BEB Weekend Sports! News!

Messi to stay at Barcelona

Barcelona's all-time leading goalscorer Lionel Messi says he is staying because it is "impossible" for any team to pay his release clause and he does not want to face "the club I love" in court.

The Argentine, 33, sent a fax to Barca last Tuesday saying he wanted to exercise a clause in his contract which he said allowed him to leave for free.

But the club said his 700m euro (£624m) release clause would have to be met.

"I thought and was sure that I was free to leave," Messi told Goal.external-link 

"I told the president and, well, the president always said that at the end of the season I could decide if I wanted to go or if I wanted to stay and in the end he did not keep his word. 

"Now I am going to continue in the club because the president told me that the only way to leave was to pay the 700m clause, and that this is impossible."

Messi, whose contract expires next summer, says the fact he did not tell Barca he wanted to leave before 10 June was crucial, and had he done so his release clause would not have had to be met.

Nigeria to play friendlies against Ivory Coast, Tunisia

Nigeria have arranged friendly matches against the Ivory Coast and Tunisia in Austria next month, officials said Thursday.

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Amaju Pinnick said the Super Eagles would face the Ivory Coast on October 9 and four days later take on Tunisia in another tie.
Due to postponements caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Nigeria last played in November 2019, a 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Lesotho in Maseru, which they won 4-2.
They are scheduled to also take on Sierra Leone in two qualifying matches for the 2021 Cup of Nations in November.

The matches were to have been played in March, but were rescheduled due to the virus.

Nigeria lead their qualifying group for the continental tournament, which will now be played in 2022 in Cameroon, with six points from two matches.

Williams through to US Open last 16 after battling Stephens

Six-time champion Serena Williams fought back from a slow start to beat fellow American Sloane
Stephens and reach the last 16 of the US Open.

Third seed Williams, 38, was sluggish in the opening set before raising her intensity to win 2-6 6-2 6-2 against 26th seed Stephens in New York.

"It was intense, we always have some incredible matches," she said.

Williams, aiming for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title, faces Greek 15th seed Maria Sakkari next.

Sakkari, 25, beat Williams in the three sets at the Western and Southern Open last week.

Williams gave a damning self-assessment after losing to Sakkari, saying there were "really no excuses" after she let a set and a break lead slip in that match.

Now she has a chance to quickly avenge the loss after showing her fighting qualities against 2017 champion Stephens.

Renault to change name to Alpine in 2021

Renault will rename its Formula 1 team after its Alpine brand for the 2021 season.

Alpine is a niche French sportscar marque that has long associations with Renault.

The company is aiming to promote it as the performance end of its road-car range.

Renault's F1 car will be known as an Alpine, and will change to a new blue-orientated colour scheme with hints of the French tricolour flag.

The engine will continue to be called a Renault E-tech hybrid.

Originally an independent company, Alpine was acquired by Renault in 1973 and the name has periodically been used in the manufacturer's rallying and endurance racing programmes.

Announcing the move, Luca de Meo, the new chief executive officer of Renault, described Alpine as "a symbol of French excellence".

The move comes as F1 builds towards the new 2022 regulations, which are aimed at bringing the field closer together and which Renault hope will enable it to return to competitiveness.

from Bola Esho's Blog