Premier League: One new coronavirus case in latest testing round

One positive case from 1213 tests; Premier League to hold eighth round of testing later this week

Last Updated: 10/06/20 6:22pm

 

The Premier League has confirmed there is one new positive case in their latest round of coronavirus testing.

The results were from the seventh round, in which 1213 players and club staff were tested on Monday and Tuesday.

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The first six rounds of COVID-19 testing returned 13 positives and 6,261 negatives.

Testing will continue this week with the next batch of results expected to be published on Saturday.

COVID-19 impact on football

March 5 - Pre-match handshakes banned in the Premier League.
March 11 - Man City vs Arsenal is first Premier League game suspended; Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid the last top level game played in England.
March 12 - Man Utd, Wolves play away Europa League ties behind closed doors, Rangers host Bayer Leverkusen in front of fans.
March 13 - Football suspended following an emergency meeting between PL, FA, EFL and WSL
April 15 - SPFL clubs approve plan to end the Scottish Championship, League One and league Two seasons.
May 15 - League Two clubs vote to end the season with immediate effect.
May 17 - Premier League players and staff tested for COVID-19.
May 18 - Scottish Premiership curtailed, with points per game determining league positions and Celtic named champions.
May 19 - Premier League clubs return to socially distanced group training.
May 25 - Women's Super League cancelled, with title and relegation to be determined.
May 27 - Premier League clubs vote to resume contact training.

Top-flight action in England is scheduled to resume on June 17, when Aston Villa play Sheffield United and Manchester City face Arsenal.

Manchester United were forced to cancel a friendly with Stoke at the last minute on Tuesday after the Championship side's manager Michael O'Neill tested positive for COVID-19.

The sides were due to meet at United's Carrington training centre but the match was immediately abandoned without kicking a ball when the Northern Irishman tested positive, with United insisting none of their squad came into contact with him.

'Results taken with great heart'

Sky Sports News reporter Geraint Hughes:

'Cautious optimism is how all of these test results have been viewed because they have to analysed individually and collectively.

'But out of 7,487 tests conducted there have been 14 positive returns, that's roughly 0.2 per cent, so an encouraging sign again.

'Given the return of the Premier League is a week away, having just two positives from the previous four rounds of testing will be taken with great heart, not only by the Premier League but by Public Health England and the government.'

PL clubs to vote on matchday numbers

Arsenal groundstaff cleans the corner flag before a friendly match between Arsenal and Charlton Athletic at Emirates Stadium on June 06, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Premier League clubs will hold a vote on Wednesday on proposals to limit the number of players and staff who can attend matches.

All 20 clubs have spent the last week considering a number of pre-match protocols on accommodation and travel to away games, which are expected to be agreed during Wednesday's video conference call.

The meeting will provide the last chance for a number of key issues to be resolved, with top clubs lobbying hard for their ever-increasing backroom staff to be allowed to attend away games.

Some top clubs travel with more than 60 staff and club directors in tow, including masseurs, up to three specialist goalkeeping coaches and security guards.

However, the Premier League is keen to trim numbers to all but essential staff on matchdays to just 37 'Red Zone' pass holders per team, including 20 players, 12 coaching and medical staff and five 'essential' members of staff.

Staff not needed pitchside, such as analysts will be allowed in the amber zone, with all others - including security, big screen operators and parking staff - in the green zone.

Total numbers at matches including broadcast staff, written media, commentators, doping officials and scouts will total 300.

The Merseyside derby will go ahead on June 21 at Goodison Park behind closed doors, and not at a neutral venue, it has been confirmed.

The ground safety advisory group at Liverpool City Council met on Wednesday and has approved a safety certificate to allow the match to go ahead at Everton's home ground.

Discussions were also held between the Council and Merseyside Police, Liverpool and Everton football clubs as well as the Spirit of Shankly and Blue Union supporters groups, regarding the fulfilment of public health protocols for the match.

The fixture was previously on a list of games which had been requested by local police forces to be played at a neutral venue amid public health fears, due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the UK's football police lead Deputy Chief Constable. 

