Leicester fans should applaud Chelsea’s Kante – Ranieri

Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri hopes N’Golo Kante will get a hero’s welcome when he makes his first return to the Foxes.
Kante left the Premier League champions for Chelsea in a £32 million deal in the summer after helping them win the title last season.
He was the only key member of the title-winning team to leave the King Power Stadium following their shock success as Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and Kasper Schmeichel signed new contracts.
Kante returns with Chelsea in the third round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday and Ranieri is looking forward to their reunion.
“I am very happy and I will give to him a very warm welcome back and I am sure also our fans they must appreciate what he did last season and give him a warm welcome,” he said.
“I will be very happy if our fans clap him at the beginning and afterwards he is an enemy.

Rio Paralympics: Grand reception for Team Nigeria

Several hundred Nigerians on Sunday turned out at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja to welcome the first batch of victorious 2016 Paralympics athletes from Rio in Brazil.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Team Nigeria to the Paralympics Games which ended on Sunday won 12 medals in Rio.
Receiving the athletes, the acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youths and Sports, Luka Jonathan, congratulated the athletes for making the country proud.
Jonathan, who is the Director of Youths in the ministry, said the athletes have put the country on top of other African countries on the medals table.
“Today is a wonderful day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in it.
“We are celebrating you now because you have done this country proud.
“History was made with your victorious outing to Rio.
“We appreciate your individual and collective efforts which have placed Nigeria on a very prominent position on the medals table.
“I am happy that Nigeria has led other African nations in this Games,’’ he said.

Rio Olympics: Buhari congratulates Paralympic Team

President Muhammadu Buhari has warmly congratulated Nigeria’s team for an outstanding performance at the Paralympic games in Rio, Brazil.
President Buhari joins all sports-loving Nigerians in commending the athletes for doing the country proud by winning 12 medals and setting new records, which made them the

Rangers suspend midfielder Joey Barton for three weeks

Rangers midfielder Joey Barton has been suspended for three weeks, the club have announced.
On Monday, Barton ended a five-day enforced absence from the club with a meeting at Ibrox, where he is reported to have met manager Mark Warburton and board members.
The 34-year-old confirmed last week that he was told to stay away from the club for several days in order to “re-evaluate the way I’m thinking” following a heated argument involving teammate Andy Halliday in the wake of Rangers’ 5-1 defeat to Celtic.
A club statement on Monday morning read: “JOEY BARTON has today been suspended by the club and will not return to Ibrox or Auchenhowie for a period of three weeks.
“The manager, Mark Warburton, and club believe that time and space is required for both the club and the player to assess all that has happened.
“Neither party will make any further statement or comment on this issue.”
Speaking after he emerged from Monday’s meeting, Sky Sports News had asked Barton whether

PSG’s Matuidi wants ‘ultra’ fans to be allowed back

Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi has offered his support for the return of the French champions’ banned ‘ultra’ fans.
A number of supporters had their tickets for last Friday’s Ligue 1 game at Caen cancelled by PSG on the day of the match.
But France international Matuidi, speaking to the Paris Ultras Collective (CUP), said it was “important” that they were “allowed to come back.”
“We are waiting for you,” he said in a video released on You Tube by the CUP. “In any case, we

Paul Gascoigne pleads guilty to racial offence ahead of scheduled trial

Former England international Paul Gascoigne has pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence.
Gascoigne, 49, whose club career included spells at Newcastle, Tottenham, Lazio and Rangers,

Marcus Rashford contract talks ongoing with Manchester United

Manchester United are in talks with Marcus Rashford’s representatives over a possible new deal, ESPN reports.
Rashford, 18, only signed a new four-year deal with United in May, but United officials are aware of the growing importance the teenager now has at Old Trafford.
United officials are in constant dialogue with Rashford’s representatives over improving his terms as reward for his continued progress at the club.
Rashford, who scored in Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Watford, has worked his way into Jose

Iwobi must keep his humility – Wenger

Arsene Wenger has praised Alex Iwobi in the wake of Arsenal’s 4-1 victory over Hull City on Saturday.
The Nigerian followed up his awe-inspiring showing against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday with two assists at the KCOM Stadium.

