Morocco Football Association says NO to Caf sanctions

Morocco has maintained that the sanctions imposed on them by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) for not hosting the 2015 African Cup of Nations is unacceptable. 

Caf banned Morocco from the next two Nations Cups, while fining its football federation US$1m (£650,000) and claiming 8m euros (£5.9m) in damages.

According to report on BBC, The Royal Federation of Moroccan Football (FRMF) said it "rejects all of these sports and financial sanctions".

It added that it believes there is "no regulatory basis" for the punishments.

The FMRF said on its website: "The executive committee is said to be greatly surprised by the decisions taken by Caf.

"They do not correspond in any way to the conclusions of the first meeting in Cairo with the president of Caf."

After that January meeting with Caf president Issa Hayatou, the president of the Royal Federation of Moroccan Football, Faouzi Lakjaa, said the penalty would only be financial.

The FRMF added that it would "take all necessary measures to uphold the rights and interests of Moroccan football and provisions".

CAF Sanctions Equatorial Guinea over fans trouble

Host of on-going African Cup of Nations Equatorial Guinea have been fined following the crowd troubles that marred the country's semi-final defeat to Ghana on Thursday evening in Malabo.

After 82' into the match, the home crowd forced the visiting fans off the stands which saw the match halted.

According to the African football body in a statement on it's website on Friday afternoon, The hosts will cover the treatment costs of all of those injured at the fixture, while the country's football federation has been fined $100,000 for "aggressive behaviour" and being repeat offenders.

Equatorial Guinea have also been ordered to play a match behind closed doors, although this is suspended for the third-place play-off and will only come into effect in the event of a repeat occurrence on Saturday.

Google Image: Equatorial Guinea Crowd 

The federation has already had to pay a $5,000 for the behaviour of the country's fans in the quarter-final match between Tunisia and Equatorial Guinea.

Samuel Etoo flies the Flag for Cameroon ahead of Mali AFCON Tie

Google Image: Samuel Etoo

Samuel Etoo is urging the present crop of Indomitable Lions to fly the country's flag so high as they tackle Mali in their AFCON 2015 opening game on Tuesday.

Cameroon Flag: Twitter/@setoo9

The striker who currently plays for Everton FC in England shared the image via Twitter.

He use to be the Captain of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, represented his country in several Africa Cup of Nation and retired from national team duties after the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Let's Talk Soccer Bet and The Winning Condom

Guys, let us reason together on this betting that has taken mere passion for sports or football to the next level of having to get rewarded.

Have you not realized that the rate at which people flood to betting shops every weekend, beginning from Friday down to Sunday is so high and only a few would return with smiles on Monday. The thing is, many have fallen in love with the game of football and passion they say is the driving force, sometimes to no where exactly if one is not wise.

There's a common mistake I have observed that many make including me, because I also want to reward my passion. Lol.. Who does not want to make money? The truth is, ''betters'' tend to stake their money on a club they have passion for, even when the team is not doing too well. That's what i call ''Fanatic betting''.

Google Image

It is not wrong to have confidence in the team you follow as a fan but what is wrong is when you don't live in reality that your team is not doing well at the moment and you just want to maintain your loyalty.

You'll be rewarded if you maintain your loyalty no doubt, may be your team will send your money back to your account. Hmm, if I hear! Please don't ask me which club I support...

Come to think of it, wouldn't you rather stake wisely? May be you prefer to lose money week in week out, but for me, I believe in the term ''Playing Safe'', let's say, its could be likened to using a condom. You know what I mean. The essence of using a Condom is to help you stay safe, that is also not to say that condom guarantees you 100% security, never! The thing is many ''betters'' do not use condom.

You may not to know who carries a deadly disease especially when it's at its early stages. You don't go raw because you feel the lady or man is looking gorgeous and you think all is well, okay o. Even your darling Girl/Boyfriend (Club/Country) could be a carrier, did i hear you say God forbid? 

In the same vein, you just would not know which team would be the spoiler of your carefully selected teams. Lets just say, many pick teams based on hype. Some even pick teams they do not know or have not heard about, don't you think it is risky even if it is believed that betting is all about risk?

Well, this is not to say that luck doesn't come to play but these days in football, you never can tell. Let me cast your mind back to the recent humiliation of AS ROMA by Bayer Munich, or let's just go far back to the World Cup how Brazil was dealt with, or lets just say how Barcelona could not score a goal against Celta Vigo at the Camp Nou. Do you now see that nothing is 100% sure.

Frankly speaking, guys let's stop wasting money and that's why I say let's reason together.

