Former Cameroon international Benjamin Massing, whose crunching tackles at the World Cup in 1990 earned him an infamous reputation, died aged 55 on Sunday, local media reported.

The defender’s scything body check on Claudio Caniggia in the opening game against Argentina in Milan was later dubbed the worst tackle in World Cup history.

It reinforced an unwanted reputation of defensive brutality that surrounded Cameroon’s unprecedented run to the quarter-finals of the tournament, going further than any African side had done before.

Massing was sent off in the opening game of the 1990 World Cup and sat out the next three, but returned to play against England in the last eight in Naples where he gave away a penalty for a tackle on Gary Lineker as Cameroon were beaten 3-2 in extra time.

Massing, who played in France at Creteil, won 34 caps for his country between 1986 and 1992. The cause of his death was not reported.

Reuters

Fortune is about to smile on Enyimba International Football Club of Aba,  courtesy of their recent signing of Super Eagles goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa from FC Ifeanyi Ubah.

The Peoples Elephant is expected to rake in over N80 million once the 2018 FIFA World Cup gets underway in Russia by June.

The windfall coming the way of the two time African Champions, is thanks to the world football ruling body’s over $209 million  largesse earmarked for clubs .

According to FIFA,football clubs who supply squad members to the next year’s mundial, can look forward to a massively increased payment of over $ 8,000 per player per day.

Should Ezenwa make the Super Eagles train to Russia, Enyimba is guaranteed to share in the booty from FIFA as compensation for releasing their players to represent their national teams at the 2018 World Cup.

As the only home based player in the Gernot Rohr team, Ezenwa who is also the captain of CHAN Eagles, will benefit from participating in Russia.

Starting from June 1, 2018, which is two weeks before the opening match between host Russia and Saudi Arabia, the payment clock will start ticking for Enyimba and will stop the day after Super Eagles’ elimination from the tournament.

In 2014, Bayern Munich ,the leading Club in world champions Germany’s squad , were the highest recipient earning $1,734,367 ahead of Spain’s Real Madrid who got over $40,000 for coming second at the championship  hosted by Brazil. A total of 736 players will play at the world cup in Russia.

Sun

Alexander Povetkin has welcomed a fight against Anthony Joshua and could pursue a mandatory title shot at Britain's world heavyweight champion in 2018.

The Russian faces Christian Hammer in his home country next Friday, which could be classified as a final eliminator for Joshua's WBA 'super' title.

Povetkin can also target WBO champion Joseph Parker as victory would boost his ranking with that governing body, but admits he wants to share the ring with Joshua in the near future.

Asked if he will earn a world title shot in his next fight, Povetkin told Sky Sports: "I hope so."

Discussing Joshua, he added: "I want to fight the best in the world, and Anthony Joshua is by far one of the best heavyweights in the world.

"I always go into the ring with confidence to win."

Promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that Joshua could be ordered to face Povetkin and has already discussed this possibility with the 38-year-old's promotional team.

"Alexander Povetkin is fighting Christian Hammer which could be the final eliminator to be Joshua's mandatory," said Hearn, who is due to hold talks with WBA president Gilberto Mendoza this month.

"We have spoken about Joshua vs Povetkin, and the likelihood of that.

"We have a really good relationship with World of Boxing, who are his promoters.

"They have a situation where they can fight a final eliminator to be the mandatory for Joshua, or for the WBO, so they are making that decision now."

Povetkin has suffered just one defeat in 33 fights, a points loss to Wladimir Klitschko in 2013, and is refusing to look too far ahead at a potential fight with Joshua.

"Now I have the closest fight with Chris Hammer and I'm concentrating on the next fight," he said.

"For any fight, it will not be easy. In the heavyweight division, one blow can solve everything. I'm tuned into battle.”

Sky sport

Jürgen Klopp has warned Everton they will have more to contend with than Liverpool’s outstanding attacking quartet on Sunday as he attempts to equal a Merseyside derby record.

