Once Upon A Time – October 19 – 1901 – Santos-Dumont Proves Airship Manoeuverable By Circling Eiffel Tower

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October 18, 2022

The club owners analysed the challenges the NPFL faced in the six years under the Shehu Dikko-led LMC

NFF President Ibrahim Gusau has been holding several meetings to sustain and address issues surrounding the football community in the country, since assuming office.

On Monday, it was the Nigerian Professional League (NPFL) club owners who paid Mr Gusau a courtesy visit where they stated problems the league has faced in the last six years.

Nasarawa United boss, Isaac Danladi, led the 13-man delegation, and had in attendance other club chairmen out of the 20 clubs that took part in the just concluded 2021/22 football season.

On the visit were former NFF boss Ibrahim Galadima, who represented Kano Pillars, Paul Bassey for Akwa United; Adamu Aliyu Mohammed from Niger Tornadoes FC; Coach Amehi Dickson of Dakkada FC; Promise Nwachukwu from Heartland FC; Ferdinand Emeka from Rangers.

Others are Tunde Ogunja from Sunshine Stars; Tunde Olaniyan from Shooting Stars FC; Abubakar Abubakar from Gombe United FC; Dominic Iorfa from Lobi Stars FC; Jude Anyadufu from Enyimba FC, and Abdulsamad Badama from Katsina United FC, were all present.

Wikki Tourists and the trio of Nigerian clubs that took part in continental matches over the weekend, Plateau United, Kwara United and Rivers United were absent, and apologised for their absence.

Also at the meeting were NFF executives; the Deputy General Secretary, Emmanuel Ikpeme and Ag. Director of Legal, Barr. Okey Obi was present at the meeting.

The long discussion focused on five resolutions as the club owners emphatically disclosed the challenges facing the league.

The club owners analysed about 10 challenges as the major limitations to the growth of the league in the six years under the Shehu Dikko-led League Management Company.

They stated a lack of sponsorship, absence of television broadcast, poor officiating, insufficient funding, poor infrastructure, amongst others as the challenges the league has plodded through in the last six years.

The full text reads:

1) The Club Owners unanimously congratulated the new NFF President, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau and Members of his Board and pledged total support to the Board on any steps it will take to ensure that the Nigeria Professional Football League really begins to live up to the name of a professional league in every sense of the word.

2) The Club Owners collectively maintained that the NPFL has suffered serious problems in the past six years and identified the following areas:

a) Lack of Sponsorship

b) No TV Broadcast

c) Poor Officiating

d) Insufficient Funding

d) Lack of Match Integrity

e) Poor remuneration of match officials and huge indebtedness in this area

f) Matches won on the basis of the highest bidder

g) Poor Infrastructure

h) Incompetent Administrators

i) No prize money for winners and/or failure to honour the same, et cetera

3) The Club Owners charged the NFF President and his Board to critically look into the aforementioned areas of concern and restructure the Nigeria Professional Football League in line with international best practices.

4) They called on the NFF President to set up a small committee of football experts to look into the former League Management Committee (LMC) and the current Interim Management Committee (IMC) and come up with a functional governance structure to drive the NPFL for the good and development of football in Nigeria and for the benefit of all major football stakeholders.

5) The Club Owners appealed to the NFF President to inaugurate the present IMC as appointed by the Federal Government through the Honourable Minister for Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, but with a short tenure.

Serie A Round-Up: Dessers, Lookman, Osimhen On Target, Udinese, Lazio Fail To Settle Scores

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October 18, 2022

Osimhen and Lookman scored for tight victories while Dessers’ effort provided another point for Cremonese.

Week 10 of the Italian Serie A witnessed tight victories for the top two league contenders Napoli and Atalanta, who had their Nigerian players to thank for sealing victories while both Lazio and Udinese settled for a draw.

There were very many similarities between the week nine and 10 results, except for the paucity of goals. Three away wins, four home wins with three draws saw 22 goals recorded during the matches that spread over Friday till Monday.

Bologna took Napoli to the wire, and they needed substitute Victor Osimhen to rise from the bench and poach the winning goal.

Osimhen, who returned from injury last week against Ajax in the Champions League, rose from the bench at the beginning of the second half and scored the winner in the 69th minute.

The Nigerian got on the end of a cute pass from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and squeezed the ball between the goalkeeper’s legs.

The visitors scored first, against the run of play, through Joshua Zirkzee in the 41st minute, but Juan Jesus restored parity in the last minute of the first half.

Osimhen came in for Giacomo Raspadori in the 46th minute and contributed tellingly by scoring the winning goal, which kept Napoli on top of the table with a two points cushion over Atalanta.

Sassuolo almost held second-placed Atalanta until Ademola Lookman’s second half strike. It was the Nigerian forward’s third goal in three consecutive matches for La Dea. He’s also the joint highest goalscorer alongside Teun Koopmeiners, with four goals for his club. But they have to be grateful to Brandon Soppy, who provided the two assists for the goals.

Cyriel Dessers’ goal wasn’t enough for 19th-placed Cremonese, who were forced to a 2-2 draw away to Spezia. The Nigerian forward recorded his second goal of the season in the second minute to complement his effort last week during Cremonese’s 4-1 defeat to Napoli.

