Sports
UEFA: Madrid, Man Utd Battle, Today
Jose Mourinho insists his next move after leaving Real Madrid will be to return to the Premier League.
Mourinho’s future at the Bernabeu has come under scrutiny as Real prepare to face Manchester United in the last 16 of the Champions League.
The Portuguese, 50, has been linked to United, Manchester City and Chelsea.
Asked when he expected to return to England, the former Chelsea boss said: “After Real. I love everything [about the Premier League].
He added: “Normally it will be my next step.”
Mourinho has also been linked with Paris St-Germain – but made it clear he sees his immediate future back in England.
But asked if he would replace Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, Mourinho said: “I don’t believe so. I think we have to end our career at the same time. [Ferguson] at 90 and me at 70.”
Mourinho was in charge of Chelsea from 2004 until 2007, during which time he won the Premier League and the League Cup twice, as well as the FA Cup.
He has since managed Italian side Inter Milan, where he won his second Champions League title after capturing the trophy with Porto in 2004.
Mourinho has been with Real since 2010 and won the Spanish title last season.
But with Real lagging 16 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona this season, Mourinho’s press conference once again revealed his scarred relationship with the Spanish media.
Local newspapers also turned their fire on Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney yesterday, with one labelling him “a freckled demon” and “a player and hooligan all rolled into one.”
“I didn’t read this,” said Mourinho. “But if I can support Rooney I would just say I was called worse than that week by week.”
Mourinho described the meeting with United as “the match the world wants to see” and he added: “It is the most important match in this round of the Champions League. When you see this press room completely full it represents what this match means to the world of football and everybody is waiting for a big football match.
“That is what we want and if I know the culture of English football and of a manager like Sir Alex Ferguson then I don’t think they are thinking of anything other than to play a big match.
“I hope the world gets what it wants.”
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.
