement on the social media website on Wednesday, May 20, the former African footballer of the year, focused his entries on Kola and Peter, brothers. Peter died in August 2013.
According to him, Kola and Peter held a knife to his throat following a dispute over money during his time at Monaco, thereby forcing him to consider suicide. Adebayor wrote: “Many times I wanted to give up. Ask my sister Iyabo Adebayor how many times I have called and was ready to commit suicide?
“I kept these stories for years… But If I die, no one would know my story, no one would learn from it… Some people say I should keep these stories private, but someone has to sacrifice himself; someone has to talk about it.
“I know people would relate to my story and others would learn from it. For everyone who knows me, I’d do anything for my country and my people.”
In the meantime, Tottenham football club has granted Adebayor a compassionate leave that would allow to return back home in Togo to resolve his family problems.
Although Mauricio Pochettino, manager of Tottenham, assured that the club would give him all the necessary support in resolving his family problems, he would not give any reassurances that the troubled striker still has a future at the club. Adebayor has only one year left of his contract with the club and has not played regularly for Tottenham this season.
The gangling 31-year-old will miss the final Premier League match of the season at Everton on Sunday, May 24, because of travel to his native Togo on compassionate leave for the second time this season.
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NFF Is Broke – Pinnick
THE Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, is broke. This has made it difficult for the federation to raise fund for all the national teams representing the country in different international championships.
Amaju Pinnick, president of the NFF, who disclosed this on Tuesday, May 19, in Abuja, said that the board was faced with serious financial challenges, even as it worked hard to ensure that the national teams were able to get the best preparations to enable them do well in their respective tournaments.
He disclosed that the NFF board was also battling very hard to repay a huge debt portfolio, which it inherited from the former board led by Aminu Maigari.
Pinnick, however, noted that the huge debt was not as a result of the recklessness of the current board, but because the board was determined to give the national teams quality preparation for championships, which yielded positive results with the victories Nigeria recorded within the past four years.
“We are facing very difficult times preparing all the national teams with little fund such as bringing about 20 Super Eagles players to camp for a match takes between $80,000 to $90, 000. Things are very difficult for us at the federation. In spite of that we are still trying to put certain things in order,” he said.
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Hamilton Signs New Contract
LEWIS Hamilton, current Formula One champion, on Wednesday, May 20, signed a new three-year contract at Mercedes that could be worth up to £27m a year. The 30-year-old Briton has been with the Mercedes team since 2013, after he had spent six years at McLaren. Hamilton won his second world title last year.
“I couldn’t be happier to be staying for another three years,” he said. The deal will keep him in the team until 2018. According to the new contract, Hamilton will earn a basic salary, paid in United States dollars, of $31 million or £20.9 million plus extensive bonuses.
Depending on how many races he wins, and whether he becomes world champion, these bonuses could easily take his annual earnings to more than over $40 million or £27 million annually.
Analysts say the overall value of Hamilton’s deal is similar to that of Fernando Alonso of McLaren and Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari, the two other big earners and multiple champions.
Since joining Mercedes, Hamilton – who won his first world title with McLaren in 2008 – has won 15 races, 11 of those coming as he beat Nico Rosberg, his team mate, to the 2014 title. He leads Rosberg by 20 points in the current championship. Hamilton has also won three of the first five races of this season. “The Mercedes car I am driving right now is the best I have ever had in my career. It’s just so much fun to be out there every weekend, on the limit and fighting to win at every track,” he said.
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Falcons in Canada For 2015 Women’s World Cup
SUPER Falcons landed in Toronto, Canada on Wednesday, May 19, in preparation for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada from June 06 to July 05. The Nigerian national team was received on arrival by Charles Onianwa, Nigeria deputy high commissioner, who charged the reigning African champions to make the nation proud. “Last year, the Falconets did us proud here and now we have the Super Falcons, so expectations are high and we have no doubt that you are going to clinch the cup,” Onianwa said.
Edwin Okon, head coach of the team, said the side’s arrival heralded the coming of the champions. “Our arrival is that of champions. We are ready and I look forward to the finals and getting the cup here in Canada,” Okon said.
The team was expected to start training on Thursday, May 20.
The African champion is placed in Group D where it would trade tackles with the United States, a former champion, Sweden and Australia.
— Jun 1, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT
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Tags: Amaju Pinnick Aminu Maigari Canada Charles Onianwa Emmanuel Adebayor Facebook Fernando Alonso FIFA Women’s World Cup Formula One Iyabo Adebayor Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Monaco NFF Nico Rosberg Nigeria Football Federation Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari suicide Super Falcons three-year contract Toronto Tottenham United States
