Sports

Ghanaian MP apologises to Man Utd defender, Harry Maguire after viral video mocking him

Published

5 months ago

November 23, 2023

A member of the Ghanaian parliament, Isaac Adongo has tendered an apology to Manchester United defender, Harry Maguire following a viral video where he mocked the English player.

In the video which went viral last year, Adongo, who was addressing his colleagues in the parliament during a budget debate, compared Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia’s economic management to Maguire’s performances on the pitch.

At the time, Maguire was having a torrid time playing for United, and with criticisms pouring in from club fans, the jab by Adongo became a hit, with many reposting the video.

The mockery of the English player had also drawn criticism from some of his fans, including England manager, Gareth Southgate, who condemned the mockery as “ridiculous treatment” and said Maguire had been “an absolute stalwart” for the team.

Maguire’s mother also defended her son and said the abuse he had faced was “disgraceful” and “unacceptable”.

However, during another budget debate, Adongo said he wanted to correct the record, and hailed Maguire as a “transformational footballer”.

He said whereas Maguire had improved and had become a “key player” for Manchester United, Bawumia, who is the head of the government’s economic management team, had not improved, as Ghana continued to face its most severe economic crisis in years.

In a reference to Ghana’s recent debt woes and attempts to get loans from the IMF, Adongo said while Maguire had become a transformed player, “our Maguire, he is now at the IMF, with a cup in hand.”

Speaking to the BBC’s Newsday programme after the debate,
Adongo explained that he had used Maguire’s struggle for form to communicate his dissatisfaction with Ghana’s economy.

“When Harry’s form improved, I felt that he deserved an apology. As a lover of football, it was important that I recognised his turnaround,” Adongo said.

In response to the apology, Maguire himself took to his X account to write that he had accepted the apology.

“See you at Old Trafford soon,” the defender said.

Related Topics:Featured Ghana MP Harry Maguire Isaac Adongo Manchester United

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Sports

Liverpool legend Graham Souness wants ‘selfish’ Salah to leave club

Published

3 hours ago

May 3, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

One of the legends of English Premier League club, Liverpool, Graeme Souness, wants Egyptian star, Mohamed Salah, to leave the club due to his “extreme selfish” nature.

Souness who was reacting to the celebrated touchline dispute between Salah and manager Jurgen Klopp during the club’s league match against West Ham last weekend, described Salah as the most selfish player he has ever seen.

Salah got into trouble with Liverpool fans when he was preparing to come on as a substitute, having been selected on the bench for the second time in three games.

Video footage that captured the scene showed Klopp walking up to the Egyptian and whisper something in his ear but whatever the manager said seemed to infuriate Salah who flared up leading to an exchange of words between the duo.

The two have played down the confrontation with Klopp insisting that whatever issue they had has been “completely resolved.”

Klopp who spoke on Friday at a press conference ahead of Liverpool’s home match with Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday, insisted that his spat with the star forward would not damage to their relationship going forward.

“If we wouldn’t know each other for that long, I don’t know how we would deal with it, but we know each other for that long and respect each other too much that it’s really no problem,” Klopp said.

“In general, the best situation would be everybody is in the best possible place, we win games, we score lots of goals.

“Yes, then the situation with Salah would probably not have been exactly like that. Then Mo wouldn’t have been on the bench in the first place,” the manager said.

However, while speaking on William Hill’s Three Up Front podcast on Friday, Souness called Salah a selfish player and expects him to leave Liverpool.

“Salah is the most selfish player I have ever witnessed. Even before that game, whenever Klopp takes him off, he is never happy about it,” Souness said.

“That is what you want from your players; if you take them off on two goals, they should want to stay on to score a third. When Sadio Mane was there, they’d fall out all the time,” Souness added.

Sports

Why Zambia’s women national team could miss Olympics

Published

1 day ago

May 2, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Zambia’s women national football team is on the verge of missing out on playing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

This is after world football governing body, FIFA, threatened to suspend the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) following accusations of money laundering offences levelled against its president, Andrew Kamanga, as well as allegations of “undue influence by third parties”.

Kamanga who has be the FAZ president since 2016, was last week, arrested by the country’s Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) along with the Secretary-General, Reuben Kamanga and two other persons, over an alleged money laundering running into K341,902.

The arrested officials have already been charged by the DEC for allegedly obtaining government funds under false pretences and being part of a conspiracy to defraud.

The anti-graft agency alleged that Kamanga used the money to fund trips for two associates to the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast early this year.

Kamanga and Reuben were charged along with Madalitso Kamanga and Jairous Siame, who travelled to the tournament as part of FAZ’s support staff though are not working with FAZ.

Indications that the Zambian football association could face the hammer came via a letter by FIFA Member Associations Officer, Kenny Jean-Marie, addressed to FAZ that the world football’s governing body had “taken interest” in the arrests of the football officials.

In the letter, Jean-Marie requested for copies of any documents received in relation to the accusations and also directed FAZ to hold its scheduled AGM despite an injunction brought by a suspended club owner which accused Kamanga of changing the association’s constitution without following due procedure, being filed in Zambia’s high court to stop it taking place.

The letter also warned that failure to hold the AGM would provide possible grounds for suspension.

Part of the letter reads:

“The order of the High Court of Zambia dated 24 April, 2024, appears to clearly amount to undue influence by third parties which could be considered as a violation of Article 19 paragraph 1 of the Fifa Statutes and Article 7 paragraph 1.g. of the CAF Statutes.

“For the avoidance of doubt, please note that the infringement of the aforementioned provisions of the FIFA and CAF Statutes may give rise to grounds for the suspension of FAZ irrespective of whether the infringement was attributed to FAZ or not.

“We would like to remind you that a suspended member association may not exercise any of its membership rights.

“The representative teams as well as the affiliated clubs of this federation can no longer take part in international competitions until the suspension has been lifted. In view of the foregoing, FAZ is directed to conduct its Annual General Meeting.”

However, a ruling by a judge upheld the injunction on and scheduled another hearing for Thursday, meaning the AGM was not allowed to take place which has placed the participation of the women’s team in the forthcoming Olympics in jeopardy.