Costa being provoked by opponents – Conte

Antonio Conte has pleaded with English referees to “permit Diego Costa to play his football” after the striker once again found himself the centre of attention in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.
Costa scored two goals, earned his third booking of the season and became embroiled in a running battle with Jordi Amat as Swansea ended Conte’s perfect start to life as Chelsea head coach, courtesy of a Gylfi Sigurdsson penalty and a controversial Leroy Fer goal.
Amat was shown a yellow card in the 48th minute after a clash of heads with Costa — who was fouled seven times during the match, more than any other player on the pitch — and Conte believes Chelsea’s opponents are deliberately targeting the fiery Spain international in the hope of getting him sent off.

Ideye scores first career hat-trick as Olympiacos coast past Veria FC

Brown Ideye was in sensational form as Olympiacos brushed aside a lacklustre Veria FC 6-1 at the Karaiskakis Stadium on Sunday.
Ideye’s first came in the 25th minute – tucking into an empty net after goalkeeper Jonathan Lopez had saved Seba’s close range attempt.

Wawrinka stuns Djokovic to clinch US Open

Stan Wawrinka (R) of Switzerland and Novak Djokovic (L) of Serbia pose with their trophies after their Men’s Singles Final Match on Day Fourteen of the 2016 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 11, 2016 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.(AFP)

Stan Wawrinka became the oldest US Open men’s champion in 46 years when he defeated world number one Novak Djokovic to claim a third Grand Slam title on Sunday.
Wawrinka, the 31-year-old third seed, triumphed 6-7 (1/7), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 after almost four hours of high-intensity tennis.
He even held his nerve when the final threatened to erupt into controversy after Djokovic twice called medical timeouts in the fourth set.
Wawrinka is the oldest winner of the men’s tournament since 35-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1970 and the first over 30 to take the title since Pete Sampras in 2002.
It was the Swiss player’s first New York title, following his breakthrough 2014 Australian Open triumph and 2015 Roland Garros crown.

I spent my money to save Nigeria’s Olympic team – Mikel

Chelsea midfielder, John Obi Mikel, who recently returned to London from a successful Rio 2016 campaign, was brutally honest about the extent of the problems he faced at the games.
In an interview, Mikel slammed the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) after he was forced to put up his own money to help his country achieve their remarkable bronze medal at Rio 2016.
The Nigeria captain organised travel, paid for meals and booked training pitches while trying to physically and tactically prepare for games.
The bronze medal, Mikel explained, was his country’s only moment of glory during the Olympics amid the troubles he had in Brazil.
“I think if we talk about the money that I put into the team I think it was more than [£30,000],” Mikel said. “But we just had to do it.
“I said to myself, ‘I won’t let this happen. If I can help, I’ll try to help’. Sometimes there was no

Rio Paralympics: Algeria’s team denies boycotting games

The Algerian women’s goalball team have arrived in Rio after missing their first two games against the U.S. and Israel, denying claims that political boycott was responsible for their absence.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that their absence had led to suspicions they had boycotted the match against Israel because of long-standing tensions between the countries.
But a team spokesman insisted they had had traffic issues, and said he was “astonished’’ by the accusation.
NAN reports that goalball is a sport for the visually impaired involving a ball with bells.
“I wonder why the team would boycott the Paralympics tournament it has prepared so hard for and which the Algerian state has spent so much money on,’’ spokesman Abdelkader Kelfat said in an interview.

Lagos to build five stadiums, mini sports centres

The Lagos State Government has concluded plans to build five new stadiums in the five major districts across the State as part of its vision of massive development of the sports sector.
The newly-appointed Director General of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Gbolahan Adewunmi Ogunsanya, said the construction of the stadiums would commence early next.
Ogunsanya disclosed that the famous Maracana Stadium playing pitch in Ajegunle, where many ex-internationals were discovered, would be constructed with modern facilities, having been chosen as one of the designated sites for the new stadiums.
Ogunsanya promised heightened sports development in the next three years in line with Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s vision and campaign promises, which include provision of facilities in districts, communities and neighbourhoods, increased attention to schools sports for the discovery and development of athletes and the revival of the state’s sports trust fund.

NFF to unveil Eagles’ new kits this week

Super Eagles’ new kits for the 2016/17 football season may be unveiled before the end of this week, officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), have revealed.
This would be followed in a couple of weeks with the announcement of a new sponsorship deal that will rekindle the glory days of the prestigious FA (Football Association ) Cup competition.
Speaking during an interactive session with the media at the Marriott Hotel (Maida Vale), London, on Saturday, NFF President, Melvin Amaju Pinnick, said the kits would be unveiled this week, adding, “I am just going to confirm that. We are going to even have some of our players – in the Premier League – there at the unveiling.”

Basketball: First Bank set to make a mark in Africa club championship – Ahmedu

The four Basketball clubs in both female and male category, First Bank, Dolphins, Kano Pillars and Customs qualified to represent Nigeria at the FIBA Africa Zone-three Basketball championship elimination series, slated to dunk off in Lome, Togo from October 21 to 31, have expressed optimism in picking the four slots at stake in the tournament.