Tennis: Murray, Del Potro set for Davis Cup re-match

Olympic final opponents Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro will resume hostilities in Friday’s opening Davis Cup semi-final singles match between holders Great Britain and Argentina in Glasgow.
The duo fought out an intense men’s Olympic final in Rio de Janeiro last month, with Murray eventually prevailing after more than four hours to claim a second successive gold medal.
Thursday’s draw paired them in the opening rubber at Glasgow’s hard-court Emirates Arena, with Kyle Edmund then taking on Guido Pella.
Murray, the world number two, will team up with brother Jamie in Saturday’s doubles against Federico Delbonis and Leonardo Mayer.
Andy Murray will tackle Pella in Sunday’s penultimate singles match before Edmund, who reached

WADA urges Russia to stop hacks

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Thursday called on Russia to do all it could to stop a series of hacks of star athletes’ medical records as the Kremlin said it was ready to help.
“We condemn this criminal activity and have asked the Russian Government to do everything in their power to make it stop,” said Olivier Niggli, WADA’s director general.
Niggli said the hack on WADA’s computer system constituted “retaliation” against the agency, which imposed heavy penalties against Russia over doping, including banning practically its entire athletics team from the Rio Olympics.
But Russia denied involvement in the hacks and said the Russian government was ready to help if needed.
“If we’re talking about a request for help, then no question, if we receive such an appeal,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Juventus failed to convert clear chances against Sevilla – Dani Alves

Juventus full-back Dani Alves has warned his side they cannot be so profligate in front of goal if they are to go far in this year’s Champions League.
The 2015 finalists opened up the group stage with a 0-0 draw against Sevilla in Turin on Wednesday night as record signing Gonzalo Higuain hit the crossbar and Sami Khedira squandered two clear first-half openings.
It was a frustrating night for Juve and summer signing Alves, a three-time Champions League winner with Barcelona, knows they have to take their chances if they are to rival the continent’s elite this term.
“Tonight we didn’t get that break you sometimes require in matches,” Alves said in quotes published on juventus.com.
“You need to be psychologically very strong in competitions like these and it’s crucial to take

Leicester’s Mahrez woken up by Champions League music – Ranieri

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri says the Champions League anthem must have inspired Riyad Mahrez following the midfielder’s brace in the 3-0 victory over Club Brugge.
Mahrez, 25, scored twice in the Foxes’ first ever Champions League game on Wednesday with a well-taken free kick and a converted penalty.
The Algeria international and Leicester have not had the best of starts to the new Premier League

Premier League clubs biggest transfer spenders in summer window – FIFA

Premier League clubs spent almost twice as much on international transfers as the second-biggest spending league, the German Bundesliga, this summer.
Data from FIFA’s Transfer Matching System revealed that teams in England, fuelled by a £2.7 billion-a-season television deal, spent £880 million in the transfer window.
The latest TMS report revealed that the five biggest leagues spent almost three times as much as the rest of the world this summer, with England leading the way.
The summer saw Paul Pogba join Manchester United from Juventus for a record £89.3m, and the FIFA TMS report said: “Just as the Big Five [leagues] stand tall next to all other countries, England towers over France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
“Revenue from television deals is often indicated as one of the causes of this gap, and the most recent deal is believed to be of benefit to all English clubs, both directly and through a trickle-down effect.”

UEFA honours Wales, Iceland fans among best Euro 2016 supporters

UEFA has honoured the fans of Wales, Iceland, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland for their contributions to and behaviour during Euro 2016.
European football’s governing body commended the four nations’ supporters for the way in which they backed their teams.
Wales fans, who cheered their team all the way to the semifinals, were praised by captain Gareth

Manchester United success will need whole squad – Herrera

Ander Herrera believes Manchester United will need contributions from everyone in their squad if they are to succeed this season.
Herrera, who started the opening Premier League game at Bournemouth, made his next two appearances from the bench.

David Luiz will play against Liverpool – Conte

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has confirmed that defender David Luiz will start against Liverpool on Friday.
Luiz will make his first appearance since returning to Chelsea from Paris Saint-Germain on transfer

Hackers release medical info of Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome

A father of three, Olanrewaju Aluko, on Thursday said he prepared a fake charm for his wife, Tolu, to swear with that she was not flirting around.
Aluko made the disclosure when he testified in a divorce petition instituted by his wife in an Ikole Customary Court in Ekiti
“I am not fetish and occultic. I only asked Tolu to swear with a fake fetish substance which I prepared to confirm her innocence when I suspected her to be flirting around,” he said.
He urged the court to grant him custody of their third child, saying the child, a girl, was the only that needed care.