Lazio and Udinese fought to a goalless draw at the Stadio Olimpico to drop to the fifth and sixth spots, respectively. That stalemate sent AC Milan and Jose Mourinho’s Roma up to third and fourth places after tight wins over Verona and Sampdoria, respectively.

Things are yet to get in better shape for Dejan Stankovic as his shaky Sampdoria side recorded their seventh defeat to Roma by a lone goal on Monday. Lorenzo Pellegrini’s spot kick in the ninth minute made the difference in the encounter.

Dusan Vlahovic’s hard-earned goal for Juventus against Torino stabilised a shaky start to the season for the Old Lady, who are up to eighth place. It was the Serbian’s sixth league goal of the campaign.

Thus, the top two spots remained unchanged, with Napoli and Atalanta having 26 and 24 points, respectively. AC Milan and Roma usurped Lazio and Udinese and have 23 points and 22 points, respectively.

The trio of Verona, Cremonese, and Sampdoria, who all failed to secure maximum points during the weekend, occupy the bottom three places of the table. Meanwhile, Sampdoria are the biggest losers at the moment.

The focus for next weekend will be on the top four clashes. High-riding Napoli visit Mourinho’s Roma while Atalanta will host Lazio.

Rivers United, Plateau United To Face Libyan Clubs In Caf Confederation Cup

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October 18, 2022

Having lost to North African clubs at the weekend, both Plateau and Rivers United will face another set of North African clubs for a chance in the Confederation Cup

Rivers United and Plateau United, the two remaining Nigerian clubs on the continent, have been drawn against two Libyan clubs in the final rounds of the CAF Confederation Cup group stage qualifiers.

CAF officials conducted the draws at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt on Monday.

The draws witnessed 16 teams that had progressed from the second preliminary rounds in the Confederation Cup and another 16 teams that failed to progress to the group stages of the CAF Champions League-a category both Rivers United and Plateau United fell into.

Having lost to North African clubs at the weekend, both Plateau and Rivers United will face another set of North African clubs for a chance to play in the group stage.

Rivers United, who were hammered 7-2 on aggregate by Wydad Athletics of Casablanca, will face El Nasr Benghazi of Libya in a double-legged encounter after defeating AS Kigali by a lone goal to progress to the next stage for a chance in the group stage of Confederation Cup after a decade absence.

Meanwhile, Plateau United, who were ousted by Esperance de Tunis in the Champions League preliminary round on the away goals rule, will face another Libyan side, Al Alkber, who progressed via a 3-2 victory over Azam FC of Tanzania.

Both clubs will kick-start with the first leg being played on Wednesday, 2 November while the reverse fixture will be on Wednesday, 9 November.

Benzema Is The Oldest Ballon d’Or Winner In 66 Years

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October 18, 2022

Although Ballon d’Or is the product of France Football, Karim Benzema is the first Frenchman to win since 1998 when Zinedine Zidane won.

Interestingly, both have Algerian roots. Remarkably, Zidane, who was also a coach to the latest Ballon d’Or winner while he handled the club, presented the award to Benzema.

Zidane presented the award and featured in a video montage praising the winner.

Current Real boss Carlo Ancelotti and former Los Blancos chief Jose Mourinho also featured in the video package.

By his feat on Monday night, Benzema, 34, becomes the oldest winner of the award since Stanley Matthews in 1956. The Englishman was the first ever recipient of the award

He took the top prize for the first time, finishing ahead of Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane, with Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne in third place.

Benzema scored a career-high 44 goals across 46 games in all competitions during the 2021/22 season. He will now be looking to end the year in style as he prepares for the World Cup with France.

“To see this prize in front of me makes me really proud. It was a childhood dream for me and all the work I have done, I never gave up,” he said after collecting the 2022 Ballon d’Or.

“I always had in my mind that anything was possible, when I was not in the France team I never stopped working hard.

“I am really proud of my journey here. It was not easy, it was a difficult time and also for my family as well.

“To be standing here today for the first time, I am happy for my work and will keep going.”

Robert Lewandowski, who joined Barcelona from Bayern Munich during the summer, was fourth. The Pole finished second in 2021 behind Lionel Messi.

Lewandowski was also the favourite to win the France Football award in 2020. However, the striker missed out after the event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah finished fifth while PSG forward Kylian Mbappe ended up in sixth. Norway forward Erling Haaland finished in 10th.

Ivory Seized Decades Ago Turns Up In Raids

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October 18, 2022

Confiscated ivory from elephants killed more than 30 years ago has turned up in recent raids, say scientists.

The tusks were once part of a stockpile seized from poachers and held in sealed containers by the government of Burundi.

In this study, researchers used DNA and carbon dating techniques to show that some of that stored material is now in the hands of smugglers.

The government of Burundi has not responded to a BBC request for comment.

The authors say seizures should be destroyed and not stored.

Between 2007 and 2016 some 100,000 elephants were killed for their tusks in different parts of Africa.

The study examined samples from four major seizures made by law enforcement officials between 2017 and 2019.