In the initial round of Premier League fixtures published last Friday, the venue was marked as 'TBC' but all matches in the top flight's restart confirmed so far been given the all-clear to be played at usual home venues.

Liverpool, who currently hold a 25-point lead ahead of second-placed Manchester City, could seal the title with victory at Goodison Park, if Pep Guardiola's side are beaten by Arsenal on June 17.

Source : Sky sports news

Man City's UEFA ban appeal to be decided by CAS in July

Last Updated: 10/06/20 

Manchester City have been banned from European football for two years

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will announce its decision on Manchester City's appeal against their European ban in the first half of July.

The three-day hearing between City and UEFA was conducted by video conference and concluded on Wednesday

"At the end of the hearing, both parties expressed their satisfaction with respect to the conduct of the procedure," read a statement from CAS following the hearing. 

"The Panel of arbitrators in charge of the matter, composed of Mr Rui Botica Santos (Portugal), president, Prof. Ulrich Haas (Germany) and Mr Andrew McDougall QC (France), will start its deliberations and prepare the Arbitral Award containing their decision."

"The decision is expected to be issued during the first half of July 2020. The exact date will be communicated in advance."

The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland

Manchester City were appealing UEFA's decision in February to ban them from European competition for two years and fine them £25m for "serious breaches" of UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations between 2012 and 2016. 

Uefa's Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) also said City had failed to cooperate with the investigation.

If Manchester City finish in the top four and their ban is upheld by CAS, it would mean a Champions League place would go to the team who finish fifth in the Premier League.

Source : Sky sports news

Lagos Rules Out Possibility Of Reopening Churches, Mosques

A file photo of Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu

 

The Lagos State Government has ruled out the possibility of reopening churches and mosques in the state.

The Commissioner for Home Affairs, Prince Anofiu Elegushi, disclosed this on Tuesday on the side-line of the 2020 Ministerial press briefing commemorating the first year of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in office.

Elegushi said the possibility of reopening churches and mosques in the state was ruled out after state government met with some religious leaders.

READ ALSO: Lagos Govt Considers Full Reopening Of Economy, Gives Conditions

According to him, the protocols and guidelines laid down by the state government were not agreed upon by the religious leaders.

“Even before the pronouncement by the Federal Government, we have been having meetings with the religious leaders. We even had one with safety Commission. Looking at the possibility of reopening of religious houses.

“We also had one with the leaders of the two faith and I want to tell you categorically that at that meeting, the possibility of reopening religious houses was ruled out totally.

“They claimed that they cannot take the responsibility of ensuring that only 20 or 50 people are praying behind them. Like an Imam said he doesn’t know what is going on at back immediately he is leading a prayer. He said if more than 20 or 50 people are staying at his back, he is not going to take responsibility for their presence,” Elegushi said.

The Commissioner added that Lagos is the epicentre of the virus and reopening of churches won’t happen until there is a clear coast to do so.

“So in the meeting, we ruled out in totality the issue of reopening the religious houses until we have a clear coast for us to do so. The Federal Government mentioned it, but it never ruled out the state in achieving that pronouncement, so all states will have to look at the possibility of doing so in their respective states.

“We all know Lagos is still having more figures. So definitely that will speak to our decision.”

Elegushi added that the governor will come out with further directives.

Lagos State Speaker Must Go – Jail Him NOW! By Baba Aye

Forcing the likes of Mr Mudashiru Obasa out of power with mass mobilisation and seeing him off to jail would send home a clear message to the thieving bosses that enough is enough!

The corrupt practices of Mr Mudashiru Obasa, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly (LSHA) have been brought to light. In a series of articles over the last few weeks, Sahara Reporters revealed several incidents of the chief lawmaker’s plunder of public funds and attempts to cover up by lodging these illegitimately acquired monies under false names. Based on this exposé “Concerned Nigerians”, an NGO, has written to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to have Mr Obasa arrested and prosecuted. But thus far, nothing has been done by EFCC or any government agency charged with ensuring proper conduct of public officials or EFCC and ICPC.