Guardiola my most demanding coach ever – Aguero

Sergio Aguero has described Pep Guardiola as the most demanding coach with whom he has ever worked.
Manchester City striker Aguero, who scored a hat trick in his club’s 4-0 Champions League win over Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday, told Cadena Cope: “Pep is very different to all the coaches that I’ve had.
“He speaks a lot, demands a lot. He doesn’t allow you to relax, and that is good.
“I just need to do the best I can for the team and do what he asks of me.”
City have won all their games under Guardiola so far and are top of the Premier League.
Aguero, serving a three-match ban, sat out the derby win at Manchester United but said he

Sierra Leone officials get bail in corruption investigation

The Sierra Leone FA president Isha Johansen and other officials of the organisation fulfilled their bail conditions on Wednesday and have been released from custody.
Johansen, vice president Brima Kamara and secretary general Christopher Kamara were arrested

LMC sanctions Abia Warriors, Sunshine Stars

Sunshine Stars and Abia Warriors have been sanctioned by the League Management Company (LMC) for disruptive behaviour of their fans in recent matches just as Enyimba’s Masseur, Mr. Ifeanyi Kalu, was handed a one year ban from all activities of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) and his club fined N250,000.
In a related development, the LMC has written to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) requesting the exclusion of 12 Referees from further officiating of NPFL matches pending investigations into their respective performances in recent matches.
A total fine of N2.7m has been imposed on Sunshine Stars for various breaches of the rule including failure to provide adequate security, assault on match officials, throwing of object into the field of play, delaying the start of the second half and throwing of object at an official of Heartland FC.
The breaches were committed in the course of their Match Day 33 fixture against Heartland at the Akure Township Stadium.
In addition to the fine, Sunshine Stars will now serve the one match behind closed door which

Nigeria rise to 64th in September FIFA ranking

Nigeria moved up three spots to the 64th position in the latest FIFA ranking released on Thursday.
Gernot Rohr’s men were ranked 67th in August but improved with few weeks to the commencement of the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.

Kiev’s Olympic Stadium to host 2018 Champions League final

Kiev’s Olympic Stadium is to host the 2018 Champions League final, a UEFA executive committee member has confirmed.
Frantisek Laurinec announced the decision, which comes after negotiations that lasted a year, on Thursday.

Rohr worried by Eagles goalkeepers’ poor form

Super Eagles’ Coach, Gernot Rohr, is worried that his goalkeeping prospects, Carl Ikeme and Vincent Enyeama, are going through difficult spells in their clubs barely one month to Nigeria Russia 2018 World Cup qualifier away to Zambia.
Rohr has indicated his interest in persuading the retired former Super Eagles’ Captain, Vincent Enyeama, top return to the national team during the qualifiers for the Russia 2018 World Cup.
Available to the German are the good goalkeepers, Ikeme, Ikechukwu Ezenwa and Emmanuel Daniel. Ikeme has been the nation’s number one shot stopper since Enyeama decided to call time on his national team career. But his recent form has been given Rohr sleepless nights that the German is worried that it could cost Nigeria dearly when they meet Zambia on October 9.

Dzagoev fires CSKA Moscow rally in draw with Bayer Leverkusen

Alan Dzagoev’s superb 36th-minute strike sparked a fine comeback as CSKA Moscow grabbed a 2-2 draw with Bayer Leverkusen in their Champions League Group E opener in Germany.
The Russians had been reeling when Admir Mehmedi and Hakan Calhanoglu struck in the opening 15 minutes to give the hosts a magnificent start.
But after Dzagoev rifled his opener past Leverkusen keeper Bernd Leno, teammate Roman Eremenko followed up two minutes later to ensure the visitors were back on level terms before half-time.
Heading into the game off the back of a Bundesliga win over Hamburg, the hosts maintained their momentum by grabbing a ninth-minute lead when Mehmedi beat the CSKA offside trap to fire past Igor Akinfeev.
And shortly afterwards the hosts doubled their advantage when Calhanoglu picked up a neat

UCL: Ronaldo, Morata hand Real Madrid last-gasp win in Group F opener

Champions League holders Real Madrid earned a last-gasp victory over Sporting Lisbon in their opening Group F match at the Bernabeu thanks to late goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata.
Bruno Cesar’s goal in the 47th minute gave the visitors the lead over the defending champions, but an 89th minute free kick from Ronaldo and a stoppage time header from Morata secured the late win.