Using techniques to measure the presence of an isotope called carbon-14, the researchers found that most of the captured ivory was from elephants killed within the previous three years.

However, ivory from one seizure was primarily from elephants killed more than 30 years ago.

Markings on these tusks indicated they came from a supposedly well-guarded stockpile held by the government of Burundi.

The trade in ivory has been banned since 1987 in Burundi, one of the world’s poorest countries. In 2004 scientists from wildlife trade experts, Traffic International, examined the stores which comprised almost 84 tonnes, made up of 15,000 tusks. Customs seals were then affixed to the seven containers holding the ivory.

Another North African Headache For Nigerian Clubs In Confederation Cup

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October 18, 2022

The two Nigerian clubs that dropped from the CAF Champions League to the Confederation Cup again have North African clubs to contend with in other to get to the group stage.

This year, North African clubs have inflicted injuries to all the four Nigerian teams in the continent. Morocco clubs eliminated both Remo Stars of Ikenne and Kwara United of Ilorin from the Confederation Cup.

Another Moroccan club, Wydad ousted Rivers United from the Champions League while Tunisia’s Esperance also ousted Plateau United.

Both teams are again facing North African clubs as they sèek to navigate their ways to the Confederation Cup group stage.

No Nigerian club has ever won the competition that is in its 20th edition.

Rivers United, the Nigerian champions who conceded the heaviest defeat ever inflicted on a Nigerian club in the continent have been drawn to face Libya’s El Nasr.

The first leg match will hold on 2 November. The return match will be a week later on 9 November.

Plateau United are also Libya-bound as they face Al Akhder, one of the teams that scaled the Confederation Cup second round hurdles.

Public Consultation Begins Over UK’s Biggest Battery Farm In Doncaster

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October 18, 2022

A huge battery storage centre is planned for the site of a former power station in South Yorkshire.

The company behind the Thorpe Marsh scheme near Doncaster said it would store 2.8GW of electricity to be used at times of peak power demand.

Developers the Banks Group said it would be one of the largest energy storage facilities in the world and the UK’s biggest.

A public consultation is about to be launched in the local area.

The proposal would see up to 2.25 million tonnes of ash from the demolished former coal-fired power station excavated and used to make concrete blocks for the building trade.

After the ash is cleared the site would be levelled and more than 50 batteries in shipping containers installed with a new electricity substation.

A number of proposals for the Thorpe Marsh site have been put forward over the years since the power station shut in 1994, including building gas turbines.

Lewis Stokes, senior community relations manager at The Banks Group said the site’s existing connection to the National Grid and its closeness to wind farms of the Yorkshire coast made it “an excellent location for this project.”

“This is a nationally important project that will put South Yorkshire at the forefront of developments in the increasingly important energy storage industry,” he said.

“Our vision is to deliver a range of long-term environmental, energy security, employment, economic and community benefits through the reclamation and restoration of this landmark site while also supporting the UK’s drive towards its crucial net zero targets.”

The company said that it would restore the site’s rail link to avoid using lorries to remove the ash waste and bring in equipment and would plant a woodland on part of the site.

A planning application could be submitted to Doncaster Council in the coming months. If approved, Banks said they hoped to start work by 2024.

One Of UK’s Longest Ancient Inscriptions To Go On Display For First Time

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October 18, 2022

One of the longest ancient inscriptions ever discovered in Britain is to go on display for the first time.

Two sandstones were uncovered at Bainbridge in Wensleydale and record the Roman army’s construction of a fort on Brough Hill in the 3rd Century.

They were found in 1960 but have been in storage ever since as one weighs 600lbs (272kg) and had to be kept in a basement at the University of Leeds.

A new display has been set up at the university’s Michael Sadler building.

Dr Samuel Gartland, a lecturer in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, said a crane had to be brought in to move them to their new location.

“The larger stone really is a superstar inscription, one of the longest and largest ever to be found in ancient Britain and unlikely to ever be surpassed as a record of the world of Roman Yorkshire,” he said.

“Appropriately enough for our launch during Black History Month, the stones tell of a period where Yorkshire came under the rule of the first African emperors of Rome, as well as the dynastic jostling and assassinations in the imperial family.”

The stones were initially built into the wall of a barracks building but they were later reused as foundations for a Roman road and spent much of the past 2,000 years upside down in a field.

When they were unearthed by archaeologists soldiers from the Royal Engineers were brought in to help transfer them to the university.

The university said the stones had attracted academic interest, with a team from the University of Glasgow hoping to scan them with specialist laser equipment to try to capture the original colours.

Translation Of Inscription

For the Emperor Caesar Lucius Septimius Severus Pius Pertinax Augustus, and for the Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Felix Augustus, and for Publius Septimius Geta most noble Caesar, in the consulship of Our [two] Lords the Emperor Antoninus for the second time and Geta Caesar [205]; the Sixth Cohort of Nervians which Lucius Vinicius Pius, prefect of the said cohort, commands, built [this] barrack-block, under the charge of Gaius Valerius Pudens, senator of consular rank

Guernsey: 14 Deputies Push Energy Plan

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October 18, 2022