BEB Weekend Sports: Juicy News!

Rohr Excited As NFF Confirms England Friendly

The Nigeria Football Federation on Wednesday confirmed that the Super Eagles would face England in a friendly affair at Wembley Stadium in London on June 2.

England manager Gareth Southgate also confirmed the encounter as well as the June 7 date against Costa Rica at Leeds United’s Elland Road Stadium.

The match will be only the third between both Nigeria and England, who are preparing for the Russia 2018 World Cup. Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr expressed his delight at the opportunity to lead his charges against the 1966 world champions ahead of the World Cup.

Reports claim Southgate needs the clash to prepare his team for their World Cup fixture against Tunisia in Volograd on June 18 .

French League Suspends Goalline Technology

The French league (LFP) has suspended the use of goalline technology until further notice after two errors during this week's League Cup quarter-finals.

The decision covers France's top flight, Ligue 1 and the League Cup.

The GoalControl technology did not alert the referee for Paris St-Germain's second goal against Amiens - with the video assistant referee instead awarding the goal.

There was also a mistake during Angers vs Montpellier.

The technology incorrectly made the referee's watch vibrate when there was no goal, and he decided not to use the technology at all in the second half.

GoalControl which has been used in France since 2015 had already been warned last month following errors earlier in the season, and the LFP confirmed the suspension on Thursday, saying its board will meet next week to discuss it.

Tough Australian Open Draw For Djokovic

No 14 seed Novak Djokovic was handed a testing Australian Open draw on Thursday, with Roger Federer in his half.

Djokovic, who has shaken off the elbow injury that scuppered his 2017 to play in Melbourne, will begin against Donald Young.

No 2 seed Federer, who won last year's Australian Open, has a first-round tie against Aljaz Bedene, who previously represented Great Britain.

Top seed Rafael Nadal, in the other half of the draw to Djokovic and Federer, will meet Victor Estrella Burgos first.

Djokovic and Federer must navigate past Juan Martin del Potro, David Goffin, Mischa Zverev and Alexander Zverev in their half of the draw. The Zverev brothers, who have never been opponents, are on a third-round collision course.

Nadal's half notably includes Marin Cilic, Nick Kyrgios, Jack Sock and Grigor Dimitrov.

Joshua-Parker Fight Moves A Step Closer

Anthony Joshua's highly anticipated fight with Joseph Parker could be confirmed this week, according to the WBA and IBF heavyweight champion’s promoter Eddie Hearn.

Hearn confirmed on Tuesday that further talks will take place with Parker’s representatives in the coming days in the hope of getting a bout finalized.

Unbeaten duo Joshua and Parker the latter the WBO champion are expected to go toe - to - toe in March or April, although negotiations have thus far been protracted.

The split of the purse has been the main reported problem for getting a deal signed, but a compromise is seemingly close to being found.

“[Parker’s promoter] David Higgins landed this morning and we are meeting this afternoon to plough the agreement and solve any outstanding issues” Hearn told Sky Sports. 

“If we can do that then it’s likely Joseph Parker will jump on a plane towards the end of the week. Fingers crossed.”

from Bola Esho's Blog