Liverpool are unbeaten in 14 matches against their local rivals and can equal a club record of 15 consecutive derbies without defeat, set in the 1970s, against Sam Allardyce’s team at Anfield. Everton’s dire return there fuels Liverpool optimism – they have not won across Stanley Park since 1999 – but it is the devastating form of Mohamed Salah, Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané that has given Klopp’s team impressive momentum going into the game.

The four scored in the 7-0 Champions League rout of Spartak Moscow on Wednesday and have scored 46 goals between them in all competitions this season, 11 more than the entire Everton team, but Klopp insists there is far more to his side than a mesmerising attack.

“I have no problem with nicknames like the Fab Four but it’s disrespectful to all the other players,” the Liverpool manager said. “We played a fantastic game at West Ham and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was involved. We didn’t have Adam Lallana so far and I think he would fit fantastically in each boy group or band in this world. We also have Daniel Sturridge and Dom Solanke.

“For sure we had to show a reaction after Tottenham [Liverpool’s last defeat]. We have played really good football this season without always using the situation. In the last few weeks it’s been something like 66 shots and 33 goals. Before that we had the same number of chances and didn’t score. We didn’t have to change a lot but we had to change a few decisive things and the main thing was defending as a team. It is our job to make sure you don’t discuss our defence all the time. There are 500 situations in a game but we were always talking about one or two.

“For the world the best thing was how we finished the game [against Spartak] but for me it was that we were 1-0 up but still compact. That is how we have to be. It was a job we had to do.”

Klopp is the only manager in Liverpool’s history to win his first three derbies and, although he insists there is “no secret” to how an Allardyce team will play, he claimed Everton would be a tougher proposition than Spartak Moscow under their latest manager.

“This is a derby at its best and I like it,” he said. “There’s a lot of respect between the clubs and I really like that. In the game we try everything to win it but around the games we live in one city and there’s enough space for supporters of both clubs. I meet a lot of Everton supporters, all day, and I have no problem with that but in the game I want to see only us at our best.”

Klopp confirmed Alberto Moreno requires a second assessment of the ankle injury suffered against Spartak, amid concerns the left-back could be sidelined until the new year with damaged tendons.

“So far it could be everything,” the manager said. “I cannot say much about it. It’s a very rare thing. So far the specialists aren’t sure but if it’s a week or a little bit longer we have to wait for that. There’s a little damage around the tendons.”

The Guardian

An elite level boxer who has fought for England six times is facing being deported to Nigeria.

Bilal Fawaz was detained at the Tinsley House Immigration Centre at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex on Nov 29.

The 29-year-old, of Hayes in Hillingdon, who has competed for England six times and was the 2012 ABA light-middleweight champion, came to England when he was 14.

Brought to the UK illegally by an uncle, he was told his father would be arriving soon, but the man never turned up. 

Fawaz, who calls himself Kelvin, was treated 'like a slave' before he ran away from the home he was living in and was taken into care.

Now married to an English woman, the boxing prodigy went through a turbulent period involving drug gangs, getting shot once and stabbed a reported 25 times.

However, he turned his life around after taking up boxing in 2011 at the Stonebridge Boxing Club in Brent and has risen through the ranks to become one of Britain's top amateur boxers - currently ranked the third best middleweight in England.

But the Home Office have rejected his application to remain in the UK and declared his marriage to a British citizen void.

The athlete was arrested and  taken to the Tinsley House Immigration Removal Centre in Gatwick

The boxing champ said he was now facing being deported to Nigeria, somewhere he has not been since he was sneaked out of the country by his uncle as a teenager.

He said: 'I'm allowed to box for England but I'm not allowed to stay in England.

'I've spent over half of my life here - I went to school here, I lived here, I've boxed for England six times and never lost.

'I am a national champion - in 2014 I even boxed for England against Nigeria, the country they want to deport me to.'