Some of the identified instances of Mr Obasa’s light fingers are collection of N45.8m for a children’s Christmas party last year – which never held. The fake children’s Christmas party money was not enough for Mr Speaker’s end of year flenjor. So, for his trip along with 18 other lawmakers around the same time, they allocated N80m as estacode.  

Similarly, he collected the sum of N258m supposedly for printing invitation cards for the inauguration of the Lagos state lawmakers. As if it were not criminal enough for someone to claim such an amount was used for such purpose, an added fact is that he approved this sum three months after the event! Thus obviously, that was only meant to cover some tracks of his thievery or simply provide “money for the boys”.

Obviously, for Mr Obasa, since they (himself, his party and of course their Jagaban of a leader Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu(BAT), former governor of the state) are in control, state money is there for the picking – including for personal fàájì, so he had absolutely no problem with drawing N17m from the state coffers to refurbish his personal residence. And by the way, he similarly just dipped his hands into the Lagos state government’s kitty for another N53m to cover the expenses of his personal trip to the United States with his lover.

More importantly, there are grounds to conclude that these not insignificant amounts represent just a tip of the iceberg of corruption traceable to Mr Obasa. Sahara Reporters also discovered that there are “at least 64 bank accounts” operated by the thieving speaker of a thieving house of assembled crooks. All these accounts, whilst using different names are linked to the same Bank Verification Number BVN: 2296663231. And this BVN is that of Mr Mudashiru Obasa.

These accounts scattered across Polaris Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Ecobank Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, United Bank for Africa, First City Monument Bank and Wema Bank were registered with several names including: Ajayi Mudashiru Obasa, Obasa Abdulrahman Gbadunola and Gabriel Adedoyin Savage. And some were for companies which have been serving the purpose of slushingmonies from Lagos state’s treasury, such as AdesavInternational Ventures, Fabric Splash Ventures, Swifthillinternational Ventures and Quick Solution International.

One of the reasons for putting the BVN system in place, as we were told at the time in 2014, was to enable the banking system establish a watch-list of bank customers identified by their BVNs, who have been involved in fraudulent activities. S

o, how could so many leading banks give the impression that they were not aware of the fraudulent hinges of Obasagatewhen it was being constructed with the whooping number of sixty-four bank accounts?! And indeed, how many of those politicians already charged or convicted for corruption have the banks blown the whistle on? None! Rather, BVN is used to track poor working-class people who have been indebted in one bank, to stop them having access to money from the banking system through other banks. It is like a spider’s web, set to catch the insect they consider poor people to be, but not the  barawo of a political elephant in the room.

The case of Mr Obasa is reflective of widespread corruption across all tiers of government, amongst but not limited to the “legislathieves” arm of government. Despite being probably the highest paid and most underperforming legislators in the world (in the midst of one of the least paid working-class globally), members of the National Assembly have become notorious for corruption. 

And even when any legislator at national or state level is convicted of corruption, he or she still has full rights to maintain her/his seat in parliament and keep collecting millions of naira as monthly take-home “pepper”. This is supposedly because being an ex-convict only precludes one from contesting elections into parliament and not from being a member of that parliament. It is only the Code of Conduct Bureau which has the powers to remove such a lawmaker. But it has never exercised this power.

The EFCC (along with its sister ICPC) is another kettle of the same kind of “paddy paddy” fish. Whilst it has a knack for posturing as the nemesis of corrupt officials, it has actually been used mainly to hound those persons amongst the coterie of “vagabonds in power” who refuse to cooperate with the vagabonds-in-chief at different levels. 

It is not difficult for example to see that behind the confidence of Obasa’s brazen roguery lies the pillar on Bourdillon of the batty Tinubu. The system of high rolling corruption is not unlike the more mundane “checkpoint” collections of the police. You don’t last long on the checkpoint if you don’t “deliver” to the DPO (or bank manager as Fela rightly note), who also delivers to the Area Commander and so on and so forth, up to the “managing director”. 

It is also important to note that apart from each of these levels of thieves feathering their nests with taxpayers’ money, as different variants of àmàlà politicians, they also set aside some of the stolen loot for oiling their political machinery. They need war chests of lots of money for elections which they have reduced to cash and carry politics of the absurd.