There's a working formula! Stake but never lose it all. No one cares to know how much you stake weekly or daily or monthly in fact annually, but the the is how much do you rake in at the end of the day? That's the question all ''betters must answer''. 

The football world enter into international week where national teams will be doing battles for a place in continental competitions, for this weekend there are many games across the globe. 

Now let's talk bet. I acknowledge that you have been a ''better'' for many years, i also agree that you are a guru in prediction, let's say your predictions are on point, that's if you have been harvesting from your plantation. 

Staking wisely doesn't require much expertise, neither does it require too much calculation, but still i'll say again nothing is sure. There's nothing wrong in having a big dream, in fact motivational speakers and best selling authors advise that dreaming big is the best. But as you dream, also be a realist.

This is the condom which has been a working formula: risk is inevitable but you can also be sure of certain selections on another betting slip which will serve as your condom for the particular day/week/month, depending how often you engage in the business. 

Practically speaking, when you go for Big teams to Win, also consider them to draw (X) or at least score a goal in a match (Over 0.5) following all analysis, particularly the Over 0.5 in a match depending on how much you stake. Have you tried staking Over 0.5 when you are so sure the match would produce at least a goal?

Have you also tried betting live when you realize you are losing already? The idea is to recover your investment and not lose everything. Don't you think is would be wise enough not to keep visiting the betting shop everyday or every week (for online account holders)? 

Go into this international week and rake in profit. 

Ebola-free Nigeria interested in hosting 2015 AFCON

Nigeria is among other countries interested in hosting the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015 having been cleared of the Ebola Virus Disease by World Health Organization on Monday.

Goal.com reports that  the first Vice President of the NFF, Seyi Akinwunmi  dropped the hint shortly after the country was cleared of the EVD after several reports have suggested hat the supposed host nation Morocco may pull out due to the fear of the deadly virus.

Akinwunmi noted that the chance of hosting the continental event is possible, ''I think we are interested [in hosting the Afcon],'' he told Goal on Monday.

''It is not strictly the purview of the NFF alone but we have been asked [if we can host the competition] and we have said yes, why not?

''I think that the National Sports Commission or the Federal Government is looking at the possibility of hosting the tournament.''

It could get worse for the Super Eagles of Nigeria

Yes, the Super Eagles of Nigeria were woeful against the devils from Congo in the first match of the African Cup of Nations qualifying round in Calabar on Saturday.

 

The African Champions fell like a bag of carts, beaten in front of home fans, the continent and viewers from around the world by a team that made it to this round after Rwanda was axed by the Continent's football governing body.

 

From the blast of the whistle, it was obvious that the match would be a cracker, which of course got very interesting as the Home side took the lead in the 14th minutes of the match, much to the delight of the crowd in the stadium and Nigerians at large.

 

Thence, it seemed like it was going to be a stroll in the park for the reigning champions but the table turned around as the devils pulled their asses together and  pounced on the Eagles scoring three times before the Stephen Keshi side managed to reduce the lead later in the match as a result of their relentless effort.

 

However, from the stand point of an enthusiastic and passionate Nigerian, it was a disappointing outing.

 

Since returning from Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Super Eagles have not been engaged, same would be said for other teams that represented the continent at the world stage as well. But crucifying or condemning anyone would be wrong at this point as the team have more matches ahead to ensure they make it to the competition in Morrocco next year.

 

Some say, the Eagles underestimated the Claude Le Roy tutored side, others say Nigeria is simply not an excellent side going into that match in terms of quality, in fact some say the crisis rocking the nation's football body affected the team's performance. More reason include the Keshi's new contract talks.

 

Frankly speaking, defeat is part of the results you sometimes get in football and the Congolese had the other side of the coin (Victory) in their favour. If only Nigerians will accept the fact that the team can lose and can also win games. Let's not pretend like the team has not got some unresolved issues. Let's not feel like we are African Champion therefore we should win every game. Let's also remember that Nigeria has never had it easy against Congo and against their coach during his stint with other teams on the continent.

 

Going forward, South Africa is the next opponent the Eagles will confront before playing Sudan. It could be recalled that South Africa picked up an emphatic three points on away soil which means they go into this ties with every confidence that can be imagined.

 

It could be worse for the Eagles! For the Madiba nation, this is the best time to beat the Eagles, but it must be noted that it will not be an easy task based on historical facts.

 

Redeeming the situation is what should be in the mind of the players and coach of the Eagles at this point in time. The team must give their best to gain the backing of the fans for the remaining matches of the qualifying rounds to be glamorous

 

For the good of the nation, supporting the team in this trying time will go a long way to boost their confidence as they prepare for further games in the quest to be among the 15 teams that will make it through to Morrocco 2015, else, it would get worse.