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Real reasons Asisat Oshoala left FC Barcelona for USA’s Bay FC

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The transfer of Super Falcons striker, Asisat Oshoala, from FC Barcelona Femini of Spain to Bay FC in the US National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) may have gone under the radar due to the ongoing African Cup of Nations (AFCON) currently ongoing in Ivory Coast.

However, beyond the regular reasons of her contract running out or her seeking new pastures and challenges in a different league and country, insiders have given deeper reasons into her decision to quit the Spanish league where she won four league titles, the Champions League twice and eight domestic cups, and had 117 goals in 162 games during her five years stint.

According to the Spanish club, Oshoala was out of contract at the end of the season and had decided to move on by signing for the American club for an undisclosed fee.

The 29-year-old striker who started her career in 2009 with FC Robo of Lagos before moving to Rivers Angels from 2013 to 2015, Liverpool Ladies from 2015 to 2016, Arsenal Ladies from 2016 to 2017, Dalian Quanjian FC from 2017 to 2019, FC Barcelona in 2019, also spoke about her recent move in a statement on her Instagram page.

“I stayed five years in Barcelona and that’s like the longest I’ve stayed at a club to be honest.

“And I felt I just want to change and to try something different and also I just want to have fun. And when I was presented with the project of this club liked it and decided to go with it.”

But according to a close confidant of the 2023 African Women’s Footballer of the Year, Oshoala’s move from Barcelona is a step towards planning for her retirement.

The confidant, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the six-time African Women Player of the Year could have signed for any club in Europe or even in the lucrative Saudi Female League but had to take her future into consideration.

“I have known Asisat for years, right from our days at Robo FC and I can say for sure that she decided to go to America as part of her retirement plans.

“Remember she is 29 and how long will she continue to play at the highest level?

“She had the opportunity of signing for big clubs in Europe or even in Saudi Arabia but she opted for the US.

“She is also looking at her future. This is part of her retirement plan. She wants to use the opportunity and go back to school and get a degree she can fall back on after her career. And don’t forget, she is a woman and starting a family may also be part of the general plans,” she said.

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

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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.

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Why Zambia’s women national team could miss Olympics

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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.

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