Corruption in high places is written into the DNA of capitalism. It is not only in the political sphere and it is not only in Nigeria (the MPs expenses scandal in Britain readily comes to mind, as just one example). Capitalism itself is based on theft – of the unpaid labour of poor workers and from the earth, our collective home which the bosses pillage and despoil, in search of ever-expanding wealth. Corruption as a particular form of such theft, which is illegitimate and often illegal even by the hypocritically formulated standards of the bosses themselves, is a major lubricant for sealing “deals” in organised private sector and for politicians ostentatious lifestyles in the public sphere.

We must fight against corruption, showing its various connections; to the worsening living conditions of the poor masses, and to the capitalist system which breeds it and which it helps reinforce. Corruption has disastrous impact on the lives of the poor working masses. Trillions of naira that could have been used to provide quality healthcare for all, free education and qualitative cheap housing have been stolen by those in power over the years. 

Forcing the likes of Mr Mudashiru Obasa out of power with mass mobilisation and seeing him off to jail would send home a clear message to the thieving bosses that enough is enough. Trade unions, civil society organisations and communities, particularly in Lagos, must lend their voices to the call for the speaker to be removed immediately, tried and jailed. Nothing less is acceptable.

Baba Aye is a trade unionist and Co-convener of Coalition for Revolution (CORE)

Twitter handle @BabaAye

BABA AYE

From Sahara Reporter. 

Man arrested for allegedly impregnating daughter in Imo State.

POSTED BY LAWRENCE A. ON MAY 13, 2020

A 47-year-old man identified as Uchenna Egbuchulem has been arrested by the Imo state police command for allegedly impregnating his biological daughter.

The randy man was arrested at Nduhu Alaenyi Ogwa in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of the state on May 12, following a complaint filed at the Divisional Police hqrs in Mbaitoli.

The victim identified as 17-year-old Adaku Egbuchulem was left in the custody of her father as an infant after her Ivorian mother returned to her country following the end of her marriage to Egbuchulem.

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Imo state’s police spokesperson, Ikeokwu Orlando confirmed the incident and further disclosed that the suspect will be charged to court at the end of investigation.

According to investigations, Egbuchelem has been taking advantage of his daughter and threatening to kill her with a machete if she tells anyone.

Thieves 'raid homes of Lampard & Leicester's late owner Srivaddhanaprabha

Thieves 'raid homes of Lampard & Leicester's late owner Srivaddhanaprabha

Thieves have raided the homes of Chelsea boss Frank Lampard and Leicester City’s late owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

They stole more than £1million of valuables from billionaire Vichai’s house, left as a shrine following his death.

The heist in Knightsbridge, West London, came ten days after a similar raid on Lampard’s £12million home in nearby Chelsea.

Burglars got away with £60,000 of jewellery and watches belonging to Frank and wife Christine, both 41.

It was the fourth time the ex-England star has been targeted. Details of the break-ins, last December, have never been made public by police.

But Flying Squad detectives are studying CCTV footage of both, with crooks targeting the rich and famous believed to be responsible.

The Thai family of Vichai are devastated at the break-in at his home, untouched since the 60-year-old Foxes boss died in a chopper crash at Leicester in October 2018.

A source said: “Both burglaries may have been carried out by the same team.

“The family of Vichai are understandably very upset.

“His house was totally ransacked and a lot of precious and sentimental items were taken.

“The thieves have effectively desecrated his spirit. None of the items stolen during either of the burglaries have been recovered. Police are apparently working on the assumption that Vichai’s house and the Lampards were both deliberately targeted.”

A gang raided Lampard’s townhouse on December 1 — after it was previously targeted in 2018. In 2005 and 2008 thieves stole cars from his previous home, including a Mercedes and Aston Martin.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed it was investigating. No arrests have been made.

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UPDATED: FG receives $311m Abacha loot

Published May 4, 2020

Tobi Aworinde, Abuja

The Federal Government, on Monday, confirmed the receipt of $311m looted by the late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha.

