The Super Eagles on Monday in Bissau beat hosts Guinea Bissau 1-0 to reclaim leadership of Group A in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

Moses Simon’s penalty kick after 29 minutes gave the Nigerian senior men’s football team the needed win to move to nine points after four matches.

They have now upstaged from the apex position Guinea Bissau who toppled them on Friday in Abuja with a 1-0 win.

Guinea Bissau is with seven points from four matches and in second place, ahead of Sierra Leone who has five points from four matches.

Nigeria is expected to now face the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone in a Match Day 5 fixture.

 Details later  

 Gianni Infantino has been re-elected as the president of the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA).

The election was held on Thursday during the 73rd Congress in Kigali, as Infantino stood unopposed, making his re-election as head of football’s governing body a formality.

Controversies surrounding him include the treatment of migrant workers in the run-up to last year’s World Cup in Qatar and a failed plan to play the tournament every two years.

Infantino, however, promised record revenues in the next four-year cycle of $11 billion as he called for more football to be played around the world.

“It is an incredible honour and privilege, and a great responsibility.

“I promise to continue serving FIFA and football around the world.

“To those that love me, and I know there are many, and those who hate me, I love you all,” Infantino said.

Infantino confirmed FIFA’s income hit record levels in the last cycle from 2019-2022, but promised to substantially raise this again on the back of expanded men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments and the introduction of a 32-team Club World Cup.

“Revenues rose to a record $7.5 billion (to 2022) in a period that was hit by COVID-19.

“When I arrived, FIFA reserves stood at around $1 billion, today they are at almost $4 billion,” Infantino said.

“We promise new record revenues for the next cycle of $11 billion, and the new Club World Cup is not included in that figure, so it could increase by a couple of billion (more).”

Infantino said FIFA would continue to review the transfer system to “improve transparency” and suggested the organisation might discuss a salary cap.

“We must improve our regulations and the FIFA statutes. We will continue to evolve our good governance principles and look at the transfer system, and maybe have a discussion to improve transparency of transfer fees and salaries.

“It might be necessary to introduce a cap, we have to think how we can do that. We will look at it with all stakeholders and see what we can do.”

Amid the financial success of his seven years in office, Infantino has also courted controversy that has made him unpopular with some member associations.

He accused critics of hosting Qatar’s human rights record of hypocrisy and racism at the World Cup.

The tournament in the desert state led to a significant amount of political discussion around the host’s treatment of migrant labour, its approach to LGBT rights and FIFA’s threats to penalise players for political statements.

This included the banning of the anti-discrimination “One Love” armband which drew anger from a number of quarters.

FIFA has previously spoken about setting up a legacy fund to assist and compensate migrant workers who helped build the stadiums and other infrastructure for the World Cup.

But the FIFA boss made no mention of it in his address since no concrete plans have been revealed.

He did suggest that FIFA had cleaned up its act with regards to governance.

“Every single dollar that is being invested in projects and associations will undergo an independent audit. Money just doesn’t get lost anymore.

“That is why the institutions have regained their trust in FIFA. The Department of Justice of the United States has given us more than $200 million back that was stolen by corrupt officials. We have re-invested that in football.”

Player welfare groups have questioned FIFA’s decision to expand the men’s World Cup from 64 to 104 games, but Infantino said there was need to be more football played around the world.

“When I hear there is too much football, yes, maybe in some places, but not everywhere. In fact, in most parts of the world, there is not enough football played.

“We need way more and not fewer competitions, we want football to develop worldwide.

“We are discussing organising a women’s Club World Cup and a FIFA World Series in March every two years when teams are free from playing qualifiers.”

Infantino was first elected in an Extraordinary Congress in 2016 following the resignation of his predecessor Sepp Blatter and retained his position unopposed three years later.

But this counts as his second term of office and he would therefore be available for a third and final term in four years’ time. 

– Reuters

 Nigeria’s Flying Eagles on Friday in Egypt finished third at the ongoing Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) following a 4-0 thrashing of the Young Carthage Eagles of Tunisia.

The third-place playoff at the Cairo International Stadium saw the Nigerian side going ahead in the 9th minute through Ibrahim Muhammad.

Ahmed Abdullahi doubled the lead a minute after the half-time break before Jude Sunday grabbed a brace in the 48th and 90th minutes to clearly establish Nigeria’s superiority in the game.

Sunday’s first goal was a fantastic solo effort and his second was scored with a fierce drive from the edge of the box in stoppage time.

The Tunisian team had a better ball possession rating of 54 percent against the 46 percent recorded by Nigeria’s Flying Eagles but it was not enough to make any difference.

Nigeria and Tunisia, alongside finalists Senegal and The Gambia, will represent Africa at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup scheduled to be hosted by Indonesia from May 20 to June 11.

 Senegal will take on The Gambia in the final match of the competition on Saturday at the Cairo International Stadium