The boxer says he is technically 'stateless' as his parents were Lebanese immigrants to Nigeria, and they themselves didn't have Nigerian citizenship.

His mother is dead and he says he had 'no idea' where his father is.

He added: 'I have no other family to go back to, I don't know anyone in Nigeria or anything about it - all I know is here.

'Imagine how it feels to represent a country and then to have that country turn around and put you in what feels like a prison.'

Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington John McDonnell and England Boxing have appealed to the authorities on the boxer's behalf, but without success.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'When someone has no leave to remain in the UK, we expect them to leave the country voluntarily.

'Where they do not, we will seek to enforce their departure.'

Dailymail

Cristiano Ronaldo has won his fifth Ballon d’Or trophy.

The Real Madrid forward pipped the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar to the prestigious honour after leading Los Blancos to European and La Liga glory last season.

Ronaldo now joins Messi in winning the trophy five times, with the pair dominating the award for the last decade.

The 32-year-old had already scooped FIFA’s ‘The Best’ award earlier this season as his triumphant 2016-17 campaign was recognised.

Fresh off the back of winning Euro 2016 with Portugal, Ronaldo followed that up with 42 goals in 46 games as Real Madrid won La Liga, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup - the first time the side had won four trophies in a season.

Mirror

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said Russia would allow athletes to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics under a neutral flag, after the country was banned from the Games over a state-orchestrated doping programme.

There had been speculation Moscow could boycott the Games entirely after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday barred the country from competition over what its chief Thomas Bach described as Russia's "unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport".

Clean Russian athletes would be allowed to compete under an Olympic flag, the IOC said.

"We will certainly not declare any boycott, we will not prevent our Olympians from competing, if they want to take part in a personal capacity," Putin said after a speech at an automobile plant in Nizhny Novgorod, in which he announced he would run for a fourth presidential term next year.

"The final decision of course must be made by the Olympic team," he said.

Putin said the ban looked like "an absolutely staged and politically motivated decision", repeating denials that any state sponsored doping programme had existed in Russia.

"I feel for those guys -- I consider many of them friends rather than just acquaintances. I really feel for them," he said of the athletes in the Russian team.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier Wednesday cautioned against an "emotional" response to the ban.

Russian officials are expected to address the ban in a meeting next Tuesday.

Politicians and athletes earlier reacted with anger and disappointment to the IOC decision.

The head of Russia's Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov, told the IOC that punishing clean athletes was "unjust and immoral".

Russian media expressed regret at the decision while welcoming the possibility of some athletes participating in South Korea next year, albeit under tight restrictions.

The IOC "chose one of the harshest options it was considering but still not the harshest of all", which would have been a total ban, wrote Kommersant business daily.

"It's very hard to take accusations and punishments. But the fate of our athletes and preserving our place in the Olympic family is more important," wrote the Sport Express daily.

It slammed the decision as "very harsh and in some ways even humiliating for Russia," citing the life bans on attending the games for ex-sports minister Vitaly Mutko, now first deputy prime minister.

"Can't get by without Russia," the pro-Kremlin Izvestia daily headlined its front page, stressing that "Russian Olympic athletes will defend the honour of the Motherland under any banner."

Some top sports figures agreed, with ice hockey forward Ilya Kovalchuk telling TASS state news agency: "We must go to the Olympics. Refusing is surrender."

Pole vault star Yelena Isinbayeva told TASS: "Addressing our athletes, I want to say that they should absolutely not despair and should continue training for the games."

"This is an absolute outrage," said the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, quoted by state RIA Novosti news agency. "This is sport, damn it!" he added.

Nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, condemned the decision as "sporting racism, political racism."

Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, writing on his Telegram social networking page, warned that "not one athlete living in Chechnya will participate under a neutral flag."

Olympic gold-medallist gymnast Svetlana Khorkina, now a ruling party MP, told Sport Express: "What have we come to? Crushing our great country Russia? No, they won't manage it. Russia has an army, nuclear weapons and great people."