The PUNCH reports that the loot was repatriated from the United States and the Bailiwick of Jersey.

The Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Dr Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, said approximately $311,797,866.11 of the Abacha loot was repatriated from the US and Jersey.

READ ALSO: South Africa begins COVID-19 trial of TB vaccine

According to Malami, the amount increased significantly from over $308m as stated in a press release in February to over $311m because of the interest that accrued from February 3, 2020, to 28th April, 2020, when the fund was transferred to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The AGF noted that the litigation process for the return of these assets titled “Abacha III” commenced in 2014, while the diplomatic process culminated in the signing of the Asset Return Agreement on February 3, 2020, by the governments of Nigeria, the US and Jersey commenced in 2018.

“This agreement is based on international law and cooperation measures that set out the procedures for the repatriation, transfer, disposition and management of the assets,” he said.

According to the statement, the recovery effort further consolidates on the established record of the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), which has a history of recovery of $322m from Switzerland in 2018 that is being transparently and judiciously deployed in supporting indigent Nigerians as specified in the agreement signed with the Switzerland and the World Bank.

The minister, who led the negotiation team, noted that the Tripartite Agreement and the process towards the implementation represents a major watershed in International Asset Recovery and Repatriation as it seeks to provide benefit to the victims of corruption.

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UPDATED: FG receives $311m Abacha loot

 

He said, “In line with the 2020 Asset Return Agreement, the fund has been transferred to a Central Bank of Nigeria Asset Recovery designated account and would be paid to the National Sovereign Investment Authority within the next fourteen days. The NSIA is responsible for the management and execution of the projects to which the funds will be applied.”

Malami added that the Federal Government had committed that the assets would support and assist in expediting the construction of three major infrastructure projects across Nigeria, including Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Abuja-Kano Road, and the Second Niger Bridge.

He added that the country was in the process of establishing a Project Monitoring Team to oversee the implementation of the projects and report regularly on progress made to the public.

The statement said, “To ensure transparent management of the returned assets, the Nigerian government will also engage a civil society organisation, who has combined expertise in substantial infrastructure projects, civil engineering, anti-corruption compliance, anti-human trafficking compliance, and procurement to provide additional monitoring and oversight.

“The process for the engagement of the CSO monitor has already commenced with the adverts placed in two Nigeria newspapers – Daily Trust and The PUNCH (4th March, 2020 and a Notice of Extension on 17th April, 2020), the Federal Tender Journal (9th and 23rd March, 2020), the Economist (14th March, 2020). The advert can also be found on the website of the Federal Ministry of Justice.

“It may be recalled that the recovered funds were laundered through the US banking system and then held in bank accounts in the Bailiwick of Jersey. In 2014, a US Federal Court in Washington D.C. forfeited the money as property involved in the illicit laundering of the proceeds of corruption arising in Nigeria during the period from 1993 to 1998 when General Abacha was Head of State.”

82.9 million Nigerians live in poverty – NBS

Published May 4, 2020

‌

’Femi Asu

The National Bureau of Statistics has said 40.1 per cent of the country’s population live in poverty.

The NBS, in the executive summary of the 2019 poverty and inequality report released on Monday, said over 82.9 million Nigerians lived below its poverty line of N137,430 per year.

The bureau said between September 2018 and October 2019, it conducted the latest round of the Nigerian Living Standards Survey after 10 years.

READ ALSO: No query issued to NDDC over alleged N5.5bn scam – Ministry

The NLSS is the official survey that is the basis for measuring poverty and living standards.

The NBS said, “In Nigeria 40.1 per cent of the total population were classified as poor. In other words, on average, four out of 10 individuals in Nigeria have real per capita expenditures below N137,430 per year.

“This translates to over 82.9 million Nigerians who are considered poor by national standards. It is important to note that this number excludes the state of Borno.”

It said while the NLSS 2018-19 included households from Borno, that sample was not representative of the whole state since only households from “accessible” (safe-to visit) areas were interviewed.

“Thus, the Borno sample is considered non-random and non-representative,” the bureau added.

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