Tottenham win was perfect response to Pochettino criticism – Lloris

Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris said the players were stung by Mauricio Pochettino’s criticism last week but proved a point in Sunday’s home win over Sunderland.
Pochettino accused Spurs of lacking passion and said they must “do more” following Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat to Monaco in the Champions League.
Lloris told reporters: “We all agreed after the Monaco game — especially the first half — that we need to bring more energy and maybe more passion.”
Pochettino made three changes for Sunderland’s visit, with Mousa Dembele returning, and Spurs responded with a performance that saw them fire in 31 shots and have 73.8 percent possession as the Black Cats were beaten 1-0.
“All the lads are very passionate and love football, but sometimes it doesn’t go in the way you want,” Lloris added.
“The most important thing is how you react, and we showed a good reaction. We need to carry it on.”

Manchester United’s Paul Pogba will ‘dominate for 10 years’ – Raiola

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba is not playing at his best but he will still go on to dominate for a decade, his agent Mino Raiola has told the Daily Mail.
Pogba, 23, played 90 minutes in all of United’s three successive defeats against Manchester City, Feyenoord and Watford, and is still yet to register a goal or an assist for the club.
Raiola said: “It’s true Pogba is not playing his best yet, he is taking time to adjust, but people don’t always see the bigger picture. He will dominate for 10 years. He is United’s lost son.”
The France midfielder returned to United this summer, having left the club in 2012 to join Juventus. When Pogba left after his first stint in England, Raiola clashed with United’s manager at the time, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Manchester United “must react” after third straight defeat – Mata

Juan Mata says Manchester United “must react” after Watford inflicted a third straight defeat on Jose Mourinho’s side on Sunday.
United went down 3-1 at Vicarage Road having lost the Manchester derby the previous weekend and losing in the Europa League at Feyenoord on Thursday – the first time in over a decade that Mourinho has lost three successive games as a manager.
Mata has called for a response, firstly in the EFL Cup against Northampton on Wednesday and then against Premier League champions Leicester three days later at Old Trafford, with both

Adebayor deal cancelled by Genesio – Lyon

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas claims manager Bruno Genesio and his backroom staff took the decision to sign Jean-Philippe Mateta ahead of Emmanuel Adebayor.
Free agent Adebayor was expected to join the Ligue 1 club last week, only for the deal to fall through. Lyon cited concerns over the 32-year-old’s lack of availability during the Africa Cup of

Federation says on course to grooming world beaters in armwrestling

Apparently satisfied with the skills exhibited by athletes at its just-concluded Nigeria Armwrestling Invitational Lagos Championships, the Nigeria Armwrestling Federation (NWAF) says it is on course in grooming world beaters.
The President of NAWF, Olatunji Jackson, reviewing the competition, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday that the armwrestlers had improved so well.
“The athletes have put so much effort into getting better. I am impressed by their performance at the competition.
“When we came on board a little over two years ago, the armwrestlers were not this good. They have even worked on themselves to get acquainted with the latest techniques.
“They competed as if they were at an international competition and that’s good because when at

Rio Paralympics stages closing ceremony

Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes (L), President of the International Paralympic Committee Sir Philip Craven (C) and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (R) celebrate during the closing ceremony of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on September 18, 2016.(AFP)

Rio said farewell to the Paralympics Sunday in a closing ceremony showcasing Brazil’s love for music and celebrating what many consider to have been a surprisingly successful Games.
The famous Maracana football stadium was packed, with the Paralympians themselves seated across the field, as proceedings kicked off with fireworks.
Among the first performers was Jonathan Bastos, a Brazilian who was born without arms but has became an accomplished musician, playing instruments with his feet. Then it was Ricardinho, star

Chelsea are playing boring football – Leboeuf

Former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf has urged manager Antonio Conte to rethink his tactics, claiming the Blues are producing “boring” football.
Chelsea began the season with a hat trick of wins but have since drawn at Swansea and were beaten at home by Liverpool on Friday.