Pro-Kremlin media focused on discrediting Grigory Rodchenkov, the whistleblower who gave evidence of a state-controlled doping programme in which he played a central role.

Rodchenkov has been living in hiding in the United States since lifting the lid on the intricate workings of a state-supported doping scheme at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

"Grigory Rodchenkov is the perfect traitor," wrote tabloid daily Komsomolskaya Pravda.

It said the IOC's actions proved that "you can destroy a whole Olympic country on the basis of indirect evidence and a single witness who was under a criminal investigation and has been treated in a psychiatric hospital”.

AFP

Lionel Messi reportedly turned down a huge offer to join Manchester City before penning an extension at Barcelona.

The Argentine signed a new £500,000-a-week contract last month, keeping him at the Nou Camp until 2021.

But only after a blockbuster offer from the Etihad in a desperate attempt to lure him to the Premier League.

MARCA reports City put on the table a deal worth a staggering £850,000-a-week alongside a stunning £88m (€100m) signing bonus.

It is suggested City made the bid to Messi's representatives without Barcelona's permission.

City could have spoken to Messi in he new year, had he not signed the extension, with his previous deal expiring in the summer.

But the Premier League leaders reportedly knew they needed to act if they were to ever lure the 30-year-old to the Etihad.

Messi is having another superb season with Barca, who are five points clear at the top of La Liga.

He scored his side's first goal in their weekend 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo.

Mirror

Lionel Messi rarely gets cut down on the soccer field, using his agility and extraordinary dribbling skills, not to mention his diminutive stature, to stymie his opponents’ efforts. However, a statue of the Argentine star has not proved so elusive, as it was recently attacked by vandals for the second time this year.

Situated along the Paseo de la Gloria (“walkway of glory”) in Buenos Aires among tributes to other sports heroes from the country, including Manu Ginobili and Gabriela Sabatini, Messi’s statue was found severed at the ankles, with most of the figure lying next to its pedestal. As with the first incident, authorities have yet to identify any suspects.

In January, Messi’s statue was discovered without its top half, as vandals apparently made off with its torso, arms and head. In 2014, the racket held by Sabatini’s statue was cut off and stolen.

Messi’s statue was installed in June 2016, and the honor was widely viewed as an attempt to get him to reconsider his decision to retire from Argentina’s national team, following his country’s defeat to Chile in the Copa America final.

That marked the fourth time a Messi-led Argentina squad lost in the final of a major international tournament, including the 2007 and 2015 Copa America and the 2014 World Cup, and he had come under some criticism for not achieving better results.

Despite his enormous success at the individual and club level, including five FIFA player of the year awards and four Champions League titles with Barcelona, Messi is not universally adored in his home country. That stems not only from the losses in tournament finals, but also the fact that he left Argentina at age 13, after agreeing to join Barcelona’s youth system.

However, Messi’s retirement announcement was met with widespread dismay in Argentina, and the phrase “No te vayas Lio” (“Dont go, Leo”) began popping up around the country.

Just a few weeks later, he had a change of heart, and while Argentina came disconcertingly close to failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, Messi almost single-handedly averted disaster by scoring a hat trick in a pivotal win last month over Ecuador.

Washington Post

The Super Eagles of Nigeria were, on Friday, drawn in Group D to play against Iceland, Croatia and nemesis, Argentina in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup scheduled to hold in Russia.

Nigeria first played against Argentina in the 1994 World Cup. They met again at the group stage three other times in 2002, 2010, 2014.

The Super Eagles will play its first game of the prestigious competition against Croatia on June 16, in Kaliningrad.

The team’s last group match will be against Argentina in St Petersburg on June 26.

The World Cup draw!

Group A

Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay

Group B

Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran

Group C

France, Australia, Peru, Denmark

Group D

Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria

Group E

Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia

Group F

Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea

Group G

Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England

Group H

Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan

Punch