NFF not dribbling Keshi- Pinnick

Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick

President of Nigeria Football Federation, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick has called a lie on insinuations that the Federation is deceiving out of contract Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi with a new contract that would never be signed.

“I am shocked at these insinuations because the NFF Executive Committee gave the go-ahead for a new contract with Keshi at its meeting in Uyo last month, and Keshi and his lawyers have looked at the contract agreement and are satisfied with every word in the final draft.PINNICK-NFF

“As a Federation, we have gone ahead to arrange some refresher programmes for Keshi, at nobody’s prodding, and which are meant to enhance Keshi’s knowledge and improve the man’s capacity as a world-class strategist. We would not be doing that if we are not ready to work with him. No one is forcing Keshi on us. We have sat down with him and he has agreed to all terms that we put down and he is ready to work to lift the Super Eagles back to glorious days.”

There have been dark innuendos from some quarters following the postponement of the signing of the fresh contract, but Pinnick, who is on a private visit to London, said on Sunday that the contract would definitely be signed early this week.

“There were a few ends to tighten and Keshi himself understands perfectly and is comfortable with the arrangements to have the contract sealed early this week. We are not dribbling him. He won the Africa Cup of Nations with the team and led Nigeria to the Round of 16 at the World Cup in his first term. It is the belief of the NFF that Keshi can still perform at the highest level.”

The NFF supremo called on Nigerian ball fans and Nigerians in general to have faith in the NFF administration that he leads, saying positive results will certainly continue to flow even as the team concentrates on building capacity of various workers in the game and engineering a sustainable football culture in the land.

Man Utd hero Scholes tips Bayern’s Guardiola to take Man City job

Pep Guardiola is likely to become Manchester City manager in the not-too-distant future.

That is the opinion of former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes who is of the belief that the Bayern Munich boss will head to the Etihad Stadium when his contract at the Allianz Arena expires in the summer of 2016.

In his column for the London Evening Standard, Scholes wrote of the ex-Barcelona boss: ‘…all the information that comes back to me in Manchester is that Pep Guardiola will take that job (at City) when his contract at Bayern Munich expires in one year’s time.

‘As for Guardiola, establishing Manchester City as European champions would be bigger than any of the challenges he has faced so far in his career.

‘While City have many good players, they have never gone beyond the second round of the Champions League, much less won it.

‘It would not be easy, but then Guardiola is not there to do the small jobs. He is there to make the difference between a good team and a great team. I met him when I played a friendly game in Munich last summer and he was a very likeable man who was easy to talk to.’

Pellegrini won't consider Man City resignation

Manuel Pellegrini

Manuel Pellegrini says he won't resign from Manchester City.

Pellegrini is adamant he will not quit regardless of the pressure he has been under.

"I have walked away from a club once before, many years ago, but I would not quit here because it is a different case," he said.

"You don't quit just because it's a bad moment. I think we play the football I want, attractive football. At this moment we are not getting the results that we need, but we are going the right way. 'You cannot guess the future. You must say what you think about what happened and the solution. All the other things are a matter of trust."

Chelsea winner should never have been allowed

Liverpool legend Graeme Souness insists Chelsea's winner against Manchester United should never have stood last night.

Souness says Radamel Falcao was fouled by Blues skipper John Terry in the lead up to Eden Hazard's goal.

Souness said, "It's a decent forearm smash. I mean he does stick his elbow in the back of Falcao's head and that's a foul.' He added, 'If that elbow's not there he's not going down like that."

Former Arsenal captain Henry, meanwhile, felt sympathy for Falcao as a fellow striker.

Asked if he would have wanted a foul in that position as a player, the Frenchman responded, "Yes, all day long."

Man Utd keeper De Gea 'agrees' Real Madrid move

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea is ready to move to Real Madrid.

La Sexta says after months of speculation , PFA Player of the Year nominee De Gea has agreed a move to the Bernabeu despite the presence of club legend Iker Casillas.

"David De Gea has said yes to Madrid," the report begins.

"The Manchester United goalkeeper wants to wear the white of Real Madrid from next season. The club considered many options for the goalkeeping situation but have decided on De Gea.

"And David De Gea is clear... he wants to be the Real Madrid goalkeeper.

"One of the problems had been the future (or not) of Iker Casillas but this is no longer an impediment to the signing of De Gea.

"Only an agreement between the clubs is lacking."

Hazard is the ‘humble star’ – Mourinho

Chelsea manager Jose Mourino has labelled Eden Hazard as a ‘humble star’.

The Blues boss is a big admirer of the 24-year old Belgian winger who scored the only goal in the 1-0 win over Manchester United on Saturday.

Mourinho has revealed that he spoke to Hazard in the lead-up to the game and told him the side could not lose to United at Stamford Bridge.

Hazard was the difference as Chelsea moved 10 points clear on top of the Premier League table and his performance clearly impressed Mourinho who rates the former Lille star alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Eden is getting physically, mentally, very strong. He understands his role,” said the Portuguese.

“I told him: ‘This game we will never lose. Never.’ But we needed to win. He understands clearly that especially now, where the team doesn’t have all its power, his talent is fundamental. He was there for us.

“I have had lots of stars wherever I have worked. But he is the humble star. He has not changed. The kid is a great kid and he knows that he is one of the three best players in the world.

“Yes, I want Eden to win the award. But the award I want him to win is the Premier League.”

Why petrol price can’t go to N40 now — IPMAN

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigerian, Mosimi, Ogun State has said that it would be too difficult for the President-elect, Gen. Muhamadu Buhari to reduce the petroleum pump price to N40 per litre.

The association said the situation in the industry could not allow such reversion, saying, it could however, be reversed to N87 per litre if the Federal Government builds refineries in some parts of the country.

The Chairman of IPMAN, in the state, Adeleke Bada stated this shortly after the assiciation’s Annual General Meeting held in Abeokuta.

Bada, who was flanked by other members of the executive of the assiciation, reacted to the advice given by former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Tam David West to the President-elect to reduce the pump price to N40, said the price is not realistic.

He said “that is not possible, if you look at the nature of the market, that isn’t realistic. Do we have the refineries?

“The only reason that can be possible is when we have our own refineries and we do not export our crude oil for processing. If the processing is done in Nigeria, then it can be sold at the rate of N40 but not until all the refineries are fixed,” he queried.

He however, blamed the non-compliance of sale of Premium Motor Spirit at the N87 stipulated price on the expenses incurred by the marketers while trying to get the fuel available for the use of the masses.

He said that the levies being paid by the marketers to various regulatory associations andunions have made the marketers to inflate the prices of fuel to their desired amount.

He said “that is why they do not want to leave IPMAN alone. The government has not increased the price of fuel, it is still N87 per litre.

“But by the time you get to the depot, after paying around N2.6m for your  ticket, a lot of levies are to be paid, levies from PTD, IPMAN and all others, adding them all together with the cost of transporting your trucks to the station, no one is ready to run at a loss.

“I even give them (marketers) kudos for selling the fuel because they do not want the masses to suffer despite all these anomalies. That is why if you can afford to buy it at the prices they sell, then go on because we make use of it everyday.”